White House Office of National Drug Control Policy’s Above the Influence Campaign Demonstrates Success in Its Effie Award Win

(Washington, DC)—The National Youth Anti-Drug Media Campaign’s “Above the Influence,” run by the White House Office of National Drug Control Policy (ONDCP) in collaboration with The Partnership at Drugfree.org (Partnership), has been selected as a winner of a 2012 Effie award in the Sustained Success category.  The campaign was honored with the Silver Effie Award in New York City last evening.

The Sustained Success category is unique among Effie awards in that it salutes a brand’s success over a long period—at least five years—and must include the most current year’s results. Past winners in the Sustained Success category include Allstate, Ocean Spray, the US Marine Corps, the Milk campaign and MasterCard.   Sustained Success entries submitted for competition must have a common objective in both strategy and creative execution as well as a continuation of core executional elements that demonstrate effectiveness over time.

“‘Above the Influence’ has played a critical role in our country’s substance use prevention efforts, and more importantly, it works,” said Gil Kerlikowske, Director of the Office of National Drug Control Policy.  “Without the campaign’s credible anti-drug voice, our Nation’s youth would be exposed to a steady stream of messaging that normalizes drug use and reduces the perceived risks of use.”  Most recently, the campaign reached a major milestone on the “Above the Influence” Facebook page (www.facebook.com/AbovetheInfluence), acquiring more than one million “likes” – a significant achievement that far outweighs the online presence of any other national youth behavior change campaign.

Working closely with the ONDCP and Partnership, advertising agency Draftfcb created the “Above the Influence” brand in 2005, and along with a host of other advertising agencies, provides pro bono creative services to the campaign.  “We are thrilled that the ‘Above the Influence’ brand has been honored with such a prestigious achievement,” said Suzanne Santiago, Senior Vice President and Group Management Director, at Draftfcb.  “More importantly, the fact that this brand has been embraced, customized and shared by millions of teens around the country reflects the importance and need for a campaign and message that ‘Above the Influence’ provides to teens today.”

“The ‘Above the Influence’ campaign has been an outstanding example of public/private partnership, and recent studies have shown it to be effective in large part because it’s not only teen targeted, but teen inspired,” said Caryn Pace, Deputy Director of Creative Development at The Partnership at Drugfree.org. “Working to change attitudes about drug use, repositioning it as a negative influence and empowering teens to stay true to themselves is what this campaign has strived to accomplish.”

According to a NIDA-funded, independent study in the January 2011 issue of Prevention Science, the “exposure to the ONDCP (ATI) campaign predicted reduced marijuana use” compared to those not exposed to the campaign.  These scientific findings are consistent with the campaign’s own year-round Youth Ad Tracking Survey, which has demonstrated that teens that have increased exposure to, and engagement with the “Above the Influence” campaign, have stronger anti-drug beliefs than teens with low exposure to the campaign.

The “Above the Influence” campaign has been reaching teens for more than five years through television, print, radio and online media, and is operated by the White House Office of National Drug Control Policy. ONDCP’s efforts in local communities focuses on connecting directly with teens and local youth-serving organizations to deliver messages, activities and support to help the Nation’s youth stay “above the influence” of drugs, alcohol and risky behaviors.

obamawhitehouse.archives.gov/ONDCP

The Office of National Drug Control Policy seeks to foster healthy individuals and safe communities by effectively leading the Nation’s effort to reduce drug use and its consequences.