You Know Different - Youth HIV Social Marketing Campaign

By Mark Hill, Training and Technical Assistance Specialist
National Youth Advocacy Coalition - March 2007

DO YOU KNOW YOUR HIV STATUS? You probably know that HIV infection can be prevented by practicing safer sex, limiting sexual partners and not sharing needles. But have you ever had an HIV test? Do you know your HIV status? National statistics show that while the overall rate of HIV transmission is falling, it continues to rise among youth ages 13-24. All youth can benefit from knowing their HIV status and modifying their behavior to reduce their risk of infection. However most youth as well as most adults do not know their HIV status. In 2006, experts on HIV and the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) released a new recommendation that all people over the age of 13 receive HIV testing as a part of their routine health care.

The National Youth Advocacy Coalition has partnered with CDC to develop You Know Different, the first national social marketing campaign to increase HIV testing among youth and young adults. The Campaign specifically targets African American youth who identify as lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, or questioning (LGBTQ).

History of You Know Different
You Know Different is the first youth HIV-testing social marketing campaign to directly involve youth in its development. This campaign was created for youth by youth and NYAC engaged youth in every stage of the campaign development and implementation.

NYAC, along with the marketing firm Metropolitan Group, conducted ten youth focus groups. Six focus groups assessed the barriers that prevent youth from accessing HIV testing services. From the focus groups, we learned that the barriers to gay youth accessing HIV services were: denial, fear, stigma, and misinformation. Denying risk factors makes you feel safe. Being fearful of an HIV positive diagnosis prevents testing. Twenty-five years later, HIV still has a bad stigma. Many youth and adults still lack information about HIV.

The social marketing focus group realized no commercial or radio message actually focused on HIV testing. Condom use messages were out there but messages on HIV testing were rare. The youth suggested messages appear in various forms of media. They suggested messages that were simple, direct, and somewhat grim. They also suggested any images be age-specific. In order to come up with an image that represented the youth, they brought in items that represented them, including pictures of their bedrooms, friends, etc. This is called an ethnography exercise and it assisted Metropolitan Group in coming up with the image. After all the suggestions were considered the youth approved the campaign image and slogan to the left.

To read more about the campaign visit http://www.youknowdifferent.org.

For more information on HIV testing in your area please visit the CDC's National HIV testing resource website at http://www.hivtest.org/index.htm