Social Marketing Panorama

How do I Love Social Marketing? Let Me Count the Ways!*

*With apologies to Elizabeth Barrett Browning.

It is the time of year again when I do quite a few presentations about social marketing for classes and conferences.  Questions inevitably come up about how I got into social marketing, what I like about it, etc.  I always have to confess that I fell madly in love with social marketing.  I thought it would be a good time to confess my love here, too--and why!

• Social marketing gives me a 360 degree view of the causes of a problem and potential solutions.
  
• Social marketing provides a logic model that links together all of my interventions.
  
• It makes me think in terms of barriers and benefits of behavior--which I think are the quintessential determinants of all behavioral choices (and which I think is brilliant!).
  
• Because of this, it breaks down our "intervention silos" ("We have to raise awareness," "Policy change is the only way to go,"  "Dear 'ol Professor Whosit taught me this," "I heard this at the last conference"), and opens up the intervention landscape to what will move the needle on behavior change.
  
• Social marketing is a mindset and a process.  Thus, it is portable to any setting, applicable to any problem, and usable regardless of my resources.
  
• Because it is based in commercial marketing, which is always evolving, it keeps me on the cutting edge of what works (and thus is fun, because there is always something new to learn).
  
• Marketing reaches people and locations health and human service programs deem "unreachable."
  
• It allows me to meet and work with some very way cool people--who are passionate, very willing to share, and pulling on the same oar to make the world a better place.
  
• It brings together so many, many of my skills and interests and gifts.

 

O la la! Is it getting hot in here, or is it just me?!  It was not always this way. The first time I was exposed to social marketing I thought, "Isn't socialism dead?  Didn't the Berlin Wall just fall?" The next two times I was exposed I thought, "Well, that is interesting, but it sure seems like a lot of work." Then the fourth time...sigh...I heard Carol Bryant, from the University of South Florida, talk about it.  The key went in and turned. The heavens opened (pretty literally, but social marketing as a mystical experience is another post!), and I felt like I had just received a silver tray with all these goodies on it--goodies to help me finally understand why all my good communications didn't always work, goodies to understand why people do or don't do things, goodies to help me have a lasting impact for good.  I began the journey of discovering my heart's delight...sigh...

...Social marketing, it is my soul craft!

 

The Current State of Social Marketing--Views from the USF Conference

Last month I shared gems of wisdom from the founding fathers of social marketing.  In this post, I offer up more of the rich content from USF--this time, comments on the current state of the field from three practitioners:  Keith Goodman, Alliance for Climate Protection, in Washington, DC; Carol Bryant, founder fo the USF conference (whom I call the "godmother" of social marketing in public health); and Jeff French, CEO of Strategic Social Marketing, Ltd., and former director of Britain's National Social Marketing Centre.

 

Keith Goodman

• Government needs to do audience research for their program.  They don't understand this (a recurring theme at the conference was the federal gov't. in the US not getting marketing--sm1guru) 
• Technologies used in social marketing (e.g., mass media, social networking) are just tools
• We need to provide benefits for behavior, such as "bragging rights" through easy access into Facebook or Twitter; remember the importance of making the behavior fun
• We have the opportunity to "pile on benefits"

 

Carol Bryant

• We need to address the outer circles of the socio-ecological model
• Community-base social marketing has three major facets:  tapping into local wisdom and sharing control; using the socio-ecological model; using social marketing basics
• Community members (i.e., the "target audience") bring tremendous local knowledge
• Sharing the social marketing process and the ecological model enables the community to make the local knowledge actionable

 

Jeff French 

• We need to "get out of our social marketing ghettos," and talk to others about social marketing
• We have problems in promoting social marketing:  1) definitional and branding problems; 2) not enough proponents, and they are unevenly distributed; 3) lack of alignment with organizational strategies--social marketing is viewed as a third level of activity
• We need to get strategic, and influence policy and evaluation
• We need to develop:  1) standards and codes; 2) social networks of practitioners; 3) an academic evidence base with research and case studies
• There are opportunities in the demands for citizen-based solutions for social problems

 

The three take-home messages for me are that we need to:  1) focus much more on providing benefits; 2) open up our practice to the communities in which we work; 3) shore up the field academically and structurally.  What struck you in the remarks? What ideas do you have about how to act on these observations?  I invite you to examine your own practice of social marketing, and see how it stands up against the comments above.  Are you in good shape, or do you have work to do?

Way Cool Resource: USF Social Marketing in Public Health Conference

With this post I am bringing back an occasional feature, "Way Cool Resources," where I highlight a really cool (WAY COOL, ACTUALLY) social marketing-related resource.  This time--how could I resist?--it is the University of South Florida's Social Marketing in Public Health Conference!  And how appropriate as this is the 20th Anniversary of the conference (June 11-12, 2010).

I love this conference!  I have attended it for 12 years.  It has never grown stale.  There is always something new and different to learn each year. For me, it is like "God's navel," professionally; or the center of my professional universe!  I begin thinking about it in February or March, each year.

There is alway so very much to learn--through the plenaries, the featured speakers, and the workshops.  You can get the big picture of social marketing, down to very specific applications.  This year, there are additional workshop offerings.

And each year, there is a Training Academy (June 13-14, 2010) that will give you an in-depth introduction to social marketing.  I remember the first year I attended the Training Academy.  As I sat there listening to Carol Bryant (whom I call the Godmother of Social Marketing), I felt like the heavens opened and this big silver platter was presented to me with all these wonderful goodies on it!  I had heard at least two social marketing presentations before, and kind gone, "that's nice...so?" This time, the key went in, the lock turned, and the rest is history!

The conference is designed to provide a very comfortable atmosphere (note the flowered shirt above!) in which to network.  The conference is internationally attended, usually 300 - 400 people. They range from novices to the people who wrote the books--LITERALLY! Attendees come from public, private, academic and non-profit sectors. And while public health may predominate, you can find about any human service, safety or environmental issue you can imagine represented.  Folks are very friendly and willing to share.

Speaking of the people who wrote the books! This year being the 20th anniversary of the conference, Phil Kotler (the father of social marketing, with Gerald Zaltman), Alan Andreasen and Bill Novelli will keynote the speakers.  Hey, bring your autograph book!

So...beg, borrow or sale those Girl Scout cookies in the freezer, and direct you bad self to this conference! You--and the clients you serve--will be glad you did!  (And if you can't make it, I will be Tweeting from the conference each evening: http://twitter.com/sm1guru.)