Lucas Wade

PR Cases and Problems

4/9/14
Case 12-1
Heart health and its importance to women through a Public Relations campaign.
SUMMARY
Most women believe that heart attacks are more of a mans issue and not a
womans. However, that is not the case and the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute
then developed The Heart Truth campaign. The campaign kicked off with a fashion week,
which then developed into a wide array of events that gained national exposure each year
since the launch. The campaign was significant because studies showed that only 34
percent of women knew that heart disease was the number one killer among women.
Similarly, most women believed it was just a mans disease. The symbol of the campaign
was a red dress and, it turned into a powerful nationwide campaign among women.
STRENGTHS
The comprehensive analysis of the women they wanted to target that was based off
of demogrpahics, psychographics, socioeconomic factors, and the 200+ research
articles on cardiovascular health and women.
The eight focus groups across the country to test campaign concepts and research
for the entire campaign.
The partnerships they built with national nonprofit organizations like WomenHeart,
the American Heart Association, and the American College of Cardiology to name a
few.
The corporate and media relationships the campaign built with Mercedes-Benz
Fashion Week, IMG Models, Time Inc. Women's Group, and Wal-Mart to name just a
few.
The participation of First Lady Laura Bush in the campaign as a symbol for women
like "The Red Dress."
WEAKNESSES
The campaign, like many others, failed to implement any type of social media into
their campaign.
The campaign as a whole failed to target women as a whole rather than just 40-60.
However there was a secondary target of 18-39, they still could have targeted all
girls too, to try and raise awareness.
The campaign failed to take advantage of media outlets such as television or radio
braodcasts.
They limited their research overall to just eight states out of the fifty, when
including more states would have both raised awareness and provided better
research results.
SUGGESTIONS
Implement any aspect of social media to ensure a larger audience and that more
people will receive your message given its popularity.
Target all women, no matter how young they are, to try put it in their minds at a
younger age that heart didease is the number one killer amongst women.
Get the campaign on television and radio as television is the biggest mass medium
and radio is equally important.
Conduct research in more than just eight states to ensure solid qualitative and
quantitative data.