You’d think that a program that’s reduced teen tobacco use by nearly 40% would ooze street cred. But focus groups found that the Iowa Department of Public Health’s youth tobacco prevention program, Just Eliminate Lies (JEL), suffered from its success.Research suggested that JEL messages had credibility and a “national” quality that teens really liked. It was apparent however that the edge needed to be sharpened once again and we needed to do it in a way that wasn’t contrived. So, in November of 2009, JEL launched a high-school aged Battle of the Bands entirely through social media. Using live music that teens created to engage other teens allowed JEL to sharpen its edgy image.

The five month-long, three-phased contest called upon high-school-aged-bands from all over Iowa to submit “auditions” online through JEL’s website (www.JELiowa.org) and JEL-sponsored social networking web pages on Facebook, YouTube, and MySpace became hubs for discussion, voting and competition. Teens interacted by watching and judging the video auditions, voting for their favorite bands through online polls to decide which band would get an all ages gig at a popular Iowa music venue. Anti-tobacco use messages served as a backdrop to stay true to the JEL mission.

Teen members of JEL launched the competition through online word-of-mouth. A promo video produced by ZLRIGNITION created interest on the www.crushotherbands.com website. Grassroots efforts included hanging posters at teen oriented music venues all over Iowa. The “JEL Street Team”, and our sponsors for the event, made sure this campaign had some clout and that JEL’s fingerprints were all over it.

It grew into a statewide phenomenon. In all, 20 bands entered from across the state. Over 2,100 Facebook fans made thousands of positive comments on the fan page. Approximately 4,000 votes were cast over two voting sessions. Four hundred fans came to the final show to witness the JEL Final Battle Live.