Teen Action Committee (TAC) was a three-year, public action campaign project designed to speak directly to teenagers about unhealthy dating relationships. The goal is to focus on prevention by reshaping the way teens think and behave before relationship violence and abuse has become ingrained. As TAC's research partner, Beetrix has helped both fuel the campaign strategy and test the effectiveness of the creative executions.

Through in-depth interviews, some with teens who had witnessed or experienced abusive behaviors, Beetrix helped TAC understand teenagers' motivations and concerns. One key finding was that while teens did recognize actual abuse, they didn't know what to do in the uncomfortable gray area of potentially abusive behavior. With these insights, TAC was able to craft meaningful communications and creative strategies.

Beetrix interview techniques not only uncovered the teens' thoughts and feelings about the situation, they gave them substantive dimension - supplying words and imagery that the ad agency could use to create powerful messaging.

Beetrix returned to test which of the agency's interpretations resonated most with teen audiences. For greatest authenticity, Beetrix conducted testing among small groups of friends, to simulate the social environment in which teens will be viewing and processing the ads. The selected campaign (see images above) uses real-life scenarios and language to illustrate the difference between appropriate and unacceptable behaviors, validate the impulse to speak up, and steer teens toward supportive resources.

Piloted in Massachusetts in October 2003, the broadcast and print ad campaign, along with a web site and teen mentoring program, was launched nationally in 2004.