Tag Archives: strategy

Behind the Scenes of NBC’s Parenthood Project

In the midst of reflecting on Pepsi Refresh, Disney and other CSR efforts, I received an email about another project with a social message–NBC’s Parenthood Project that worked in conjunction with the Boys and Girls Club. Curious–I responded to the email asking if I could interview someone behind the campaign to learn about the inter-workings of business doing good.

Enter Cathy Goldman, NBC Vice President, Promotion & Brand Management. Cathy was kind enough to answer my questions. And while NBC didn’t answer all my questions, I find the answers fascinating. What I take away from both the Web site and Cathy’s answers is how integrated each facet of the project is–from the TV series, to leveraging social media through video, photos and text, to the universal concept of parenthood–all the way to identifying a non-profit that has a strong family strengthening initiative–it’s smart. Read for yourself and share your thoughts below:

SB:  Where did the idea for the Parenthood Project originate and how did it evolve?

CG:  Using our campaign strategy as inspiration, we wanted to give viewers an opportunity to participate in the dialogue that we began about what parenthood means to them. Considering this very relate-able topic, we thought tying in a charity component would resonate strongly not only with consumers but with talent. The talent participation has exceeded our expectations as they were all willing to share in the cause.

SB:  What are the goals of the Parenthood Project–What is NBC hoping to achieve?

CG:  There were a few goals, including: to elevate the conversation on what parenthood means; establish a dialogue with our viewers to make them feel involved with this highly relate-able topic; raise funds for a valuable charity that closely aligns with the show content, and tap into our talent to raise this topic into cultural relevance.

SB:  How did the Boys and Girls Club get involved?

CG:  We wanted to partner with a charity that had a national footprint, and after doing some research, we found that The Boys and Girls Club had a powerful family program (Family Strengthening Initiative) that provides viable resources for families

SB:  How did you decide to involve people through social media–and how did you choose which social media to include?

CG:  In all of our marketing communications, we look for ways to utilize and leverage social media tools. Since the main underpinnings of social media are meant to break down walls between people and their circle of friends and influencers, we concluded it was an important tactic that would elevate and amplify the messaging of this important project.

SB:  More and more, we’re seeing an increase in social media for social good–especially in the arena of corporate social responsibility. Why do you think that is? How can we continue to improve upon past success?

CG:  The heart of social media is the idea that people have their own online communities–and what better way to maximize those new connections for people than to incorporate a pro-social message.

Questions to Prevent Awareness Fever

They know about us, who cares if they don’t buy? Would any company ever say this?? Hey, we spent $5M, and made $1M–but at least more people know about us–look at all the awareness we got. No, they would not. Better phrased, they would not be satisfied with that answer. They’d want more information. They’d look at the whole product cycle–from development, to placement, to price, to promotion and beyond.

So, why, fellow health marketing and do-gooders do we settle with “awareness-building?” To be frank, every time I’m in a meeting and I hear the word awareness, my skin crawls. Awareness is great–but there’s a time and place for it. I’m aware of Ritz crackers, but I buy Wheat Thins. I’m aware of Powerade, but I buy Gatorade. There are times I might know about your cause–but I won’t donate. Other times I might know you need help, but I won’t volunteer. I know exercise is healthy, yet I’m still sitting here typing this blog post. There is a reason to these behaviors and decisions. There are motivations, barriers, incentives, costs, and more.

If our friends in the private sector won’t settle, we shouldn’t either. Thus, in the comments, let’s suggest questions to ask when awareness fever strikes our next meeting. Ready, Set, Go.

Questions to Prevent Awareness Fever

  1. How do we turn awareness into action? submitted by Holly Grande
  2. How do we measure awareness? submitted by Holly Grande
  3. What does awareness mean for the campaign? submitted by Holly Grande
  4. So, what do we want people to do with all that awareness? submitted by Mike Newton-Ward
  5. Why do you want to increase awareness in the first place? submitted by Steve Radick
  6. Why does the general public need to know what your division/branch/organization is doing? submitted by Steve Radick
  7. Why should people care? submitted by Steve Radick
  8. When did awareness change anything? submitted by Craig Lefebvre
  9. How can we move people towards action? submitted Fard Johnmar
  10. What are you really offering people that’s new in exchange for the change you want in their routine? submitted by Peter Mitchell
  11. How are you so sure people don’t know this already? submitted by Peter Mitchell
  12. Are people seeking out this kind of information? submitted by Peter Mitchell
  13. Wouldn’t it be better to offer people something they already want? submitted by Peter Mitchell
  14. who is already aware, and what they need in order to move them along to the next stage on the path to taking action? submitted by Nedra Weinreich
  15. Is awareness given, but no action taken? submitted by Christiane Lellig
  16. Is awareness of the sender’s problem necessary for audience to take an intended action? submitted by Christiane Lellig
  17. Once we raise awareness in the room, what ACTIONS are the people in the room going to take in their lives? If we can’t answer the question, START OVER with a new plan. submitted by Mike Domitrz
  18. Your turn. Yes, you–the person nodding their head who’s frustrated with this very same thing. I know you’re out there. (I’ll update this list below with your questions and give you some link love.)

flickr credit: Leo Reynolds

The Pollyanna Principles for Social Change

Have you ever been frustrated about the impact of your efforts? I have–even when we’ve been successful, if not especially then.

For example, you may reach the number of donors you set out to reach, but still feel disconnected. You could have a bigger list of e-newsletter subscribers, but still question if what you’re doing is achieving the change you want. You can change the life of one person and wonder how you can change the life of another.

This is why I turned to social marketing. Social marketing is something you address, plan and implement at the strategic level. If you are considering how social marketing applies during materials development or media placement, you’ve missed the boat and instead are floating on driftwood. We need to think bigger and longer.

This weekend, I found someone online who I feel understands where I’m coming from: Hildy Gottlieb. After about five years of consulting, Hildy and her partner felt frustrated. They saw themselves doing great work and achieving the mission set before them, but then noticing their work wasn’t aiming for extraordinary community change.  She explains best in the video below (minutes 4-6 is where it hit home with me, as I feel social marketing can help create the change she describes).

httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A-iKsDhDz4Q&feature=player_embedded

If you are working on community-based change or social change in general, Hildy outlines six Pollyanna Principles to guide your efforts:

The Ends

  1. We accomplish what we hold ourselves accountable for.
  2. Each and every one of us is creating the future, every day, whether we do so consciously or not.

The Means

  1. Everyone and everything is interconnected interdependent, whether we acknowledge that or not.
  2. “Being the change we want to see” means walking the talk of our values.
  3. Strengths build upon our strengths, not our weaknesses.
  4. Individuals will go where systems lead them.

I like these principles because they aren’t media focused–they are value focused. What about you–can you relate to the frustration Hildy or I describe?

Bonus: If community-based change interests you, I recommend looking up the name Doug McKenzie-Mohr.

flickr photo credit: khoraxis

Where Have All the Social Products Gone?

The debate between marketing and sales is not an old one. In fact, we’ve looked at this debate here at SB before. But one thing both sides can agree on: is that both have a relationship with products and services. Thus, if we are talking about social marketing, you don’t have to go far before you start wondering: Where are all the social products?

I’m not the first to ask this question, as I was inspired a bit back by Bill Smith of AED who challenged us social marketers to balance the scales more between the promotion side of marketing and the product side of marketing. And it was again highlighted in the Social Marketing Quarterly’s Summer issue.

Now, some people when they hear products–the hairs on the back of their neck raise. How can marketing products be in line with social marketing behaviors? This is because some people align a “product” with “revenue.” Then, it just gets sticky–often, these arguments are short sighted in my opinion. Before I get completely side tracked from my original purpose of this post, let’s keep moving forward.

I like the concept of “social products” also because it’s a moment to be creative. What products could exist that would help us live healthier, happier? Thus, instead of creating yet another 30-second PSA, take time in the conference room to consider the product side of marketing.

There’s more research available about leveraging products in a social marketing strategy, but I like how Nedra Weinreich sums it up on her company Web site:

“In order to have a viable product, people must first perceive that they have a genuine problem, and that the product offering is a good solution for that problem. The role of research here is to discover the consumers’ perceptions of the problem and the product, and to determine how important they feel it is to take action against the problem.”

Some Examples

  • The Red Card. Bill Smith shared this example with us at the 2008 World Social Marketing Card. Rather than just create a PSA to curb sexual pressure and abuse among young girls in Madagascar, AED created the red card–a product–that girls could use as an added to tool to say no.
  • FDA’s Peanut Recall Widget. In addition to creating press releases and sending out Tweets, the FDA and CDC worked together to create a tool in the form of a widget–a product–that people could use to find recalled food items they should avoid purchasing.
  • Road Crew. Services can also be part of the “product” piece of marketing. In Wisconsin, Road Crews offer rides to those who have drank too much to drive as a way to curb drunk driving.

Do you know where all the social products have gone? Feel free to share examples or future ideas.

How-To Go From Good to Great

Caveat: I am an outsider looking in, and like the title says–I think this initiative is a good thing. It just could have been great. Let me explain.

Project: Variety’s Power of Women Awards Recognition in Collaboration with the Lifetime Network

Good: Gathering together some of Hollywood’s greatest women, recognizing their contributions to some powerful nonprofits (Save Darfur and ServiceNation amongst them) and engaging the interest and attention of numerous influentials.

How it could have been GREAT: Involving the rest of us. Lifetime in and of itself has a huge audience base, and many of these watchers–I would presume–are also powerful women doing amazing things. What would have been great, would have been a contest of sorts that asked ordinary women to submit the story of everyday women who are working to better and change the world. The winner? Well, she gets to wine and dine with the A-listers at the described event above and gets to be recognized right alongside Anne Hathaway and company. How great would that have been?

Apply this to your own work. Many of you are doing awesome, notable, and persistent work. Good work. Just remember to pause and ask yourself–how can we make this GREAT? If Variety and Lifetime might have made the event bigger, just think of the blog posts, the camaraderie, the buzz, the views, the downloads–but most importantly, the community growth and involvement that could have resulted. It’s good, but it could have been great.

Social Change: Art or Science?

When explaining social media, I find myself, at times, explaining how it is half art and half science. Last week, marketing guru Seth Godin brought up the age-old question again in terms of the marketing field, stating that marketing is both. He explains:

“Some marketers are scientists. They test and measure. They do the math. They understand the impact of that spend in that market at that time with that message. They can understand the analytics and find the truth.”

“The other marketers are artists. They inspire and challenge and connect. These marketers are starting from scratch, creating movements, telling jokes and surprising people. Scientists aren’t good at that.”

A solution Godin gives is that we must wear hats, and be willing to switch hats. A mental image of my boss immediately flashed in my mind as he loves Harvard’s creativity tool “6 Thinking Hats.” There is a heap of value from this exercise that I too have become quite a fan, but that is a blog post for another day.

On the social marketing list serv, Godin’s post inspired a discussion on how this debate applies to social marketing. Though social marketing, is in many ways, the “science behind social change,” my favorite perspective came from thought leader and the mother of social marketing herself, Nancy Lee:

“Personally, I think we need the scientific approach for the situation analysis, determining desired behaviors, selecting priority audiences, and identifying the competition, barriers and motivators. Then, the artists uses this input to inspire the strategy. Then, the science comes back to measure outcomes and impact and what to do better the next time.”

Applying this to Godin’s “hat” analogy, Lee offers us insight, as social marketers, when to wear which hat. Brilliant.

Applying this debate to social change, I believe it is both part art and part science, along with some sweat mixed in, buckets of perseverance, one strong vision, a diverse set of hands and a dash of luck. And, this is a good thing. Take architecture for example. There is no denying that there is a science to building strong foundation that support people, systems, and communities. But on the same note, there is no denying that certain places–the Sear Tower, Sydney’s Opera House, the Great Wall, the Eiffel Tower–emulate an artistic vision and ring a certain bell of inspiration upon viewing. It takes many, many types of hats at different times. The key, is knowing which hat and for what purpose.

Thus, to me, it’s not a question to debate, but a question that expands your closet (and your horizons!)

flickr credit: doc.holiday41

For Twitter Success, Just Add Meaning.

With Dr. Mark Drapeau’s ReadWriteWeb Goverati article yesterday, it seems that the beast is awakening and out of this slumber is arising more Twitter accounts, and thus more friends to meet and conversations to maintain.

As a new Twitter member, one may be wondering a series of questions that I hope this post offers a “quick guide” to successful Twitter use and community, with the key ingredient reiterated at the end.

“What is Twitter?”

Twitter is a micro-blogging social media tool that asks the question, “What are you doing?” Individuals, who have logged in and registered for the free service, answer the question within 140 characters or within multiple updates and then ‘update’ their status. Twitter works by individuals agreeing to ‘follow’ a certain Twitter account. Once following this account, the person then gets the account’s updates. It is a great medium that lends itself to both one-to-one communications, as well as one-to-many communications. In the past six months, Twitter has gone from 600k accounts, to 2.9 million accounts.

“How can I/We use Twitter?”

The list below outlines 13 different functions that both individuals and organizations can use Twitter’s platform to accomplish:

1.    Inquiry Response
2.    Reputation Management
3.    Promotion
4.    Event Planning
5.    Brand Equity
6.    Marketing
7.    Fundraising
8.    Reminders
9.    Emergency and Disaster Response
10.    Provide information, news and tips
11.    Research
12.    Conversation Tracking through Hashtags (i.e. #WAD08, #healthcomm)
13.    Social Networking

“Now what?”

  1. Find YOUR Voice. We all have different perspectives and a variety of experiences, and as I @cdorobek reiterate, we make each other better. Whether your Twitter handle is your real name or a nickname, it doesn’t matter, what matters…is getting started and getting involved.
  2. Add Value. Twitter’s capabilities are great. But for them to stick and for you to get the most out of it, you must find value not just in the technology, but in the conversations and those you connect with. Thus, respond, connect and engage.
  3. Create Meaning. This one stretches beyond Twitter, but into social media strategy in general. So, you create a blog, a wiki, a thingy-maggig, people aren’t going to use it unless it adds meaning to their lives.

“How do I connect?”

  1. For Government folks, check out GovTwit. And, have you signed up for Government 2.0 Camp yet? Are registered on Govloop?
  2. For Health folks, check out this top 100 health Twitter-ers list. (Also, be sure to check out next week’s DC Social Media Club event about Health 2.0 or there’s DC HealthCamp in late February, the Health 2.0 Conference).
  3. For others, check out Twitter packs, Twitter Search and the JustTweetIt directory.

“Where can I learn more?”

  1. Ogilvy’s Twitter Blog Posts Series
  2. Twit Tip Blog by Problogger, (@problogger)
  3. Government Micro-Blogging Information
  4. Twitter Support
  5. Twitter Wiki

In sum, just add meaning. This may seem easier said than done, so I want to help. What are your other Twitter questions? I can already think of a few (tools, metrics, etc.) Feel free to comment, and I will offer more in the comments. Finally, I too am on Twitter: @socialbttrfly. Feel free to follow, and I look forward to creating meaning together.