This month, July 2009, marks the 38th anniversary of the conceptualization of social marketing, by Philip Kotler and Gerald Zaltman! Their seminal article, "Social Marketing: An Approach to Planned Social Change," appeared in the Journal of Marketing (Vol. 35, pp. 3-12) in July 1971. In the article, Kotler and Zaltman discussed how "the logic of marketing [could be applied] to social goals." And a new approach to supporting social change for the well-being of individuals and communities was born!
Everyone who uses social marketing should read this article. It is a grounding text, a "sacred text," for what we do.
(And,for those who would equate social marketing with either advertsing or messages alone, or with the use of interactive, social media, Kotler and Zaltman are precise in grounding social marketing in the management, research and planning of marketing science, using all of marketing's strategies--product, price, place and promotion.)
Since 1971, social marketing has been used, literally, around the world to remediate a variety of health, environmental and societal concerns. A small sampling of users includes: WHO; The North Carolina Division of Public Health; US Department of Agriculture; RARE Conservation; World Wildlife Fund; Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation; Rock the Vote; Red Cross; the Episcopal Church. Issues have ranged from promotion of oral rehydration therapy and breastfeeding, to woodlands management and recycling, to anti-doping in sport and democratic voting in civil society.
There are more than 25 universities that offer social marketing courses; 11 text books on the topic; an international list serve with approximately 1,700 members; at least three international conferences (the oldest of which just had its 19th meeting); a dedicated journal; social marketing centers in Scotland, Canada, Poland and Australia; a governmental social marketing center in the UK. And, as many of you know, an international social marketing professional organization is in development, with expected roll-out in summer, 2010.
So, pour a glass of your favorite libation, sit down with a copy of the article, and raise a toast to Philip Kotler and Gerald Zaltman! They have given us a way to change the world for the better.
(Photo: robokow)
