The Scrutinize Campaign: A Youth HIV Prevention Campaign Addressing Multiple and Concurrent Partnerships

This 12-page case study documents the Scrutinize Campaign, a year-long series of animated HIV prevention adverts that appeared on South African television between June 2008 and 2009. The ads were designed to portray realistic situations that young people face, including condom use, multiple partners, teen pregnancy, alcohol use, and 'sugar daddies'. Each ad features the character Victor Scrutinise, co-created and voiced by comedian Joey Rasdien, as well as other well-known celebrities.

According to the producers, the primary goal of the campaign was to address the risk of HIV transmission from multiple and concurrent sexual partnerships (MCP), as research revealed that such partnerships play a critical role in driving HIV epidemics. The objectives of the campaign were to increase people's awareness of HIV infection risk due to MCP; delay sexual debut; reduce the number of concurrent partners young people have; promote correct and consistent condom use; and increase the number of people who regularly test for HIV.

The report looks at how the campaign was developed, beginning with formative research commissioned by Johns Hopkins Health Education in South Africa (JHHESA), as well as an expert briefing and literature review. This information was taken to a private sector communications firm, which took inspiration from animated TV shows such as South Park and the Simpsons in developing the concept for the "animerts". Pre-market testing was conducted once the first two ads were completed, resulting in some fine tuning. Five more ads were produced after this; each of the seven final ads deals with a specific HIV prevention issue.

According to the report, JHHESA collaborated with a number of partners to implement additional events and activities to support the ads on a community level. This included door-to-door visits, community events, arts and cultural events, and workshops. For example, Lighthouse Foundation ran workshops at local schools where students and facilitators discussed the campaign messages. A Facilitator and Community Action Guide was also produced which outlines the campaign messages and includes suggestions on how to adapt the campaign to the community. Promotional items such as coasters, stickers, hats, risk cards, and T-shirts were also produced.

In addition, the team created Scrutinize Live, a programme of performances and educational events held at university campuses. The events involved three days of art, dance, music, and drama activities with a concert featuring the stars of the ads held on the fourth day. The report states that the campaign also developed a significant internet presence, including a campaign website and an unofficial Facebook page set up by a campaign supporter. Victor Scrutinise also has his own Facebook profile, with more than 1400 friends who post comments and questions and are kept up-to-date about the campaign.

The report examines what worked well in the campaign as well as the challenges, and provides a number of recommendations. According to the authors, the campaigns connection to the target audience was one of its successes, as was the fact that it was highly collaborative, involving private companies, celebrities, NGOs, and community-based organisations. The wide variety of communication activities is also cited as a reason for the campaign's success. The high-quality production of the ads and clever use of visuals was also key.

The report explains that at four points during the broadcast schedule, two weeks after broadcasting began and then after new animerts were first broadcast, CADRE conducted audience research to assess how young people were responding. The research found that the animerts were seen as relevant and educational, depicting contexts and situations that were familiar to the viewers. The animerts prompted youth to think about their risk and question their sexual behaviours. Over time, the two primary messages that the audience associated with the campaign were that 1) having multiple and concurrent sexual partners increases the risk of contracting HIV and 2) inconsistent condom use with all partners increases the risk of HIV infection.

According to the report, one of the issues that emerged from the Scrutinize Campaign is how to achieve the right balance between HIV prevention messages that focus on condom use versus partner reduction. Pretest market research indicated it may be detrimental to include both messages in a single animert because the audience may be alert to only one of the key messages. However, the market research also shows that as the campaign progressed, the audience was able to absorb multiple messages from both single and multiple animerts. This issue is one that many prevention campaigns are likely to face.

Recommendations for future campaigns include:

• ensure that there is good research up front in order to help producers understand the context of HIV risk;
• know what the audience does and what they like, including slang terms and references, common activities, and popular celebrities;
• conduct ongoing market research and refine messaging accordingly;
• engage the audience by using their language and symbols;
• build sustainable programming by working with and supporting existing prevention programmes and developing tools that other organisations and interested parties can use; and
• consider animation as a medium for reaching youth as it can more easily address a range of sensitive issues than actors can, and visuals can be used to communicate complex concepts.