Creating a Campaign Against Sexually Transmitted Infections

I will be creating an advertising campaign about sexually transmitted disease/condom use. I will have an image of a very beautiful young woman 18+, looking seductively, holding a very expensive handbag that reads “STI’s” and an image of a doctor with one finger up for disapproval. The image will read, “She looks clean, but she may be a bag of trouble. Get Tested and Wrap it Up!” There will also be a statistic of 20.1 million men and women ages 15-24 contract an STI. The message that will be portrayed is just because the person looks clean and beautiful on the outside does not mean they are not carrying a plethora of diseases. This will be displayed on billboards, bus stop benches and internet banners. This is where the targeted age range will see it most because they are around these areas the most.

Who is the target for this advertising campaign? What things did you do in your advertising campaign that specifically targets your audience?

The target for this campaign is both men and women, all races, aged 15-25. One of the things I did in my advertisement is pictured a beautiful young woman that would attract the attention of most people in that age range. Another thing that I included was the statistic that was specific for the ages of 15-24, which can be used to inform them that it can happen to people just as young as them.

The source that is being used in the advertisement is the doctor in the image and the statistical facts; this will give the advertisement credibility. The image if the young woman will be effective in persuasion because of the age range and the woman, this is used as the physical attractiveness source of the advertisement. Both men’s and women’s eyes will be averted to a beautiful woman, while if it where only a buff man showing, men’s attention would not be averted to it only women.

The type of message used is fear. This is the most effective way to get a point across to young adults (aged 15-25). When fear is, induced people tend to change quickly so they will not have to experience the consequences.

Yes, I did use fear in my campaign. I used fear because of the age range. Many time just facts will not get the attention of people in this age range. The use of fear in the campaign will make the audience lean towards getting checked and also having protected sex. Even with the women being beautiful, the quote can induce fear because at their age they go for the beautiful women and never think of the consequences of whether she has and STI that they can contract.

I am using the one-sided approach in my campaign. Most individuals know a little about STI’s but not enough to where they cannot be persuaded. Also almost everyone in today’s society agree that the safest sex is protected and protection is the best way to avoid unwanted and sometimes untreatable diseases. The one-sided method is used in cases of people being ignorant to the facts of a topic and can easily be persuaded when given those facts.

The media used for this campaign is that of billboards, internet banners and bus-stop benches. I believe with the age range that I am trying to attract these are the place that they are the most. At the ages of 15-25, you are most likely still on the bus, and if you do have the luxury of a car, you see several billboards on your drive or even your wait in traffic. Internet banners are great because with technology being so advanced and the main sources of people these ages they will not miss the add that pops up when they click their favorite social media site.

I wanted my audience to take the peripheral route. Simply spitting out facts to people of this age range will not do anything but bore them. With things included in the campaign such as credibility, physically attractiveness and statistics that coincide with their exact age range the peripheral route will be most effective. Facts may be the best way to alert people who are older and maybe more informed on the topic, but young adults just want to have fun and reading facts will not be their main priority. On the other hand, looking at a picture with a beautiful young woman will be something to catch their eye, grab their attention and then reel them into the topic at hand STI prevention and safe sex.

This campaign will be very effective. I believe that this campaign will be effective. It is shown that with fear tactics in persuasion if there is a way given to alleviate the fear of the past attitude. One way that someone can prevent my message to persuade the target audience is to give opposing facts and statistics that show that it is not that common for STI’s to be transmitted.