Vozmi S Soboi (Take It With You) Internet Campaign - Russia
Population Services International (PSI)/Russia is using the Internet to promote safe sexual behaviour among youth ages 14 to 24 across Russia. The Vozmi S Soboi (Take It With You) marketing campaign uses an informational, entertaining, interactive website to educate sexually active youth about the risks associated with sexually transmitted infections (STIs), including HIV/AIDS. Initiated in December 2001 in conjunction with World AIDS Day, the campaign aims to change perceptions about safer sex by promoting abstinence, delayed sexual onset, partner reduction, and correct and consistent condom use in regular and casual relationships. The site encourages youth to not only take along a condom - but also to arm themselves with knowledge and empowerment - wherever they go in order to protect themselves from STIs.
Communication Strategies
Visitors to the Vozmi S Soboi website, which is in Russian only, are invited by a range of characters to explore and engage with HIV/AIDS-related resources. Examples of these resources include a "frequently asked questions" page, an AIDS dictionary, and an interactive SPIDometer ("SPID" in Russian means AIDS) that enables one to gauge HIV risk based on a sex/drug-use related quiz. The site provides other factual information, such as instructions on how to properly use a condom, advice on how to convince a partner to use one, and articles on a range of related issues. Viewers are able to submit questions, register for an email list, or join a chat room. They may also access free e-cards to send to friends and a comic strip with biographies of the story's healthy heroes.
Because addressing HIV/AIDS issues in a country as large as Russia is not an easy task and the Internet is still a developing information vehicle in the country, offices established in Moscow, Saratov, St. Petersburg, and Samara aid in the promotion of the website and dissemination of campaign messages. The website is advertised in 4 different Café Max Internet cafes; trained volunteers are onsite during peak hours to hand out literature and answer questions. Mr. Condom Man, the PSI/Russia mascot, also makes appearances at Take It With You events and distributes promotional materials. Postcards bearing the campaign's messages are available at prominent youth venues such as cafes, theatres, and nightclubs in the major cities and are available for distribution elsewhere when requested.
PSI/Russia also uses quizzes and advertisement to draw young people to the website. The organisation teamed up with a mobile phone company and a radio station for an on-air contest in which callers tested their HIV/AIDS knowledge for prizes. Banner ads linked to the campaign website have run on a number of youth-related websites, including those aimed at a homosexual audience and dating pages. The banners themselves often feature games and contests to entice viewers to visit the website. During the Valentine's Day theme in February 2003 - "Protect Your Love, Take it With You" - the website received a surge of hits and banner ads clicks. On World AIDS Day 2002, 6 giant screens appeared in downtown Moscow promoting the campaign; it was hoped that the 6,500 young people who were in attendance at PSI/Russia's "Life: Mission Possible" music concert, which featured several Russian bands, would be motivated to visit the Vozmi S Soboi website.
Because addressing HIV/AIDS issues in a country as large as Russia is not an easy task and the Internet is still a developing information vehicle in the country, offices established in Moscow, Saratov, St. Petersburg, and Samara aid in the promotion of the website and dissemination of campaign messages. The website is advertised in 4 different Café Max Internet cafes; trained volunteers are onsite during peak hours to hand out literature and answer questions. Mr. Condom Man, the PSI/Russia mascot, also makes appearances at Take It With You events and distributes promotional materials. Postcards bearing the campaign's messages are available at prominent youth venues such as cafes, theatres, and nightclubs in the major cities and are available for distribution elsewhere when requested.
PSI/Russia also uses quizzes and advertisement to draw young people to the website. The organisation teamed up with a mobile phone company and a radio station for an on-air contest in which callers tested their HIV/AIDS knowledge for prizes. Banner ads linked to the campaign website have run on a number of youth-related websites, including those aimed at a homosexual audience and dating pages. The banners themselves often feature games and contests to entice viewers to visit the website. During the Valentine's Day theme in February 2003 - "Protect Your Love, Take it With You" - the website received a surge of hits and banner ads clicks. On World AIDS Day 2002, 6 giant screens appeared in downtown Moscow promoting the campaign; it was hoped that the 6,500 young people who were in attendance at PSI/Russia's "Life: Mission Possible" music concert, which featured several Russian bands, would be motivated to visit the Vozmi S Soboi website.
Development Issues
Reproductive and Sexual Health, HIV/AIDS, Youth.
Partners
Funded by the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID).
Sources
Letter sent from Karrie Carnes to The Communication Initiative on January 6 2004; and "Web Campaign First of its Kind in Russia", by Karrie Carnes, PSI News, May 26 2003; and Russia page on the PSI site.
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