Victor and ErikaWebnovela: An Innovative Generation @ Audience Engagement Strategy for Prevention

The cultural persona as nexus between structural marginalization and youth risk behavior

“…Branding theory is a potentially useful approach to address identity development because it entails the linking and packaging of behavior in relation to an attribute‐driven identity (Evans et al, 2018), especially where the brand identity is community derived and represents community aspirations. The branding for Adelante was then incorporated in community communications and youth‐driven social media (Andrade et al, 2015), where the avoidance or substitution of risk behaviors was integrated into a brand identity that held some social cache. While not a community intervention, the Truth Campaign for tobacco prevention among adolescents is an excellent example of reframing (reversing) risk behavior and the identities associated with it, and employing an oppositional identity to promote prevention behavior (Evans, Wasserman, Bertolotti, & Martino, 2002; Hicks, 2001). …”

“…Branding theory is a potentially useful approach to address identity development because it entails the linking and packaging of behavior in relation to an attribute‐driven identity (Evans et al, 2018), especially where the brand identity is community derived and represents community aspirations. The branding for Adelante was then incorporated in community communications and youth‐driven social media (Andrade et al, 2015), where the avoidance or substitution of risk behaviors was integrated into a brand identity that held some social cache.…”

Adelante Ambassadors: Using Digital Media to Facilitate Community Engagement and Risk-Prevention for Latino Youth

“…An important part of Adelante was the program's engagement strategy, which included development of an Adelante brand identity, social media outreach, and other innovative engagement strategies, including the use of webnovelas to promote healthier choices and lifestyles (Andrade, Evans, Edberg, Cleary, & Villalba, 2015). The Adelante Ambassadors program was one such Adelante youth activity, which served as a bridge between in-person PYD programming and Adelante engagement efforts.…”

“…It was built upon the successes of Adelante's Victor & Erika webnovela series (Andrade et al, 2015;Evans et al, 2016) and a pilot Social Media for Advocacy youth program. These activities contributed to the Adelante brand identity, which was developed in collaboration with youth, thus increasing brand engagement ).…”

“…Youth created webbased dramatic episodes that told the stories of youth's struggles and successes in Langley Park (Andrade et al, 2015). Adelante Ambassadors aimed to build upon the webnovela series, but with shorter videos, by introducing different characters and storylines.…”