VERB Newsletter

VERB The Latest Word
August/September 2003 Issue
PDF Download (PDF - 309K)

This is the sixth installment in a series of VERB newsletters providing the latest and greatest on how the VERB campaign is getting kids off the couch and into life. Read on…

VERB Scoop

In case you haven't already tuned in and seen VERB's new television spot, it aired on Monday, August 18! The ad features four tweens playing a game of paddleball at the beach and has sportscaster Mary Jo Fernandez commenting on the play-by-play moments of their game.

Cartoon Network launched its first-ever “What’s Your VERB Challenge,” inviting children to create and submit videotapes of themselves participating in their favorite VERB activity. Of the entries, six children will get a chance to have their videos made into a television spot and broadcasted on the Cartoon Network.

The nation’s leading Hispanic radio psychologist has joined the VERB campaign for yet another year of partnership. Dr. Isabel Gomez- Bassols (Dr. Isabel), also known among her listeners as the “angel of the radio,” is back to speak directly to parents about the importance of physical activity. Through live call-in shows, as well as regular reminders to get kids to be more active, Dr. Isabel and Radio Unica are ready to educate and motivate!

The Asian American “Future” TV, print ad, and paid backgrounder have launched this month targeting parents and influencers to encourage them to motivate tweens to do 60 minutes of physical activities every day.

VERB O-Meter

Impact to Date 8,752,498

CONTESTS
4,480

SWEEPSTAKES
31,731

ADDED VALUE
623,500

TOURS/EVENTS
2,587,470

ONLINE
5,505,317

VERB has touched more than 8 million children and parents to date.

VERB Connections

The Longest Day of Play promotion generated more than 15 key market media placements and more than 5 million media impressions. Placements included a four-minute segment on the nationwide television program FOX Sports Net featuring Miami partner Dr. Jayne Greenburg, MiamiHerald.com* and the Houston Chronicle.

As the summer begins to wind down and back-to-school fever sets in, VERB continues to be top of mind, reaching 71% of our tween target, an average of 8.7 times in August.

VERB publicity placements have generated a total advertising equivalency of $17 million in the first phase of the campaign. This is more than an 8 to 1 return on investment for the CDC. Total amount of publicity broadcast time for VERB placements was more than 10 hours.

In July, the VERB campaign garnered more than 30 Internet placements. Highlights include placements on L.A. Parent Magazine.com* (Impressions: 1,500,000), Excite.com* (Impressions: 1,500,000) and CBS Marketwatch (Impressions: 1,102,000).

To further promote the mission of the VERB campaign, two VERB Web sites have been enhanced:

— VERBnow.com, the Web site for tweens, will debut its new look and expanded content in September. Latest features include an online diary that tweens use to keep track of their daily activities. It offers incentives for them to keep active with rewards and recognition.

— In addition to the tweens' Web site, an enhanced partnership site, cdc.gov/verb, was launched in August. This site allows VERB partners to keep up on the latest VERB news and information, and offers them the tools they need to get involved with the campaign.

VERB Outreach

Columbus, Greenville, Los Angeles, and Miami: VERB is hitting skate parks this September with eyecatching banners at local skateboard, and inline skate parks. VERB will have a presence at a total of 90 skate parks in the four markets!

Miami: VERB is exploding in Miami! Shake-A-Leg Miami, an organization for disabled youth, hosted a media event on July 31, 2003, to showcase and celebrate successful public-private partnerships serving youth with disabilities and youth at risk. One of the three programs on show was VERB!

Los Angeles: The Asian American market will have a new event on September 21st organized by media partner, KSCI called, “VERB Celebrating Active Children at Harvest Moon Festival” at Arcadia County Park in Los Angeles. The park will be filled with activities including various demonstrations like martial arts and gymnastics from community partners.

VERB on the Move

VERB campaign, in conjunction with MTV’s hit series “MADE” and local YMCAs, teamed up to motivate, inspire and encourage America’s youth with “MADE Activity Days.” In nine cities across the country this summer, “MADE Activity Days” gathered local children for a day of physical activities. Media placements to-date included online coverage on The Green Bay Press Gazette (Impressions: 150,000), CBS Marketwatch (Impressions: 1.1 million) and Yahoo! Finance (Impressions: 192,900).

VERB will be in schools this coming September with its “Make Every Move Count” program. The program, supported by Channel One, will encourage activity among tweens. Participating schools will receive classroom kits that include movemeters, which students will use to track their “moves.” Prizes will be rewarded locally and nationally, along with a chance to appear on Channel One.

SI For Kids “No Limits” 2003 Road Trip Tour visited 12 amusement parks across the country, putting on a total of 73 performances throughout the tour. As a key sponsor, VERB was plastered on event signage, including skate ramps, truck wraps, and a VERB branded tented area. The total park attendance on performance days was 224,000.

Fast Forward

YM is launching the Move It! Mini-site sponsored by VERB in early September. The site will be housed on ym.com* and will get tween girls excited about dancing, showcasing step-by-step instructions from selected choreographers.

Time For Kids is creating a VERB customized student publication and teacher guide to be distributed in schools in September. The custom publication will be sent to more than 2 million 4th-to-6th grade students and 88,000 4th-to-6th grade teachers. The activity tracker will be included, giving tweens a measurement mechanism to record their activity levels.

VERB will be sponsoring Disney’s “Movie Night” featuring the movie “Johnny Tsunami,” scheduled to air on 9/22 at 8 p.m. VERB ticker messages will scroll across the bottom of the screen during active moments of the movie. The movie is action packed with surfing, skiing and snowboarding scenes!

VERB Chatter

Teen People Break for the Beach logo — VERB hit the beaches with Teen People’s “Break for the Beach” tour in five East Coast markets in June–July 2003. In total, 500 tweens visited the VERB booth in the five markets, of which 200 tweens were “activated” and participated in VERB-sponsored activities such as limbo contests and a mini volleyball competition. Attendees were also asked “What’s Your VERB?” for the chance to win VERB T-shirts and Frisbees.

This publication is produced by the Publicis Groupe.

 

Documents on this page are available in Portable Document Format (PDF). Learn about viewing and printing PDFs with Acrobat Reader.