Category Archives: Social Marketing

Quote of the Week: Removing Barriers

Most of you have never met or read anything from the person with this week’s quote–but she is one of the most insightful people I know and has an authentic, strong, persistent heart for serving others. She is my mom–the woman I call the original SocialButterfly. Allow me the second to thank my family and ancestors.

“Sometimes, we work so hard to change a person. When, what they really need from us, is to help them remove the barriers blocking them from changing themselves.”

I don’t know about you–but what a change in perspective! We often look at the point of behavior and often, we tell people over and over to run, not to smoke, eat healthy, get tested for STDs and everything else under the sun. Even–come out with us on a Friday night or meet me for breakfast in the morning. We want people to make choices, decisions.

But how often, do we look at people and find the boulders in their life? And how often are we helping to lift those boulders rather than tell them of the great valley that lives on the other side? Do we see their needs? Are we listening? For example, how can someone take a walk–if they don’t have sidewalks? Instead of wanting them and telling them to start walking, what if we helped them build a sidewalk? Or, instead of telling someone to eat healthier, teaching them how to grow and cook good foods. Or, making certain foods more affordable. Or, listening to their trials and tribulations, so they can feel cared for and loved and empowered to make healthy decisions.

Just a thought passed on from my mom. Did I mention she’s pretty great?  😉

flickr credit: Okinawa Soba

Quote of the Week: Failure Happens (and One Way to Avoid It)

This is not a boggy-too sad to read post. This post is about failure, yes, but it’s also about what can be learned from it. This week’s quote comes from Sarah Ragsdale over at the Walking the Path blog:

“Failure happens.”

However, Sarah doesn’t mope and pity in the eye of failure–instead she offers insights into why failure happens based on the text Marketing in Public Health. Sarah reviews four types of common failures when it comes to communications interventions:

  1. Strategy failures occur when external barriers exist in the community that cannot be overcome by communication messages. For example, a condom usage campaign may be very effective in raising awareness, but if condoms are not available in the community, the campaign is moot.
  2. Execution failures are the result of poorly constructed messaging or targeting the wrong audience. We must always remember to do our homework and study our audiences.
  3. Measurement failures happen when we planned the communication strategy appropriately and delivered it well, but we had a poor evaluation strategy.
  4. Expectation failure results from overestimating the campaign’s impact in the community. Change occurred but not to the level stakeholder’s expected.

I would like to call your attention to reason number 3–measurement and evaluation. Why? Because this can be one of the easiest to avoid and is also one of the most important elements in any social marketing campaign. Think about a project that you are currently working on–do you have an evaluation strategy for your communications? If not, some resources you may find helpful are provided below:

If you do have an evaluation strategy, I want to also challenge you and ask you two questions: What are you evaluating and why are evaluating it? Often, by asking these questions, you can avoid some of the other failure pit stops that Sarah mentioned. I know our team internally are asking ourselves these very questions on some great projects we are brewing up–and I look forward to continued thoughts from the team and from you. Because when it comes to “success” in social marketing, my head automatically thinks of desired behaviors, behavioral objectives and behavioral outcomes–what does your mind think of?

flickr credit: fireflythegreat

Quote of the Week: A Call for More Marketing

I’m going to try out something new called the “Quote of the Week.” To kick-off this new series, I’m starting with the best, Beth Kanter.

In Beth’s recent blog post, one of the questions she asks us is: “Can solving complex social problems be done by popular vote?” In explaining her stance on this question, Beth shares:

“Let me say this. If brands want to be authentic in their social media for social good effort, they need a fusion approach that balances marketing with social change. I think there is a hybrid option for crowd sourcing–and that there is a need for expertise.”

You need to fuse marketing with social change. This is exactly what social marketing does, and as I wrote last month, I also agree that authenticity will be key in growing organizations for the future. I love that the wealth of social marketing is beginning to reach beyond the world of public health and further into the realm of social change. I’m right there with you Beth–thank you!

How about you–What role do you think marketing has when it comes to social change?

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

Beyond Marketing Gadgets, Thingymagigs and Gizmos

Define today’s concept of: marketing. Now, imagine yourself 40-50 years ago, and define marketing. Notice any big differences? Probably a few come to mind.

I bring this up because I was taught that to know where we are headed, we have to know and understand the past. Rewind back to 1969 when an article called “Broadening the Concept of Marketing” was published by Philip Kotler and Sidney J. Levy (remarkably–you can get a free copy online). My fellow social changers and social marketeers, it was this document that helped paved the way for careers, projects and initiatives we are doing today. It was this document that said marketing was a “societal activity” that can be applied for more than “toothpaste, soap and steel” but that marketing can be transferable to organizations (non-business organizations…aka, nonprofits), persons and ideas. IDEAS.

Fast forward to today, and we are still re-defining and evolving our concept of marketing. Take Seth Godin’s recent post about how we frame marketing.  Or better yet–he explains that marketing is what happens between the frames:

Marketing is what happens when you’re not trying, when you’re being transparent and when there’s no script in place.

With this sentence, one word comes to mind–authenticity. I see all the marketing, talk and chatter about the latest and greatest gizmo. I see people and organizations striving and racing. In between all that, there is authenticity. We must find it, and we must connect with it again if we are to truly be successful–and if we are truly going to make a difference. Makes me think, how will the idea of authenticity broaden marketing for future generations? Discuss.

flickr image credit: planigan412

Making Behavior Fun, Popular and Easy

If you know social marketing extraordinaire Nancy Lee, then you have heard this saying. Recently, on the social marketing listserv, some dialogue has been shared in response to Nancy Lee and Philip Kotler’s article in Stanford’s Innovation Review titled “Best of Breed,” which looks at corporate social marketing. This could be its own post, but alas, I want to focus on the message of being fun, popular and easy.

Why? Because whether it’s social marketing or corporate social marketing, you are still working to effectively change or influence behavior for good–and an effective way to do so is making your desired behavior fun, popular and easy–which is exactly what started bubbling through on the social marketing list serv as others started sharing some of their favorite fun, popular and easy social marketing initiatives. Enjoy–and when you find yourself running around ragged, ask yourself: Is anyone having fun? Is this easy for people? and go from there.

The Piano Staircase

To encourage passerbyers to take the stairs rather then the escalator (and thus promote physical activity), this group turned the stairs into a piano–whenever you stepped on a stair a different sound would echo–in effect, making taking stairs more exciting than an everyday escalator. I can’t find the source, but it apparently had a 60% success rate. Who’s behind it? Volkswagon. Apparently, Volkswagon has been trying out some experimental marketing based around “The Fun Theory” to see if they could create desired behaviors if the action was made fun. You can read more about the piano staircase and other initiatives such as the recycling arcade and more at TheFunTheory.com.

httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2lXh2n0aPyw

The Pink Glove Dance

You may have seen this one already, as it’s been circling the blogosphere for a while. But, it’s an example of everyday people–hospital employees–finding a way to make their job fun while communicating a message–that you aren’t alone when taking steps to prevent breast cancer, like getting a mammogram.

httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OEdVfyt-mLw

Musical Hand Sanitizer

Aas part of Volkswagon’s initiative, they are hosting an awards program on the best “fun” applications for healthy and good behaviors. One entry was a University who had installed hand sanitizers to prevent the spread of germs during the flu season. They found few students using them. Thus, they adopted the fun theory and installed some sounds. Each time someone went for hand sanitizer, a funny noise was created. Results? With the sounds included, students were seven times more likely to use the germ-reducing resource.

httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p9nCRJo73oI&feature=player_embedded

Pedestrian TV Traffic Light

In this example, you get some free entertainment while waiting to cross the street. Instead of staring at a red outline of a person wishing it to change with your desired mind control, this traffic light shows TV clips–vidoes from YouTube, funny clips from TV shows, etc. This way, the hope is that you’ll actually wait until it’s safe to cross the street.

Make Your Watermark

Design you own bottle at the vending machine. Granted, I know bottles and paint on bottles isn’t good for the environment. But if you can’t quite get that change initiated, then check out what this group did. To encourage people to buy water over sugary pop or juices form the vending machine, they enabled it so people can design their own water bottle from the vending machine at the point-of-purchase. Now that’s easy, and fun!

Fun, Popular and Easy…Online?

More examples are found on the FunTheory.com Web site mentioned earlier, and I have to admit–it’s fun just looking through them. But, my mind started going: How can you make your online and social media communications fun, popular and easy to help you achieve your behavior change mission? Now, that’s a weighty question. Then, I started thinking about what is it in a Web or social media behavior change initiative that makes it fun, popular and easy:

  • FUN: Community-based, drive accountability of others through accountability, collaborative in nature
  • Example: Certain online communities help training for a 5k easier by focusing on accountability or making the desired behavior fun by making it social. Other communities, such as the Sister to Sister Foundation’s online community focusing on healthy behaviors for heart health amongst women. These type of communities make healthy behaviors fun by creating accountabilty and making the behavior social.
  • POPULAR: Driven by influencers and respected peers in the community or content area the desired behavior resides.
  • Example: AIDS.gov video-storytelling. AIDS.gov encouraged state officials to create their video on why its important to get tested for HIV. Another example? HHS’ flu PSA contest. Not only was this driven and announced by the HHS Secretary herself, but it was also supported and promoted by all of HHS’ agencies. And it’s winner–come on, who’s more popular than a rapping doctor?
  • EASY: This may be the most important when it comes to the online arena. Because, for people to use the technology combined with the messages, etc., the technology must first work. It must incorporate usability best practices, be accessible and depending on your audience, address literacy issues, including technology literacy. You technology could be great, but if it’s too complicated and no one uses it, it’s just techology.
  • Example: Most recently, AIDS.gov hosted the “Face AIDS” campaign asking people to join in. The effort involved a few steps, but AIDS.gov made it easy and fun by creating a collective flickr account to display all the images. Here’s a thought: Some social media is easy to adopt. one click and your a fan, one click and you are a follower. One click, and you’ve downloaded a healthy recipe book. One click and you have a mobile app to track your physical fitness. How can your organization leverage these easy tools for behavior change?

What about you? What are some of your favorite fun, popular and easy social marketing efforts? Any of those take place online?

How a “Place” Strategy Can Change the World: Meet ColaLife

Not too long ago, we talked about the importance of social products as part of the marketing mix. For review, the marketing mix is made up of the four p’s: product, price, promotion, and place. In the world of social marketing and social change initiatives, the “promotion p” has been stealing the spotlight for quite a while. This is why I want to highlight this amazingly wonderful place social marketing strategy–Meet ColaLife.

httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z8gqgZQPS28

ColaLife, is a non-profit that is lobbying Coca-Cola to leverage its worldwide distribution channels to provide social products that help sustain life and improve public health. How exactly? –With some creative packaging in the form of “Aidpods.” With the help of these aidpods, Cola Life hopes to help achieve the following three goals:

  1. Reduce child mortality in developing countries (= UN Millennium Development Goal #4)
  2. Improve maternal health (= UN Millennium Development Goal #5)
  3. Combat HIV/AIDS, Malaria and other diseases (= UN Millennium Development Goal #6)

You can read more about the organization’s aims and objectives, but overall, I think the idea is brilliant. At just about any public health conference I’ve been to, someone always references Coca-Cola as having the classic place (distribution) marketing strategy. Now, that same strategy can actually be leveraged to make a difference. There’s just one hitch…

Coca-Cola, or a similar corporate organization, has to sign on first. ColaLife has already had a successful trial of the program in Tanzania, and currently it’s focusing on spreading awareness of the project and gaining influence by talking with stakeholders and reviewing the strategy and overall plan. If interested, here’s five ways we can help:

  1. Follow @colalife on Twitter.
  2. Become a fan of the initiative on Facebook.
  3. Create your own aidpod.
  4. Watch the potential of this project by viewing ColaLife’s online videos.
  5. Donate.

Take away: This is one example of using a place strategy to do social marketing and in effect, create social change for the better. Thought: What distribution channels currently exist in your community that can be leveraged for social good?