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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE HMA Uses Novel Media Approach to Promote Infant Immunization WASHINGTON (May 3, 2007) – For the second straight year, Washington-based HMA Associates will use a breakthrough media strategy to promote infant immunization among Hispanics/Latinos. The communications firm, which specializes in multicultural marketing, will use a series of six 3-minute-long radio novelas in support of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s (CDC) National Infant Immunization Campaign. “First- and second-generation Hispanics/Latinos are particularly difficult to reach through traditional media channels,” said Irma Maldonado, HMA’s founder and CEO. “We decided to employ new media strategies to inform this group about the importance of infant immunization.” Radio novelas are similar to telenovelas, limited-run series akin to soap operas, which have been a staple of Spanish-language TV stations in the United States for years. While popular in Latin America; however, radio novelas are rare in this country, even on Spanish-language radio stations. Maldonado said HMA wrote and tested the scripts for the radio novelas. Then the firm worked with Entravision Networks, which owns and operates one of the larger networks of Spanish-language radio stations in the United States, to produce and air the series as public service announcements (PSAs). The strategy will be tested in Las Vegas and if successful, rolled out in other regions including Colorado and Texas. Maldonado said success will be measured by the number of calls received both to local public health agencies – the novelas are customized with local contact information – and to the CDC itself. The radio novelas mark the second year in a row HMA has employed innovative media strategies on behalf of the National Infant Immunization Campaign. Last year, it uploaded TV PSAs in support of infant immunization to a number of websites, including You Tube. The PSAs prompted viewers to post their own videos of children and infants receiving inoculations. “The You Tube posting – and the flurry of postings that followed – really extended the life of the campaign,” Maldonado said. “It also gave the PSAs a ‘coolness’ factor, which was an added bonus.” Founded in 1994, HMA is an award-winning, multicultural communications firm which combines marketing, branding, public relations, advertising, virtual development and community outreach. The firm has a track record of producing and implementing national communications programs through local, regional and national channels.
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