One of the questions I am asked often is “How does the Ad Council decide which campaigns to take on?” Actually, new campaigns come to us in different ways. We are often contacted by organizations that want us to take on our issue. But just as often, we identify an important social issue we believe would benefit from a public service campaign and we find a non profit or government agency to sponsor it.
With limited resources, we only take on a handful of new campaigns each year, so the process for accepting them includes a very extensive proposals process and requires the approval of our Board’s Executive Committee.
Regardless of how the issue comes to our attention, our Advisory Committee on Public Issues provides the lens through which we evaluate potential campaigns. This committee is comprised of leaders in the fields of education, health care, social services, crime prevention and more. The committee also includes members who have extensive expertise in the needs of under served populations.
The Advisory Committee meets formally twice a year but more frequently as task forces to study specific issues. Our most recent meeting was held earlier this month and was chaired by our new co-chairs, former U.S. Surgeon General Dr. David Satcher and David Bell, Chairman Emeritus of Interpublic. For me, it was the most robust and collaborative discussion this group has held in my 7 years at the Ad Council.
Our meeting agenda was to examine the unique needs of the country’s Hispanic and African American communities. We examined the campaigns that we currently have on our docket – at least half of which benefit these audiences—and examined gaps.
However, the discussion that followed got even more interesting and meaningful. Dr. Satcher set the tone by highlighting the unique challenges facing the African American community, especially young men. He spoke about the need to communicate a message of hope to many African American young men, who don’t see a future for themselves--once they've failed in school--other than crime and drugs. He noted that African American women face their own set of challenges given the high number of incarcerated African American men and rising rates of HIV/AIDS.
Education is the key to the future for at-risk kids. The committee talked about the persistent achievement gap in this country whereby many Hispanic and African American children are falling behind by the first or second grade. They noted that there is an “anti-intellectual” movement and many kids – not just African Americans kids – believe that if you achieve academically, you are “selling out”.
Lacking basic literacy skills, “books are like kryptonite to these kids,” said Ivan Juzang, President of MEE Productions, a communications firm specializing in urban culture and society. Therefore, when called upon to read, young black students, particularly males, act out rather than be made to look foolish. And as Dr. Satcher pointed out, this quickly leads to a situation where these kids drop-out of school psychologically before they drop-out physically.
Can we use communications to create hope for young black men? Is there a way to make them believe in themselves? Can we engage the public to make them aware that our at-risk youth need their help? That we have a collective responsibility to make sure all of America’s children – rich or poor – succeed?
And can communications be used to make education cool? What about role models beyond athletes and rappers? Is it possible to change the social norm?
These are intriguing issues and I invite your comments.
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