The prevalence of smoking and its detrimental effect on the health of smokers and non-smokers have alarmed government authorities. It is in this context that Yosi Kadiri Information and Education Anti-Smoking Campaign has been conceptualized and implemented.

The Program

Yosi Kadiri Campaign aims to reduce the prevalence of smoking among the youth in the 7 to 19 age bracket from 22.7% in 1987 to at least 12% by the end of 1997.

Its audience includes non-smoking male and female children and teenagers with emphasis on the 12 to 16 age group. Generally the campaign appeals to everyone across the strata of society from the rich enclave of Ayala Alabang to the depressed area of Smokey Mountain down to Butuan and Basilan City.

The Strategy

A mascot called Yosi Kadiri is the Campaign’s spokesman together with a media network composed of outdoor signs, commercial center signages, television, call/home radio, newspapers, magazines, school organs, comic books, and premium items.

The campaign hopes to change the predisposition and predecision to go into the habit of smoking at a certain age at a certain time.

Valuable advantages conveyed by the strategy revolve on the following:

1. The young generation of clean, happy and active young people, the new culture, and the new breed of trendsetters are non-smokers.
2. Not smoking is the fashion. Being a non-smoker is being “in”
3. Being a non-smoker is not being ostracized by society or being rejected by peers.

Results

The campaign has created a consciousness on non-smoking. Schools, certain public areas and even office buildings have been declared No Smoking areas by their respective authorities.

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On its fourth phase of implementation, the Grains Enhancement Production Program (GPEP) of the Department of Agriculture (DA) has not made a mark in terms of recall among farmers, ruralfolk, national and local officials, and much less among urban consumers, the general public and mediamen.

The lack of a catchy, appealing term instead of GPEP is one of the main setbacks in terms of recall. The adoption of a Filipino phrase like Gintong Ani, provided a greater recall than GPEP.

Other factors which have contributed to GPEP’s low recall include the absence or lack of slogans in the form of radio and TV plugs regularly aired on leading broadcast networks; IEC materials (posters, leaflet, primer, brochures, etc.); regular PR and media advocacy activities; and promotional field activities or special events.

The Program

A. The campaign aimed to dramatically increase the level of awareness of various publics (farmers, consumers, national/local officials, general public) on Gintong Ani through a national massive integrated info and media campaign. It entailed the production and implementation of info and media materials and activities such as:

1. Radio and TV plugs with Gintong Ani jingle
2. Print and promotional materials – posters, stickers, billboards, primers, brochures with attractive illustration/pictures and catchy Gintong Ani slogans, major technologies and components;
3. Media activities – monthly press conference, weekly and quarterly cocktails, out of town coverage of the DA Secretary; packaging and placement of press releases (news, features, photos, video clips), guesting of the Secretary in leading radio/TV programs and media fora/gatherings, newspaper clippings and monitoring, drafting of clarificatory letters to adverse media items/commentaries, drafting of the Secretary’s speeches/messages; and
4. Special events – planting/harvest festivals, field days, fairs and exhibits, info caravans, turnover of Gintong Ani “goods” (solar dryers, postharvest facilities, seeds, SWIPs, STWs, etc.), and a nationwide contest/search for outstanding Gintong Ani participating farmers, technicians, farmers’ groups and cooperating LGUs.

To determine the campaign’s effectiveness, a monitoring and evaluation component was likewise implemented.

B. The four major activities were also aimed at generating policy and resource (financial) support from Congress, concerned national government agencies and local government units. Furthermore, with the high visibility posture, Gintong Ani gained favorable awareness, media mileage and understanding from its target publics or audiences.

The Gintong Ani info and media advocacy campaign specifically addressed the info/media needs of the following:

1. Farmers in Gintong Ani (GPEP) provinces
2. Local Government Officials (governors, mayors, provincial and municipal agriculturist and agriculture technicians)
3. Policy-makers (Congress and concerned national government agencies)
4. Media
5. Consumers or the general public
6. Internal public (DA family)

A central theme was pursued to effectively communicate a major message that “Government through the Department of Agriculture is pouring resources and exerting efforts to increase rice production and attain self-sufficiency”

Several key messages in the form of slogans reinforced the central theme. These include:

1. Sa Gintong Ani, dadami ang palay, giginhawa ang buhay
2. Sa Gintong Ani, sigurado ang supply ng bigas
3. Magkabalikat ang DA at ang LGUs sa pagpapatupad ng Gintong Ani (Gintong Ani is a DA-LGU partnership)

The various campaign activities were jointly undertaken by the following units: OSEC/Press Office, DA Information Division, DA AIMS and NAFC. Other DA units – Regional Field Units (RFUs), concerned bureaus and attached agencies and corporations – were tapped as needed.

The collegial body was initially called the Gintong Ani Task Force chaired by an Assistant Secretary.

For the immediate term, the campaign started as early as March 1996, peaking in May during the Farmers’ and Fishermen’s Month and DA anniversary celebration, and ended December 1996.

The Strategy

Radio and TV plugs consisted of the following:

A. Jingle Production. The Task Force has a Gintong Ani jingle to form part of the 30-second radio and TV plugs which were aired via two modes: (1) through PIA/KBP for a minimal fee covering all government and commercial radio/TV stations nationwide; and (2) through direct commercial placements in selected leading radio and TV programs.

The Gintong Ani jingle goes:

Ang Gintong Ani aming iaalay
Sa Gintong Ani dadami ang palay
Sa Gintong Ani giginhawa nag buhay

The jingle was farmed out to three commercial jingle /song writers to determine its popular appeal and recall. Thereafter, it was professionally recorded utilizing a rondalla and the Quedancor Chorale.

B. Radio plug production. With the jingle, a 30-second radio plug was packaged, incorporating an opening billboard or CBB which goes – “Sa karagdagang kaalaman tungkol sa Gintong Ani, sumangguni sa inyong Municipal o Provincial Agriculturist. Ang mensaheng ito ay mula sa Department of Agriculture, OPS-PIA, KBP at ng himpilang ito. Tulong-tulong sa pagsulong tungo sa Pilipinas 2000!”

DA through its AV group/facilities at ATI packaged and replicated the 30-second radio plug into RB3’s or broadcast form.

C. Placement through PIA/KBP. The radio plug was aired in all 51 Metro Manila (26) and provincial (25) radio stations nationwide in cooperation with PIA and KBP.

D. Direct placement in leading radio programs for a more effective reach. DA negotiated a contract with major radio stations (DZRH, DZMM, DZBB and DZXL) which aired the plugs on non-primetime thru PIA and KBP.

The Gintong Ani 30-second plug was aired at least four times a day particularly on popular morning programs such as those of Joe Taruc (DZRH), Mel and Jay (DZMM). Kape at Balita (DZBB), etc. the radio plug was aired progressively, peaking in May during the Gintong Ani launching, coinciding with DA Anniversary And Farmers’ and Fishermen’s Month celebration. Placement was then reduced back to four slots a day in June and July.

A different set of radio plugs was repacked (as in situational drama or question and answer format), but still retained the jingle and slogan.

E. TV Plug production/placement. The radio jingle appealed more to viewers as the plug highlights Gintong Ani interventions (postharvest, STWs, SWIPs, seeds, etc.) The TV plug used the radio plug soundtrack but with video inserts and graphics.

As in radio, the TV plug was aired in all networks thru PIA/KBP for a minimal fee and direct primetime placement in commercial TV network (ABS-CBN 2, ABC 5 and GMA 7). Government TV stations (PTV 4, RPN 9 and IBC 13) were requested to air the TV plug on primetime.

Camera work, editing and musical scoring were done by DA through ATI audio-visual facilities. Professional people were contracted to execute computer graphics and voice-over.

As TV placements were more expensive, these were aired only in April and May in leading programs on Channels 2, 5, 7 and 13 at least once a week, for a total of eight weeks each.

F. Revival of DA Farmcasters. DA revived its network of farmcasters for a wider and deeper media mileage in the provinces through a Memorandum of Agreement between DA and the Office of the Press Secretary through the Bureau of Broadcasts. It granted DA free airtime, for a DA-sponsored and packaged radio program, in all government radio stations.

The radio program was hosted by a DA farmcaster using scripts written by respective DA RFU Info staff. The program content includes Gintong Ani updates, success stories, new policies and directives, interviews of DA Family Officials, and other agriculture related news.

To sustain the activity, DA thru RFUs provided farmcasters with reasonable incentives/allowances.

To achieve maximum awareness and understanding, the Gintong Ani information campaign entails the packaging, production, dissemination and distribution of print and audiovisual development information materials.

Undertaken by the DA Information Division, these materials include Gintong Ani primer, rice technology and postharvest brochures, leaflets, posters, stickers, billboards and info kits. These were produced and distributed before the launching of Gintong Ani on the first week of May.

The Media Relations Group composed of the DA Press Office and OSEK took charge of activities starting March 1996, peaking in May during the launching of Gintong Ani, and sustained throughout 1996. These include monthly press conferences, weekly cocktails with the press, out-of-town coverage, supplements and special reports in newspapers and magazines, TV and radio guestings, clippings and monitoring, and special events.

Results

An evaluation determined the effectiveness of various activities in increasing the level of awareness of the public. Monitoring activities were done on the national, regional, provincial levels. Evaluation then followed aimed at guiding the Gintong Ani Task Force to revise or further improve info and media strategies. It was suggested that an impartial, reputable monitoring agency/NGO be commissioned to conduct this component.

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TLRC: Agrisiyete
1993 Gawad Oscar M. Florendo, Public Relations Organization of the Philippines (PROP)

Rationale

The need to popularize technologies and to convey new ideas to a wider audience has given birth to Agrisiyete, a TV program aired through GMA-Channel 7.

The Program

The show, even though highly instructional, was presented in a light, informal manner. Envisioned to serve as a medium for the effective transfer of agricultural technologies in the areas of crops, livestock and aquaculture, strong efforts were made to ensure that technologies presented were ecologically sound.

The show’s audiences were farmers, farmer-entrepreneurs, aspiring farmers, agriculture enthusiasts, students, housewives, out-of-school youth and all those interested in or may benefit from farming either as a hobby, an avocation or as a means of livelihood. Show host was the late Bert “Kaka” Marcelo who represented the show’s audience – a farmer who was eager to learn technologies in order to upgrade his own farm or start his new agribusiness. In the process, the audience learned with him. The audience’s probable questions were voiced out by Kaka and were answered by resource persons. He was supported by home-grown talents such as Teo Antonio (Ka Temyong), Nathaniel Cruz (Momoy) and Gerardo Pascua (Pido), and from time to time, by Lou Veloso (Clark).

The Strategy

The show had two major segments: the technology segment discussed specific technologies; and the feature segment tackled environmental issues (Monday), people (Tuesday), places (Wednesday), policy matters (Thursday), and trends like inventions, new technologies, etc. (Friday).

Approximately two million viewers were reached by the show nationwide. Agrisiyete has received a special citation from the Citizens Council for Mass Media and was cited by CCP as one of the nation’s top 20 TV programs for 1994. More than 65 courses covering 429 30-minute episodes or broadcast lessons have been produced.

The entry course, Pagpaparami ng Purong Binhi ng Palay, was composed of five episodes covering a whole range of technology information on rice seed production, from industry profile, to planting, farm management, harvesting and marketing of rice seeds.

The course was produced in cooperation with the Philippine Rice Research Institute (PhilRice). Experts from PhilRice, Mr. Hilario dela Cruz and Mr. Frisco Malabanan, were tapped as resource persons.