Social Marketing as a Framework for Youth Physical Activity Initiatives: a 10-Year Retrospective on the Legacy of CDC's VERB Campaign

Abstract

Purpose of review: In 2002, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) launched the VERB. It's what you do! campaign to increase physical activity among tweens and concomitantly respond to the rise in childhood obesity. This retrospective study summarizes the history of the VERB campaign's social marketing approach and its effectiveness in promoting behavior change in the targeted population.

Recent findings: The legacy of VERB, which ended in 2006, is discussed, with an emphasis on examining initiatives over the last decade and the degree to which they followed (or did not follow) the structural and thematic lead of the campaign. The article ends with suggestions for how VERB still has the potential to inform other social marketing campaigns going forward.

Keywords: Adolescents; Behavior change; CDC; Campaigns; Communication; Evaluation; Exchange; Kids; Physical activity; Place; Price; Product; Promotion; Social marketing; Tweens; VERB; Youth.