We were both surprised and pleased by the amount of planning and preparation that went into creating the campaign. The process for creating PSAs in general begins with strong pro-social intentions and careful research. The process for planning "Small Steps" began in 2002 for a March 2004 launch. Their creative process is not dissimilar from the Children's Television Workshop in that research, content and production play separate but collaborative roles in the development of the campaign.

A significant challenge facing the success of PSAs is air time: for donated space, it is not surprising that networks are not prioritizing or carefully strategizing the placement of PSAs. While it appears that the Ad Council has successfully harnessed the creative talent of ad agencies willing to work pro bono, there continue to be hurdles in the distribution phase. The problem isn't getting them made, it's getting them seen.

One question raised by our investigation is: how successful are these ads in the long-run? The goals of the campaign are surprising: it is not atypical for the Ad Council to seize upon measures of success that might be considered ancillary or only half-steps to the goal. They often relate to the distribution: how many fliers were distributed; how much airtime was secured. Sometimes, the goals are concrete: how many people call a listed 800 number. Most of their stated goals in their presentation do not appear to correlate with the measures of success they are pursuing (as far as we can discern); their strategy proposal indicates that people are already aware of the dangers of obesity and the benefits of exercise/healthy diet, but their campaign seeks to measure this awareness anyway, rather than focusing on measuring changes in behavior.

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Development and Goal Chart for another Weight Reduction Campaign, VERB, by the CDC

The reasons behind this focus are clear. As evidenced by the flow chart created by a different campaign against obesity -- VERB, by the CDC -- there are many steps on the road to behavioral change; seeing one ad for 30 seconds is not likely to create a sea change in a person's lifestyle. (Though, notably, advertisements do appear to influence people's consumer habits; otherwise, why would companies spend millions for a spot at the Super Bowl?) Since PSAs are not aimed at influencing a single purchase but rather a shift in lifestyle choices, campaigns often develop short- and medium-term goals that serve as checkpoints toward their goal. For example, in the VERB campaign, the CDC may end up measuring how well parents are informed about the ad campaign. Then, among those who are aware, the CDC can measure how their knowledge and beliefs have changed as a result. Then, among those who have been educated by the ad, the CDC can measure how many have subsequently encouraged their children to initiate physical activity. And so on. With such an ambitious goal, the act of determining and evaluating each presumed step along the way will help the campaign determine where it needs to put more energy in the future.

All told, it is probably wise for the Ad Council not to be so ambitious as to measure their success on the ultimate reduction in obesity; there are so many other factors that influence whether or not someone will choose a healthy lifestyle. In general, while the Ad Council realizes that people already know about the dangers of obesity (see step 2, and the transtheoretical model), the "awareness" and "knowledge" aspects of behavioral change may be the limits of an ad campaign's locus of control. The Small Steps campaign attempts to bridge this gap by providing consumers with new information and suggestions that they can do immediately. The hope: when the message is a do-able, suggested behavioral change -- rather than a simple alert to a problem, perhaps PSAs can expand their realm of influence.

Of course, it requires further research to determine whether the lack of focused distribution prevents institutions like the Ad Council from determining the ultimate effectiveness of its campaigns.