Philippines Family Planning Project Honored
The AED project “Strengthening the Social Acceptance of Family Planning in the Philippines” was awarded a Certificate of Excellence, the highest honor in its category, from the Asia Pacific PR Awards during ceremonies held in Hong Kong in November.
The media campaign, called “Sigurado Ka”, sought to increase support of modern family planning practices, correct misconceptions about modern methods, and bring the discussion of family planning to the forefront of public discourse.
To do this, the project used a variety of media outlets in an integrated way. These included radio and television commercials, print advertisements, airplay of the “Sigurado Ka” song, radio broadcasts and call-in programs, media orientations, press releases, events, and a family planning hotline accessible via phone and text messaging on cellular phones.
 | AED's media campaign included four television advertisements to show women that they can control family planning.
This is one advertisement. (mpg - 7MB) |
Compelling AdvertisementsFamily planning is often a controversial issue in the Philippines, and discussion of the issue has taken place primarily between friends and relatives.
Many families know about modern family planning methods and approve of them, but have not had good counseling, so they have received the wrong information about potential side effects. As a result, many women do not use modern methods and end up having at least one child they did not plan.
“We focused on knowing the psyche of our target audience—lower class young women in relationships,” said Eleanora de Guzman, the who heads the project, which is funded by USAID. “Based on this knowledge, we produced compelling ads which rose above the advertising clutter and boldly showed how not using modern family planning methods—or using ineffective methods—affect their self-esteem and everyday lives. The result was high recall and impact.”
Open Discussion
One of the advertisements featured a young woman looking into a mirror and saying disparaging things about herself and her ability to take control of family planning.
After each statement she slapped herself in the face. The ad was well received, since, based on pretests, lower class women felt that they could relate to the women in the ad. “The idea was to jolt women to reflect upon their situation, show how family planning can improve their lives, and open up discussion of an otherwise sensitive subject,” said Margaret Burns Parlato, senior vice president and director of the AED Global Health, Population, and Nutrition Group.
The “Sigurado” song was also extremely effective in spreading the message of the campaign. The song was so popular that it became the second most-requested song in a top-rated radio station in metro Manila.
‘Powerful Insights’
Competition for the awards was tough as more than 200 entries from 15 countries were submitted. According to Arun Sudhaman, the chairman of the awards, only the most outstanding and creative of the entries received recognition.
For campaigns, this meant that the work exceeded stated objectives, displayed strong cost-effective benefits and cutting-edge creativity, and also involved powerful insights in order to formulate successful strategies, he said.
The awards, which recognize best practices in the public relations industry in the Asia Pacific region, are organized by Media Magazine, Asia’s premiere advertising and marketing publication. The panel of judges consisted of leading communications and media experts in the region.
For more information on the Strengthening the Social Acceptance of Family Planning in the Philippines project, contact Elizabeth Thomas.
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