VERB Newsletter
VERB The Latest Word
August/September 2003 Issue
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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…
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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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!
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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.
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* Links to non-Federal organizations are provided
solely as a service to our users. Links do not constitute an endorsement of any
organization by CDC or the Federal Government, and none should be inferred. The
CDC is not responsible for the content of the individual organization Web pages
found at these links.
Page last reviewed: August 1, 2007
Page last modified: August 1, 2007
Content source: National Center for Chronic Disease Prevention
and Health Promotion, Division of Adolescent and School Health
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