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]]>On Monday, the BBC published an article that highlighted findings from a study, Kicking Bad Habits, conducted by the King’s Fund that calls for new ways of thinking when it comes for public health – specifically, more social marketing. In short, the King’s Fund study enforced what many of us in both the U.K and increasingly so in the U.S. is that what we have been doing to address health isn’t working, and that more social marketing may be the answer. Quote:
- “Social marketing techniques and data analysis tools like geodemographics should be used to identify, target and communicate messages designed to motivate people to change how they live.”
- “And public health programmes should not rely on just one approach…as the evidence shows the most effective interventions employ a variety of tactics.”
- “The methods used to promote public health need to be more modern, using the most advanced techniques and technologies.”
- “We need social marketing techniques to target messages and understand what will make changes worthwhile for people but also we need to make sure the healthy choices are the easy choices.”
You can download the full results from the study here. This article further re-enforces why the U.K. created the National Social Marketing Centre. Once I got beyond my own excitement that 1) social marketing was being covered by mainstreams media and 2) that the use of the term “social marketing” was applied correctly (i.e. –> NOT confused with social media), I started to analyze what this means.
I wasn’t alone. Social marketing great Alan Andreasen brought the article to the attention of the social marketing list serv. A member of the King’s Fund responded to the article on the list serv backing the application of social marketing. Social marketer Craig Lefebvre blogged his response to the post as well. Hallelujah!
So, SB, what does this mean? It means the time is now. If a similiar study was conducted in the U.S., I agree with Lefebvre that we’d probably find similiar results. What we are doing isn’t working. Taking a serious look at social marketing and fully integrating it into our activities, I think, would bring about much of the ‘change’ that is a-buzz this year.
As I shared on Craig’s blog, I feel social marketing truly can and does provide an umbrella for people with various expertise across a range of fields to approach public health and well-being. Won’t you join us?
To those on board in the U.K, know we are all watching, here to support and hope a similiar initiative develops here in the U.S. Perhaps an international social marketing association would help? (Hey, it’s at least worth another plug right?)
(digg the BBC’s original article here)
]]>NOTE: PDFs and audio of all keynote presentations are available here.
<– Prof. Stephen Dann was the conference’s Twitter King, providing live coverage of the conference through @WSMC08, and #WSMC08.
Prof. Alan Andreasen gave a closing and optimistic keynote address about the future of social marketing. –>
<– Bill Smith, of AED, discusses the journal Social Marketing Quarterly, calling for more concentration towards social marketing products and services.
This quote was presented by England’s National Social Marketing Centre’s director, Jeff French, who calls all social marketers to unite together and learn from each other in moving the field forward. –>
<– Philip Kotler opened the conference with a keynote about poverty, and how we can apply social marketing to poverty to increase effectiveness and positive change.
Jeff Jordan, M.A., President and Founder of Rescue Social Change, presented his research about Social Branding (which he trademarked), along with 2 case studies about how to use social norming to influence behavior for high-risk adolescents. –>
<– The Purpose Driven Campaign – my master’s thesis that I presented during the poster session! (I also created SocialButterfly, Fly4Change.com pens that were quite popular. =)
Craig Lefebvre, presented an exciting presentation where he “dropped the gauntlet,” and presented the challenge for social marketers to walk the walk, as well as talk the talk when it comes to creating an international social marketing association. Lefebvre announced that he alone has raised a quarter of a million dollars for the project! –>
Other Highlights included:
Abstract: This research project looks at the concept of influence within social marketing as compared to journalism and advertising. This includes examining these professions’ definitions, ethics, standards, and agenda-setting capabilities. Through in-depth interviews, a further understanding of how these three practices relate within the gray matter of the media landscape is pioneered, as well as better defining the role and influence of social marketing.
Excerpt:
The Question of Influence
While the Information Age leaps into the Connected Age, the power of a free press is offered daily to start-up bloggers. Newspapers are downsizing. Amateurism is becoming the new professionalism. Online media producers replace today’s broadcast directors; all making the gray shades of influence between the information and its consumers a thunderstorm waiting to happen. Social marketing is in the business of change, whether it is behavioral change or attitude change, social marketing can also be described as the field for social change. But, how? In today’s world, who holds more influence to create these changes, a journalist, advertiser or a social marketer? How can one tell the difference? Is there a difference? And, do the professions work together? Could they? Should they? This research hopes to add to the discussion on the evolving definition and role of social marketing, using agenda-setting relationships to examine its influence and attempt to determine its position between advertising and journalism in the media landscape.
Literature Review
It is 1961. A time when questions were raised and hope diminishing as borders became gray and a rise of an international community emerged. Two Portuguese students were imprisoned for declaring a public toast towards their dream, rooted in an idea – freedom. Having their freedom stolen from them for displaying a human right of expression, a newspaper article was written, and with it, a movement spurred. This movement would form Amnesty International (www.amnesty.org). Social change is possible, and it begins with an idea. Social marketing is an increasing movement currently being expanded because of its foundation in ideas about positive change for the welfare of the public.
Though specific definitions differ, social marketing achieves social change objectives by applying the marketing mix of product, place, promotion and price. Currently, social marketing is used mostly in public health communications and is expanding in the realms of environmentalism, civil rights, urban renewal, public service and raising awareness of international issues.
Conclusion: The conclusion of course I can’t share here, but it involves what I found consistent between journalism and advertising, but interestingly, the field of public policy was drawn into the mix through the research as well.
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