ProMobile BI Designs Indian State Government Anti-Tobacco Campaign with Vyond

Vyond videos raise awareness in India schools about tobacco’s risks

About ProMobile BI

ProMobile BI is a global small business that develops L&D programs of all types: eLearning, instructor-led programs, video, AI and augmented-reality solutions. Their principals are experts in adult learning theory, instructional design, gamification, project management, data analysis, and program evaluation.

Industry

Business Services

Employees

Challenge

Throughout India, an estimated 29% of adults use some form of tobacco and it’s taking a huge human and economic toll. India’s department of education set out to address the problem starting within their ecosystem. With a grant through the U.S. National Institutes of Health, they partnered with experts from India’s Healis School for Public Health, Dana Farber Cancer Institute, and Harvard Medical School to develop a training curriculum to reduce tobacco use among school personnel.

The instructor-led pilot program proved successful for one small school district, earning the team more funding. But with hundreds of districts across India, the in-person program would be impossible to scale. So the team set out to find digital ways to deliver the content and an approach that would help build community around participants, reinforcing their decision to stop using tobacco.

The team recruited ProMobile BI’s India-based team, led by Paromita Mehta, and gamification expert Chuck Sigmund for help. Paromita and team had been using Vyond since 2015 when she was introduced to the tool during her time at Amazon and knew it’d be a versatile tool for creating highly engaging content that could be gamified, while simpler to use than other creative tools.

Approach

The team drew from the original curriculum to create a total of 150 minutes of content across 16 Vyond videos, with characters and scenes reflecting the 500+ participants across 80 schools. Topics ranged from the health risks of using tobacco to ways to support fellow teachers who might be irritable from nicotine withdrawal. Assessments and journaling activities helped reinforce learning and encourage reflection.

Mobile phones are everywhere in India, so a mobile app was an easy choice to deliver the six-month curriculum — and well-suited to strategic gamification and digital storytelling. To hold participants’ interest, the training program weaves in elements of Indian culture, notably the symbolic use of colors and kites.

The ultimate prize was recognition: the heads of Dana Farber Cancer Institute and Harvard Medical School will visit the winning school personally to deliver a plaque.

How Vyond helped

Using Vyond allowed the project team to tailor the content precisely for their audience and brought levity to a serious topic. “We could customize the smallest details to make sure people saw themselves in the videos,” Chuck said. “Vyond gave us the flexibility and power to create a highly creative and immersive environment for the participants. And the videos are well-suited for use in a fully gamified environment.”

Vyond’s extensive asset library was valuable and where assets didn’t yet exist, the Vyond team jumped in to help. For example, Chuck worked with Vyond’s customer success team to outfit a character in an authentic-looking kurta — a long, tunic-style shirt — by combining a t-shirt and apron asset in the same color. They also found clever ways to visualize healthy and unhealthy lungs.

Language versatility was another useful feature. Paromita and the team created the content in English, but translated all text and text-to-speech into Hindi. “The flexibility with language was critical for us using Vyond. This wouldn’t have worked as an English-based program.”

Based on this program’s impact and success, the project team is now working to secure funding so they can scale it across all schools across India.

“This program has a truly unique and creative design. The teams worked diligently to build something that is not only in line with Indian culture, but is engaging and truly impactful,” says Dr. Eve Nagler, Sr. Scientist, Dana Farber Cancer Institute.

“There’s value in all training, and I am proud of all the work we do at ProMobile. But from a ‘value to society’ perspective, I am extraordinarily honored to have been part of this project that is making a real difference in India,” says Chuck.