Cal Hep B Free is phasing out

To all our supporters:

During the last semester at UC Berkeley, Cal Hep B Free (CHBF) has made an amazing push in creating awareness around the risks and dangers of the Hepatitis B virus. Our goal was to have as many students “B smart, B tested, B free!” and ultimately, it was a big success as witnessed through our B a Hero Benefit Concert and Rally that attracted over 500 onlookers around campus.  In addition, we have increased the number of people who got themselves tested for Hepatitis B at the Tang Center by a statistically significant amount - about a 100% increase compared to the number of students that were tested for the Hepatitis B surface antigen and surface antibody each semester during the past few years.

In the end though, the leaders of Cal Hep B Free believe that the best action to take at this point is to gradually phase out the brand of "Cal Hep B Free" and merge all future campaign efforts and leadership with the existing, nationally recognized "Jade Ribbon Campaign" (JRC) spearheaded by national Team HBV collegiate chapters and the Asian Liver Center at Stanford University.

Rest assured, this decision was not made in haste, but rather through careful consideration of many factors.  And as always, our actions are guided with the goal in mind of educating as many people as possible about Hepatitis B and encouraging them to get tested. In general, this shift comes as a result of three significant issues:

1. Resources: Probably the most important reason for the change is due to the limited number of resources we have to put into a campaign or cause. These resources include money, time, supplies, and of course people. To clarify, all organizations are restricted by the amount of support it has at its disposal. In addition, there is a certain threshold which must be met before the organization reaches a sustainable rate of support. In this situation, after taking a detailed account of the resources available to the leadership of Cal Hep B Free, it was decided that only one real campaign could be continued. Then comes the difficult choice of deciding between the Cal Hep B Free Campaign and the Jade Ribbon Campaign.  Simply put, we don't have enough bricks to build two houses (or a smaller house within the bigger house) so one of them has got to go.

2. National Network: The Jade Ribbon Campaign essentially has the same goals of Cal Hep B Free. Both are dedicated to increasing education and awareness of Hepatitis B. Both want students to get tested. Both are run by the Team HBV chapters in their respective communities.  To decide between them then requires finding out what makes one of them better.  From a marketing perspective, it means finding out the differentiating factors and unique selling points.  While CHBF has higher brand equity at Cal, the truth is that the JRC brand has reached all the way to east coast Ivy League universities and even overseas to China.  More importantly, JRC has the support of Team HBV chapters around the nation and to eschew tapping into this resource would just be silly.

3. Potential for Future Growth: Finally, the JRC has more potential to do greater things in the future than CHBF. At its current state, the JRC is only somewhat coordinated, but if improved relations allow, this campaign and brand will have a much more cohesive and consistent message in the future.  This is due not only to the national support, but also due to larger institutions such as the Asian Liver Center at Stanford University. Furthermore, with a name like “Cal Hep B Free”, this campaign is doomed to be centered on this particular location and could never expand beyond Cal’s borders. In other words, the third reason for phasing out CHBF is because the JRC is poised to do so well later on. If it has done so much without our help, imagine what the Jade Ribbon Campaign could accomplish in a few semesters with the full support of UC Berkeley!

Therefore, in a few months Cal Hep B Free will be no more.  In no way does this diminish the work you have done in supporting this group (and we are all still deeply grateful for all those who helped).  This is merely a technical issue in which we move forward in a new direction because we believe it will yield the greatest results.  Team HBV and the Jade Ribbon Campaign are still dedicated to education, testing, and helping people be “free” from the dangers of Hepatitis B.  And so, we hope that all those who supported this cause before will continue to do so for the Jade Ribbon Campaign.

Sincerely,

Derek Chen, CMO
Denis Lam, CEO/Founder
Cal Hep B Free at UC Berkeley

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