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.
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:
What about you? What are some of your favorite fun, popular and easy social marketing efforts? Any of those take place online?
]]>1. FEATURED: “I Know. I Took the Test.” I chose this initiative because it encompasses social change, social marketing and social media, as well as public health, non-profits, and government 2.0. What is it? The cross-collorative effort to recognize National HIV Testing Day on June 27th from AIDS.gov, the CDC, the White House’s Act Against AIDS campaign and other work by sister agencies including healthfinder.gov and womenshealth.gov. I’m excited to participate and observe this effort evolve as it is agencies walking the walk and reaching across agency lines to serve the people. (disclosure: I work with healthfinder.gov and am doing work to support this effort. However, I’d still feature it as I believe AIDS.gov is doing amazing work and blazing trails for fellow HHS agencies and public health!)
2. SOCIAL CHANGE: Beth Kanter, Geoff Livingston and Shannon Whitley announced the launch of the “List of Change.” The list is a compilation of social change blogs and currently is over 75+. If yours isn’t added yet, feel free to join the rest of us changebloggers and help spread the word!
3. PUBLIC HEALTH: Friend and colleague Andre Blackman recently posted an excellent interview/case study on how folks in Salt Lake City are utilizing social media for public health. Highlights include discussion on the YouTube video they created in-house with a flip camera, iMovie and a $0 budget, as well as their integrated approach.
4. GOVERNMENT 2.0: Related, I am part of the Program Committee for Tim O’Reilly’s Gov’t 2.0 Expo and Showcase in September. (This is a volunteer role.) At this event, anyone can submit a proposal to present. I am rallying anyone (especially public health agencies) at all levels of government to submit entries. I also know that the committee is looking forward to hearing from a more diverse collection of proposals from near and far, as well as more local and state agencies.
5. GOVERNMENT 2.0: Sunlight Labs recently put together an in-depth evaluation and suggested re-design for the U.S. Supreme Court. Reading through the blog and studying the before-and-after designs, there are many take-aways in communicating online. Some themes I noticed were one: 1) Simplify. 2) Provide graphics and images to paint your story, and 3) Design, think and write from the consumer’s perspective, not the organization’s.
6. SOCIAL MEDIA: A new Twitter study was announced from Pace University and Participatory Media Network. One conclusion from this study was that “Only 22% of 18-24 yr. olds are on Twitter.” Interestingly, another Twitter study from the Harvard Business Review came out which found that the Top 10% of Twitter users produce 90% of Twitter activity. Makes ya go hmmm…Still not sure what Twitter is? Just out Mashable’s Top 7 Twitter Tutorials on YouTube.
7. EVENTS: Next week will be the “Games for Health” Conference on June 11 and 12 in Boston. I can’t attend, but will be sure to be following along on Twitter as my latest blog crush is the blog healthGAMERS. Other events coming up this summer include the Social Marketing in Public Health Conference later in June and CDC Health Marketing Conference in August. For more events, check out SB’s eventst page.
8. SOCIAL MARKETING: The number of “social marketeers” on Twitter continues to expand. Social marketing and behavior change folks and thought leaders I’ve identified include: @nedra (Nedra Weinreich), @chiefmaven (Craig Lefebvre), @sm1guru (Mike Newton-Ward), @stephendann (Stephen Dann), @ssuggs (Suzanne Suggs), @socMKT (Dr. Stephan Dahl), @socialmktgNW (McCann Erickson’s Social Marketing Shop), @jimgrizzell (Jim Grizzel), @mikekujawski (Mike Kujawski), and @JimMintz (Jim Mintz). Great to have more people joining us here!
9. SOCIAL MARKETING: Worldways, a social marketing agency based in Colordo, is revving up with its new blog We Take Sides. Don’t you love that title? I think it’s great positioning because it places them as a leader, who isn’t scared about saying and doing what they believe in.
What did you catch this week in the world of social change, social marketing and social media that you think deserves a shout out?
]]>I highly encourage discussion because as another expert I love, Chris Dorobek would say, “all of us are smarter together than each of us individually.”
1. When is it product marketing and when is it social marketing?
This conversation can roll into a number of conversations, but I feel the question is really getting to “What is social marketing and how to you define it?” WIkipedia has it’s answer, and I know Stephen Dann has developed a wonderful definition as well. In sum and in brief, I would say that social marketing begins with influencing behavior change for social good. And on that same note, I would strongly encourage diving into more research beginning with the Social Marketing Quarterly, Andreason’s Social Marketing in the 21st Century, and some of Stephen Dann’s research.
2. What is the size of the social marketing market?
Now, we don’t have an association. We don’t have full, formal degree programs (at least in the U.S.) yet. But, I would still argue that the social marketing market is quite larger than most realize. I propose that social marketing is a much wider umbrella than it has been characterized in the past. Social marketing encompasses public health, but also civil safety, social change, environmental issues, non-profit causes, and as I proposed in my master’s thesis, even has strong similarities when it comes to strategies, tools and ehical frameworks of journalism and advertising.
3. What are the 3 major issues in social marketing?
In terms of the field itself, I would say there are three persistent issues. These include the branding of the field, creating formal education programs, and providing avenues for collaboration and best practices such as an international or national association.
4. What are the red flags for who does, or does not, design and implement social marketing programs?
This list could be very in-depth, but I think the most common red flag given is when some confuse social marketing with social media marketing. Blogger Andre Blackman had a great post this week distinguishing between the two. Social media can be applied within the social marketing framework, but social marketing is a much bigger net than social media.
5. How many social programs (or what percentage of them) are evaluated?
This might depend on how you define “social programs,” whether government funded, community based or non-profit driven. I might have to call on some of our other social marketing people to respond to this question. As an educated guess, I would say most programs have some sort of benchmarks that they are evaluated on. I do not have an actual percentage on hand though. To what extent are they evaluated and/or should be evaluated may be other good questions.
6. What are some of the more sophisticated methods used in these evaluations?
Both this question and the next depend largely on what is actually measured and why. And thus, deserves a much larger conversation than these lines can provide. For example, as many communications leverage social and mobile technologies, data analytics will be critical. Once the new tools are so “new,” people will be wanting to show results and extract meaning. Thus, programs like Salesforce, Radian6, and others are largely being researched to bring programs full circle so that analytics drive strategy.
7. What types of methods are used in formative research?
Formative research may include both qualitative and quantitative research methods, or a triangulation strategy that calls for a mixture of both. Some different types of research formats include a needs assessment, developing audience profiles, media scans, environmental scans, surveys, in-depth interviews, focus group testing, usability studies, and more.
8. What percentage of social marketing program budgets are devoted to evaluation?
This is a good question whether social marketing or just marketing in general is being discussed. Often, I would say that evaluation is considered too late in the game or not stretched through as much as it could be. It is important to make measurable objectives from the beginning and think out those baselines before implementing. Also, it often depends on the client, project, task, and resources available that determines how much of the budget is devoted to evaluation. Thus, as a professor might say, it depends. Now, another good question might be: how much should be devoted?
9. Who are the innovators in the field?
That can be YOU! In terms of organizations, the National Centre of Social Marketing in the U.K. is doing great work that many of us are excited about. In the United States, the CDC’s e-Health Marketing group tends to lead the way. I would also add that both AIDS.gov and the EPA are also making great strides with some of their case studies that apply new media to communications and behavior change.
10. Who are the premier thought leaders?
In no particular order: Bill Smith, Alan Andreasen, Stephen Dann, Michael Rothschild, Philip Kotler, Gerard Hastings, Mike Newton-Ward, Nancy Lee, Craig Lefebvre, Nedra Weinreich, Doug Mckenzie-Mohr, Jeff French, Clive Blair-Stevens, Francois Lagarde, Seynabou Mbengue, Tane Cassidy, Mike Kujawski, Katherine Lyon Daniel, you….you….and did you get, that the next one could be YOU? I know it said premier, but all of these people and others are great. Together, we can all help build the social marketing field.
11. What conferences and publications do you use to keep up with the field?
Social Marketing Quarterly, the C-Change e-newsletter, numerous blogs, numerous books, the Social Marketing Listserv, the Social Marketing Wiki, events in the U.K., events at the University of South-Florida, and others. Additionally though, I also look to non-profit organizations and publications, as well as international development, new media and others to review best practices in other fields and see how they may resonate within the practice of social marketing.
In sum, many of these questions focused around evaluation. In other words, how do we know that what we are doing is working? Now THAT’S a conversation worth having. Now it’s your turn. How do you answer some of these questions (especially 5-8)? And, what other questions do you also have?
Tagging: Spare Change, Pulse and Signal, Social Marketing Panorama, Stephan Dahl
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“HIV/AIDS has now become a pandemic that has literally put the world at risk, affecting diverse populations in different ways”. –Dr. Nora Volkow, NIDA Director
HIV/AIDS has been a global epidemic for more than 27 years. Most of today’s youth have never known a world without it. The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recently published national HIV incidence (new infections) that showed much higher numbers that previous estimates.
On December 1st, individuals and organizations will recognize World AIDS Day. This year’s theme is leadership – from all sectors, including government, but also leaders among individuals and families, communities, non-profits and other organizations.
Today, on December 1, many of us are joining together through our online activity in the fight against HIV/AIDS. Joining us are two government agencies: the National Institute on Drug Abuse and AIDS.gov.
Together, they both offer numerous free resources for the public that address the HIV/AIDS issue. This is why they are joining together, along with Bloggers Unite, to harness the power of the blogosphere for good and join in community.
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Personally, I find this effort important beyond the issue of HIV/AIDS, though I definitely do not want to undermine the issue by my saying that. World AIDS Day 2008 is also important because this (to the best of my knowledge) is the first official blogger outreach activity conducted by not just one government agency, but two. Working together.
Both the National Institute on Drug Abuse and AIDS.gov are joining together with Bloggers Unite to recognize World AIDS Day 2008 through a blogger outreach call to action to raise awareness not only of the issue, but also of the great, free, public resources both agencies offer. The online Webisode below, provided by NIDA, is just one of these many resources. For more information, please visit the Bloggers Unite Participation pa
httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EL8rnEVfU-A&hl=en&fs=
Other resources include:
What are your thoughts about the increasing rise of government agencies in the social media playground? Thoughts, concerns or comments. I know you’re not shy.
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