PSP-One India Condom Campaign Reduces Stigma and Wins Prestigious Grand Effie Awards
PSP-One's Technical Direction Guides Breakthrough Campaign
The Bindaas Bol (Just Say It) Condom campaign, developed for the USAID-funded Private Sector Partnerships-One (PSP-One) project, was awarded the ad industry's highest honor, The Grand Effie Award, for the most effective advertising campaign in 2007. The innovative, multi-faceted campaign addressed the stigma surrounding condom use by eliminating the embarrassment associated with buying condoms. The core idea was to reduce customers' discomfort with just saying the word "condoms". By the end of the campaign, condom use by married men with their spouses had increased by over 30 percent.
The awards represent the first time a social communication campaign has been awarded the Grand Effie, not surprising since the Effie team seeks out ideas that work with proven results in areas with marketplace challenges. This is a clear message that if done well, health communication can work as effectively as commercial advertising. This is the fifth award that the Bindaas Bol campaign has earned - it was awarded the United Nations Grand Award for Communications excellence, the IPRA 2007 Golden World Awards for Excellence in PR in the non-profit category, Silver Awards for Innovative Media Strategy at Advertising Agencies Association of India (AAAI) GoaFest, and the Special Award by Population First, a communications and advocacy initiative for balanced, planned and stable population.
PSP-One launched the campaign in September 2006 that included mass media, PR and consumer/retailer activities. The campaign's effectiveness is due in part to its 360 degree strategy that included on-the-ground activities where retailers were asked to be agents of behavior change by selling condoms openly and without embarrassment, and by encouraging their customers to ask for condoms without hesitation. Anand Sinha, PSP-One India Country Director, oversaw the project. As a result of the technical direction provided to the winning advertising agency LOWE, PSP-One India/Abt Associates also received the Client of the Year award.
Abt Associates, a scientific research, consulting and technical assistance firm, leads the Private Sector Partnerships-One project, which has a worldwide mandate to increase private sector involvement in family planning, reproductive health, and other health products and services. Funded from 2004 to 2009 by the U.S. Agency for International Development, PSP-One's goal is to provide technical leadership that promotes and expands the private sector's interest, ability, and direct involvement in the delivery of high-quality and affordable health products and services in the developing world.
For more information, please e-mail info@psp-one.com.
