Tag Archives: social change

Social Marketing as a Solution

We all like solutions, right? We’ve heard them talked about, seen some of them unfulfilled or seen them not live up to their potential. But all the trials and errors mean that much more when a solution works. I invite you to read Barack Obama’s remarks about the Social Innovation Fund from earlier today.

The Social Innovation Fund is a proposed solution to identify the most promising, results-oriented non-profit programs and expand their reach throughout the country. The Fund has four main objectives, including:

Catalyzing partnerships between the government and nonprofits, businesses and philanthropists to make progres on the President’s policy agenda
Indentifying and supporting the rigorous evaluation and scaling of innovative, promising ideas that are transforming communities like, for example, Harlem Children’s Zone, Youth Villages, Nurse-Family Partnership, and Citizen Schools.
Support greater civic participation through new media tools
Promote national service.

In sum, Pres. Obama is looking for solutions, and he’s looking across the walls and barriers of private, public, non-profit, individual and organizational groups:

“So all of this represents a new kind of partnership between government and the non-profit sector. [love that!] But I can tell you right now, that partnership isn’t complete, and it won’t be successful, without help from the private sector. [even better!] And that’s why I’m glad that there are some deep pockets in the audience here — foundations, corporations, and individuals. You need to be part of this effort, as well. And that’s my challenge to the private sector today. Our non-profits can provide the solutions.” [and so can our social marketeers!]

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Thought 1: What are the evaluative benchmarks for “success” going to be? As, those who are familiar with the debate around libertarian paternalism, this will depend largely on how and WHO defines “success.”

Thought 2: My second thought and gut-wrenching ask was: Have the people involved in this heard of the solutions that social marketing can offer? In the remarks, Obama references individuals working for great changes, telling of their success. What if these success stories came from social marketeers? What if social marketing was applied to some of the very issues the Social Innovation Fund might examine? My mind is boggling with the possibilites–and solutions!

To Start: In response to Thought #2, I would like to highlight that social marketing already is, and can be a solution. Yesterday, I finally received my copy of Philip Kotler and Nancy Lee’s book, “Up and Out of Poverty.” This book examines the issue of poverty and all past and current solutions being sought to solve this issue. Then, the authors offer up social marketing as a solution. I can’t give much more than that because I am just about to crack it open myself. But, I have been waiting for this book. Imagine, a series of social marketing books that looks at real issues, BIG issues, and applies social marketing as a solution. Perhaps, there in lies the rub, some food for thought for the Social Innovation Fund committee. Perhaps, if we had an organization or an entity (hint, hint, join the 260+ others who’ve signed the pledge), then we could get some folks to chat.

I’d like to borrow some words from Pres. Obama himself to thank you for all the work you do in helping us clutivate and discover strong solutions:

“I want to thank all of you here today for everything you’re doing to find new solutions to some of our oldest, toughest problems. I know what you do is not easy.”

flickr photo credit: Seano Beano

Social Marketing Bulletin–List of Change, Local Public Health and More

It’s been awhile since the last Social Marketing Bulletin, but all the more reason to get on with the show. The Bulletin includes items that encompass social change, social marketing and social media:

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?

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

Do you consider yourself an activist?

There are certain people you get really excited about meeting. One of those people for me was Geoff Livingston. A couple of weeks ago, I finally got the chance to meet him in person. During our conversation, he referenced me as an activist.

This was another first for me. I know Geoff said it with love, but no one has ever called me that, and I found myself pondering: Do I consider myself an activist? So, I let it marinate. And I came to three conclusions:

1. I do consider myself an activist. But then comes the question, what am I advocating for? I feel the answer to this question will continue to morph, evolve, and develop with time. For the longest time and presently, I am an advocate for a cure to multiple sclerosis. I’m also an advocate for my family, for human rights, for literacy and for social good. It may be cliche, but the quote, “Stand for something, otherwise you stand for nothing.”

Well, when my name is called, I want to feel confident about where I’m standing and why. This blog helps document my approach to activism as it’s deeply rooted in the belief I have in the process of social marketing and behavior change.

2. Being considered an activist is a good thing. I consider it a badge of honor. I know the word “activist” itself carries with it many ideas and immediate connotations from a variety of people, which is all great and dandy. However, what I realized was more important, was what it meant to me. I started thinking of others that I would deem “activists.” Maybe I’m just a little too on the optimistic side, but I first thought of those like Susan B. Anthony, Martin Lurther King Jr., Nelson Mandella, and my family.

You see, I feel like I come from a lineage of activists so to speak. One, my grandfather of about five generations ago was a Cherokee Indian Chief. Another super great uncle was an abolitionist with John Brown and was actually hung with him as documented in the book Man on Fire. Though I know that one is a bit extreme, there was my great-grandpa Russel who was a teacher…A teacher who lost his job because he didn’t believe in the segregation of his classroom. To carry on the torch and encourage others to join, well, to me, that’s a good thing.

3. This, inherently, implies action. The word itself carries the word “act” in it. Are there “activists” that you don’t agree with? Yes. Are there activists with bad intentions? Yes. Are there activites who use approaches you don’t agree with? Yes. But, then, if that’s the case, act on it. =) Being an activist is what you make of it.

Find your voice. Channel your purpose….and I think you’ll find that you will want to ACT on whatever you feel called or led to do more than ever. Are you with me?

(*I hesitated writing this post, because I thought the word “activist” might lend itself to be controversial. But then I thought, hey, SB readers are pretty smart folks. They’ll have some good insights to stretch me even further on this. I’m counting on it. In the meantime, thanks Geoff for the compliment!)

flickr credit: RockChalk Jayhawk, John Rover

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Looking for a Job in Social Change? Look No Further

Change.org made a major announcement Thursday in response to Obama’s call for public service: Jobs for Change. This is to be a hub and marketplace for social change jobs that they’ve created in partnership with dozens of nonprofits including: Young Nonprofit Professionals Network, AmeriCorps Alums, Echoing Green, Network for Good, and Encore Careers.

The goal: Spark a nationwide movement toward careers in the common good – including nonprofit, government, and social enterprise jobs. (Cross-Fertilization–> This makes me especially happy!)

Status: Currently, Change.org is building a huge database of social change jobs with their partners and have just hired a team of career advisors who will be blogging every day to provide guidance on finding and developing a career in social change, including Rosetta Thurman! (Mentors, resources and role-models….even better!)

Now What? Besides just checking it out and getting some good food for action, Change.org is also reaching out to like-minded bloggers and non-profit leaders to spread the word–specifically by signing a statement to endorse the vision. If you think this sounds pretty sweet….then join me (and @mikekujawski @engagejoe @mindofandre @bbravo and many others in signing.

Some Highlights of the Vision:

People are the most important factor in advancing social change.
To attract leaders, we need to enhance the social sector’s ability to recruit, develop, and retain talent.
Innovative businesses should join as partners with nonprofits and government in the pursuit of social good.

Thanks Change.org for providing an avenue for people to cultivate their passion with their purpose for effective, long-lasting and positive change.

(For the record, I currently have no relationship with Change.org other than being a member of their community…I jam ust that impressed with 1) their blogger outreach strategy anf 2) the actual product/vision behind this initiative.) =)

BloggersUnite.org Drives Earth Day Buzz

Can you swallow this math?

According to Copywrite, Ink, there were 88,000 blog posts on Earth Day (April 22) that were added to the already existing 2 million written earlier in the week. What’s even more amazing? …About 10% of all those blog posts, came from bloggers on BloggersUnite.org.

In all transparency, I’m a participating members in both the BloggersUnite and BlogCatalog communities, and we worked on a project together in the past, but dang—they deserve a big pat on the back for accomplishing their exact mission, harnessing the power of the blogosphere.

As mentioned on the BloggersUnite Earth Day event page, Earth Day 2009 was held April 22nd and also marked the beginning The Green Generation Campaign, a two-year campaign that will culminate with the 40th Anniversary of Earth Day in 2010.

More Green Goodness

In honor of Earth Day, Colleague Mike Newton-Ward and fellow social marketer wrote a post on applying a social marketing approach to the environment and other green goodies that I highly recommend checking out. Bonus: He provides a slideshare presentation that outlines this even more! (But like a good blogging friend, I’m going to make you go to his post to access it. It’s worth it.)
Looking for ways to take action? Check out EPA’s “Pick 5” campaign to identify five ways you can start today to make a difference for our earth. Twitter tag: #p5e

One More Thought

So I say again, great job Tony, Rich and the whole BloggersUnite team–and count this posting just one more for the record book! And I ask you, the SB reader, how have you seen blogging communities drive awareness, change and/or action? I have some of my own ideas, but I’m more into hearing yours. =)

What Creates a Revolution?

“A revolution doesn’t happen when a society adopts new tools, it happens when a society adopts new behaviors.”

–Us Now Movie Trailer Preview

Today, I was skimming through my RSS feeds and one of my favorites had an update: Mike Kujawski’s Public Sector 2.0 blog. Mike gets social marketing (the real kind), and he is also a savvy social media professional. On his site, he posted the Us Gov movie trailer, which I had seen before on Maxine Teller’s blog, but today, the last quote (located above) really stood out to me the most.

It stood out because in it I saw a profound statement being made on behavior change. It may be due to me coming away from my talk with a class of smart Yale students, where their *good* questions focused a lot on the why of social media (measurement, literacy, behavior change, clutter vs. content, society’s relationship to technology, etc.). But, I feel like this quote gest to the heart of the relationship between social media and social marketing, and why the relationship is important.

It’s not about the tools (i.e. being cool or shiny)
Change (i.e. revolution, small or big) is a result of adopting/influencing new behavior (whether it be that of a society, an organization or an individual).

Currently, at an increasing rate, society is experimenting and applying social media tools, both for the good and the bad. Thus, we as practitioners need to be aware of this and how it is affecting one’s behavior. For example, I tease that in 10 years, we will be doing public health campaigns for internet addiction…but how far away is that really? We already have them for TV addiction. Take a quick look here at the Us Now documentary preview, as it’ll provide some more juices to step back and do some introspection and reflection.

httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LlqU1o3NmSw

If you find this interesting and what to dig beyond the tools and really get to “what does this all mean?” Then, I also highly recommend visiting the Digital Ethnography blog and getting introduced to Professor Michael Wesch, who was named Professor of the Year for 2008. He and his students have some interesting and compelling videos on what “more than the tools” have to mean and why it’s important to know.

If you want to continue discussion on “what government may/can look like,” then I also recommend following both the Government 2.0 Club and the Government 2.0 Camp conversations (if you can’t physically attend the gathering coming up soon at the end of MArch) on Twitter too.

…because after all, what creates a revolution? and what does a revolution look like?

flickr photo credit: Wesley Fryer

Free Rice: Mixing Online Learning and Entertainment with Giving

Have some extra time but also want to engage the brain? Try Free Rice.

Play a simple word game and based on your success, rice will be donated to hungry children.

How It Works

A word appears and asks you to define it. Every definition you correctly identify donates 20 grains of rice. You’re intriguing the mind, using social media tools AND giving. Talk about collaborative innovation.

There are 55 different vocabulary levels, with customized options for your own vocabulary growth…the site says that most people don’t get beyond level 48. Will you be the one to reach level 55?!?

The words are also constantly evaluated on their difficulty level depending on how many people get the word right or wrong and new words are always being added.

Why

Free Rice also lists many reasons why its encourages the development of vocabulary as part of its mission in its FAQ section of its website. They include:

Formulate your ideas better
Write better papers, emails and business letters
Speak more precisely and persuasively
Comprehend more of what you read
Read faster because you comprehend better
Get better grades in high school, college and graduate school
Score higher on tests like the SAT, GRE, LSAT and GMAT
Perform better at job interviews and conferences
Sell yourself, your services, and your products better
Be more effective and successful at your job

Who Finances The Donation?

According to the site, the site’s advertisers are the ones who actually pay for the rice to be donated. And, the site itself does not run a profit. Thus, you play, advertisers pay to be listed on the site, that money funds the rice donation.

Distribution

The United Nations World Food Program (WFP) distributes the rice. The WFP works with over 1,000 organizations in over 75 countries, making it the world’s largest food aid agency. When possible, WFP buys the food through the local growers and economy.

Results

From its start on October 7, 2007 to April 27, 2008, the total number of rice grains donated = 29,724,130,370! For a break down of results, click here.

More

To learn more about hunger, visit Poverty.com, an interactive site that teaches about hunger and poverty, and even tracks how many hunger deaths occur per hour through a moving, interactive map…

Other Helpful Sites include:

One Thing

“If I traded it all
If I gave it all away for one thing
Just for one thing
If I sorted it out
If I knew all about this one thing
Wouldn’t that be something?”

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This may not be the one thing the group Finger Eleven was singing about, but Rosetta Thurman of the blog Perspectives from the Pipeline asks about a certain one thing….

What one thing should we do to improve the state of the nonprofit sector?

At the prompt of this question, numerous ideas run through my head. But, one main idea that stands out among the rest is the following concept: collaboration.

In my opinion, increased collaboration could break down many of the barriers and challenges various causes, issues and non-profits. Collaboration increases the bank of ideas, funds, resources, talent and people. I’m not just declaring a collaboration of practitioners in our sector though, but a total collaboration: with academics, think tanks, politicians, government, the education system, as well as the NGOs.

Collaboration is often a buzzword in any organization or classroom. But what about if we revitalized what true collaboration could be?

What if, for a cause, the executive director called a meeting of community members or held a forum for bloggers to collaborate with them on solving issues?
What if management and staff switched roles for a day to better understand each other’s role and position.
What if journalists sat and discussed issues with lobbyists as well as politicians and each other?
What is NGOs partnered with research institutions to see how to better address policy issues?
What is research institutions talked to journalists to learn to find out more about what the stories are and what begs attentions and remains unexplored?

Now, I know the question asked specifically about the non-profit sector…but what is the nonprofit sector? What is the private sector? or the public sector? Why divisions and not more communication and more collaboration? How do the three relate? I think the non-profit sector needs to infiltrate the other sectors through the tools of collaboration…and social change for the welfare of the public may be heightened.

*I will also note that this concept of collaboration is one I continue to explore and educate myself on as it is one area of my research, so I encourage comments or suggestions.

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“If (we) knew all about this one thing……wouldn’t that be something?!?”

Social Marketing vs. Social Change Marketing

In an earlier post, I clarified how social marketing differentiates itself from social media marketing. Now, I am asking for your thoughts on how the term social marketing relates to the term social change marketing.

Social marketing, as we’ve discussed, has decades of theoretical history and practice. It is a term constantly evolving and defining itself. However, the field also faces a challenge: branding itself…especially since the onset of social media marketing.

Reading through social marketing texts and journals, the terms – social change, marketing for social change, and social change marketing are making increasing appearances, so I am curious on others’ thought about how the two terms relate.

A good summary of the two concepts, including how they relate to commercial marketing, is found in Dr. Stephen Dann’s slideshow titled:

“Social change marketing in the age of direct benefit marketing – where to from here?”

In this presentation, Dann asks the question: Where to from here? which provides information on how social marketing has grown and compares to commercial marketing and what this may mean for the future. Other signs of the concept of social change’s relationship to social marketing dates back to Prof. Alan Andreason’s book: Marketing Social Change. So, there is a history. On the web, Craig Lefebvre’s blog is titled On Social Marketing and Social Change, suggesting the relationship.

Thus, I am curious on your thoughts about the terms/concepts of social marketing versus social change marketing:

Can social marketing be renamed social change marketing?
Or, is social marketing one component of social change?
Or, is social marketing one piece of social change marketing? What’s the difference? Is there a difference?

It may seem like a matter of scrabble to some, but these discussions really engage me, and I hope the enthusiasm sparks interest as I think the relationship between the two terms is continuing to develop and will becoming increasingly important as we work to brand social marketing. =)