The Word of Mouth Marketing Association highlights tips from the Prostate Net’s Virgil Simons on how he used a grassroots-based word of mouth campaign to increase the number of men in underserved communities getting screened for prostate cancer. Working with a volunteer force of over 300 barbers who went through his training, his project has reached over 10,000 of the participating barbers’ customers and detected a whopping 452 cases of prostate cancer.
This campaign was right on the mark in so many ways:
- It reached men at a place that every man needs to go on a regular basis — the barbershop.
- It utilized people who were trusted in the community, who already had personal relationships with each customer — the barbers.
- It worked with local hospitals and other partners to have free screening tests available for the men referred by the barbers.
- It jumped on an incredibly timed opportunity for exposure by tying in the campaign with the movie “Barbershop 2,” which was released during that period.
- It provided ongoing incentives and recognition for the barbers who were involved with the effort.
- It was such an unusual type of campaign that it was able to get extensive news coverage, and even a mention on the Jay Leno show.
For more information, you can see Virgil’s presentation at the WOMMA conference (pdf).
Nedra helps nonprofits and public agencies create positive change on health and social issues through social marketing and transmedia storytelling strategies at Weinreich Communications since founding the company in 1995. She helps organizations make a difference for the populations they serve by strategically designing programs that draw on state-of-the-art behavior change techniques, digital media approaches and the power of stories. 
Thanks for putting out this info campaign to help save lives. Especially to help screen those in underserved communities.
Great work and great info.
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