Dis.Is.Able

Abstract

This report presents Dis.Is.Able, a promotional campaign that aims to raise the public profile of Singapore’s para athletes through redefining strength and ability. It is organised by four final-year students from the Wee Kim Wee School of Communication and Information. Targeted at youths aged 13 to 25, Dis.Is.Able aims to build a stadium of fans ahead of the 8th ASEAN Para Games held for the first time in Singapore this December. The campaign seeks to improve attitudes towards para sports and intention to find out more about para sports. As the official social media agency for the 8th ASEAN Para Games from December 2014 to April 2015, Dis.Is.Able acts as a timely platform to ignite a national conversation on providing greater support for the para athletes. Identifying a cycle of indifference stemming from a lack of media coverage, the report recommends a public promotional campaign to boost media coverage and public awareness and support. Surveys were conducted before, during and after the campaign, in order to measure the changes in target audiences’ behaviour and knowledge level. Furthermore, pre-campaign survey (N = 248) results were analyzed to understand the existing barriers of communication and participation in para sports to develop the campaign tactics that would effectively reduce such obstacles. Intermediate and post-campaign survey results revealed the effectiveness of the campaign in achieving its goals in comparison to the pre-campaign survey results.