PR CAMPAIGN AROUND YOUTH ONLINE SPORTS BETTING & YOUTH SOCIAL MEDIA USE
Response Due Date: October 18, 2024
REQUEST FOR RESPONSE
INTRODUCTION
The Office of the Attorney General (“AGO”) is seeking proposals for a qualified vendor to develop two distinct public awareness campaigns with the goals of informing the public about the risks for youth associated with (1) the use of social media and (2) online sports betting. Successful responses to this RFR will (1) identify the best methods for delivering these awareness messages to targeted audiences and (2) implement the strategy using the identified methods and audiences. The campaigns should also include tools to assess the current awareness and behavior related to both social media use and online sports betting
among youth. In March 2024, Attorney General Campbell introduced a new initiative to address the risks associated with online sports betting among youth in Massachusetts. The initiative, known as the Youth Sports Betting Safety Coalition, is a public-private partnership that includes key stakeholders such as the Massachusetts Gaming Commission, the NCAA, Massachusetts Council on Gaming and Health, and several of Boston’s professional sports teams.
Additionally, following lawsuits filed by the office against social media companies for unfair and deceptive practices that harm young people, Attorney General Campbell is launching a series of social media risk awareness trainings targeting youth audiences throughout Massachusetts. The goals of these trainings are to inform youth audiences on the risks associated with social media, to help youth identify deceptive practices designed to engage in overuse of social media, and to guide youth on taking actions to prevent overusing social media platforms.
Given the pervasiveness of both of these issues, as well as overlapping audiences, the AGO is seeking a vendor that can research, design, and implement two public awareness campaigns that address the harms of social media and online sports betting on youth. The audiences for each campaign will be young people (ages 12 – 20) and parents in Massachusetts. The objectives of both public awareness campaigns will be to educate the public about the risks and harms associated with these products in ways that ultimately lead to lasting attitude and behavior change.
II. SCOPE OF SERVICES
The selected vendor will be responsible for developing two public awareness campaigns that address the harms of online sports betting and social media for young people. The selected vendor will be expected to collaborate with AGO staff on the development and implementation of the messaging campaigns. Duties and responsibilities will include:
• Researching and recommending the most effective messages, messengers, and
dissemination platforms for delivering the awareness campaigns.
• Using a multi-channel approach that leverages both online and offline methods to
maximize reach and impact for both topics.
• Defining the optimal target audience for each component of the campaign, for youth in the age range of 12-20 and demographics for social media risks and online sports betting.
• Developing messaging strategies that effectively communicate the risks of social media use and online sports betting to the identified target audiences. This should include considerations for language, tone, and visuals that will resonate with youth.
• Identifying ideal messengers that will be most influential for audience targets.
• Recommending innovative methods to engage the audience, such as interactive content, influencer partnerships, storytelling, and peer-to-peer communication, tailored to both social media risks and online sports betting.
• Designing and implementing research tools to assess the current level of awareness and behavior regarding social media use and online sports betting among the target audiences.
• Developing campaign project budgets, timelines, and performance benchmarks.
• Executing the campaign while regularly monitoring progress towards goals and providing regular progress reports.
• Conducting a post-campaign analysis documenting what accomplished and
recommendations for future campaigns.
