VTSF Marketing Director Danny Saggese at the world conference.

Around the World with VTSF

The Virginia Tobacco Settlement Foundation went global in July, sharing with tobacco-control peers worldwide how Virginia has built a youth movement with its Y St. group for teens, making it cool not to smoke.

Several VTSF staffers attended the 13th annual World Conference on Tobacco OR Health in Washington, D.C., from July 12 to 15. The conference drew some 10,000 tobacco-control and cancer-research professionals.

VTSF Marketing Director Danny Saggese and Jeff Jordan, president of Rescue Social Change Group, which manages VTSF’s street-team marketing, both presented poster sessions at the world conference, discussing how Virginia is building its anti-smoking movement among teens through Jordan’s principle of “social marketing.” Using the same methods by which large corporations like Nike and Starbucks and Apple Computers build brand loyalty by having consumers identify the brand with a lifestyle, the VTSF is making not smoking a cool lifestyle choice for teens.

“When a brand is created right, people can actually have a relationship with it,” Jordan says, “including identifying with it [and] giving it social authority — that they know more about being cool than I do. … We believe you can create a brand that is like a controlled cool kid at school who can push whatever behaviors you want — tobacco prevention or underage drinking prevention in high school.”

An invitation-only group, Y St. recruits teen “influencers” — or trendsetters — to educate their peers in fun, non-confrontational ways about why it’s not smart to smoke. Unlike a lot teen tobacco-control groups in other states, Y St. also hosts parties and events all the time, not just once or twice a year. Y St. teens donated more than 1,000 volunteer hours last year, contacting more than 10,000 of their peers statewide. About 1,500 teens will have been trained Y St. members by the end of this year.

Jordan also gave a speech about social branding at the conference and Rescue SKG hosted an information booth.

Meanwhile, other VTSF staff members learned about the latest in tobacco-control research and strategies at the world conference, attending interesting seminars such as one looking at the impact smoking in movies and television has on teens. The world conference was kicked off by a discussion moderated by CNN’s Larry King with panel members such as former U.S. Surgeon General Dr. C. Everett Koop.

The VTSF staffers who attended the world conference were: Grants Program Administrator Lisa Brown; Program Specialist Terri-Ann Brown; Public Affairs Coordinator Richard Foster; Program Specialist Charlie McLaughlin Jr.; and Saggese.