Council on Communications
Dr. Edwin (Ted) Berkinshaw
The Council held conference calls on December 22, 2005, and February 8, 2006 and met in St. Louis on December 2-3, 2005. The Council will next meet in St. Louis on July 21-22, 2006.
Creative focus groups were conducted in St. Louis on January 9 and January 10, 2006. Following are conclusions from the groups:
- Consumers may not be confused about the identity of an orthodontist, but they are definitely uninformed about the unique qualifications of an orthodontist.
- Any execution chosen for production should state in audio and visual: Only an orthodontist has 2-3 years of program training beyond dental school to learn the way to properly align teeth. Straightening and aligning teeth is what they do and it's all they do.
- The inclusion of the Web site address was a strong positive because the Web site 1) legitimized the advertising message; 2) empowered the consumer with information to educate themselves; and 3) was perceived as an objective fact source.
- More than a Smile, a recommended spot, should include a broader age range to include some children; should show some actors wearing braces; the spot should include scenes that demonstrate confidence.
DVD No. 2, which will be an insert in the March Bulletin, will feature an introduction and conclusion by Drs. Ted Berkinshaw and Lee Graber. The primary objective of DVD No. 2 is to share the proposed message with the AAO membership.
The quantitative General Dentist Survey is scheduled to mail the week of February 13. The AAO is mailing the quantitative survey to about 5,000 general dentists. The Research and Planning Group will forward a final report to the AAO about 3 months after the mailing goes. The focus groups (qualitative portion of the survey) are tentatively scheduled for February 28 and March 1.
While the Council likes the NOHM printed materials, they would like the dissemination of the materials done in a more cost effective manner. In 2006, the NOHM How-to Guide will be developed by staff but will only be available as a pdf at www.AAOmembers.org. This change will be publicized in The Bulletin, so members will know to visit the member Web site. Additionally, the Council proposed that the NOHM poster be mailed as a Bulletin insert vs. as a separate mailing.
The Communications/Marketing Department has completed the customization of the National Facial Protection Month How-to Guide for AAOMS. The customized guide is crrently at the printer and will be shipped to AAOMS by Feb. 13. The customization is in response to a letter written by AAO President DeSoto and forwarded to AAOMS and AAPD. In the letter, Dr. DeSoto volunteers the customization service for a fee of $1,500. The AAPD, who has a new staff person in their Communications Department, said that they were not interested in the customization of the piece for this year. AAPD said that they needed additional time to think about developing new resources for their members.
The braces.org planning committee met December 2, 2005. During the meeting, the committee decided on a taxonomy, expressed that the site's primary target audience would be mothers, ages 25-54 with children ages 17 and under in the home, and agreed to think in terms of marketing to this target audience when gathering materials for the www.braces.org redesign. Adults interested in treatment were identified as a secondary target of the redesigned Web site matching the demographics of orthodontic practices.
Due to time constraints and other higher-priority projects, "Brace Your Face" did not get updated or converted to DVD during the 2006 fiscal year. The Council has requested funding be placed for this project in the 2007 PR/Advertising Budget.
About 50 orthodontic photos have been placed on a CD-ROM that will be sold to the membership for about $15-25 per CD-ROM. Currently, the CD-ROM is in its second round of reviews with the COC. Following Council review, the CD-ROM will be reviewed internally and will then be forwarded to Committee C. Once completed, the CD-ROM will be publicized in AAO member materials. The CD-ROM will include the following types of photos: pre-treatment, photos taken during treatment, post treatment photographs, photographs of doctors, photographs of staff, and intraoral photographs. None of the photos on the draft CD have ever appeared in an AAO publication.
The Council sent a recommendation to the Board of Trustees that requests the formation of a subcommittee to include Dr. Myron Guymon from COC and two COMEJC members who will review the Logo Standards Manual. Following the review, the subcommittee will forward an appropriate resolution to the 2006 House of Delegates.
The two-phase brochure, recently completed by the Council, is currently at the printer. It will sell to the membership at a price of $10 for 50 brochures. The "exit" brochure design has been completed and staff is wrapping up on the photography for this publication. After securing all of the appropriate approvals, the "exit" brochure will be forwarded to the printer. This brochure is on-target for completion before the 2006 Annual Session.
Two proposed PSAs will address the topic of a healthy orthodontic makeover. Message points that have been given to the producer include:
- Consult an orthodontist to learn the nature of a perceived problem.
- The orthodontist will work with your dentist.
- An underlying orthodontic problem should be corrected first before seeking cosmetic enhancements.
- Cosmetic enhancements after orthodontic treatment may be easier to place, last longer and look better.
- The orthodontist is concerned about the health of the teeth and gums of each patient, now and in the future.
Both PSAs, which are part of the 2006 PR/Advertising Budget, will be filmed in late March and/or early April. Both PSAs will be filmed and edited at the same time, providing an economy of scale. One PSA will be released immediately upon approval; the second PSA will be released six months later.