Social Marketing: What it is, when to use it, and how to get results

NECHA / NYSCHA Combined Meeting 2013Leah Berkenwald, MA Health Communication

What is Social Marketing?

What is it NOT:– Social media

marketing– Social norms

marketing– Cause marketing– Political cause

marketing

Social Marketing is:

“Social marketing is the application of commercial marketing technologies to the analysis, planning, and evaluation of programs designed to influence the voluntary behavior of target audiences in order to improve their personal welfare and that of society of which they are a part.”

Alan R. Andreasen, 2003Professor of Marketing at Georgetown University

Executive Director of the Social Marketing Institute

Behavior change continuum

Education Law/Policy

• Need a motivated audience• Doesn’t really work with

substance abuse

• Infringes on individual freedom

• Not always enforceable

Behavior change continuum

Education Law/PolicySocial Marketing

“Help me”“Tell me” “Make me”

Social marketing answers the question:

How can we make this behavior fun, easy, and popular?

Condom Distribution, Kenya

• Beginning in 1990, Population Services International (PSI) worked with Kenyan government to increase condom access and use

• Created the Trust condom brand• Campaign strategy:

– Targeted 15- to 24-year-olds– Early campaigns focused on condom efficacy, risk perception,

and trusted partner myth– Positioned Trust condoms as cool, “must carry” item for young

guys– Later, switched to focusing on self-efficacy and social norms

Trust Condom Campaign, South Africa

PSI/Kenya Results

• Male youth:– Increase in condom use at last sex with all non-spousal

partners (46.8% in 2001 to 53% in 2009)– Increase in reported consistent condom use with all non-

spousal partners (27.2% in 2001 to 39.9% in 2007)– Increase in condom use at last sex with casual partners

(54.2% in 2001 to 65.3% in 2009)• Stimulated market growth

– Now more than 15 condom brands on the market• 30% of retail outlets sell Trust condoms• 300 million condoms distributed since 1998

Social Marketing Background

• Originally developed to aid condom distribution in developing countries

• Recently embraced and endorsed by: – Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC)– U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA)– U.S. Department of Health and Human Services

(USDHHS)• Recommended in Healthy People 2020– HC/HIT-13: Increase social marketing in health

promotion and disease prevention

VERB Campaign, United States

VERB Campaign, United States

• Developed by the CDC • Results:

– found increased levels of physical activity among youth

– determined that using social marketing to promote physical activity was a promising strategy

• Sources:– http://

pediatrics.aappublications.org/cgi/reprint/116/2/e277

– http://www.cdc.gov/pcd/issues/2004/jul/04_0043.htm

– http://www.cdc.gov/youthcampaign/research/PDF/year2_evaluation.pdf

Social Marketing Today

• New textbooks and workbooks• Training programs and materials • International email listserve• Annual conferences– Multiple sessions at American Public Health

Association (APHA) 2014 in Boston– World Social Marketing Conference 2015 in

Australia

10 Steps to Social Marketing

1. Define the problem & identify desired behavior change2. Set goals and SMART objectives3. Audience segmentation4. Literature review & environmental Scan5. Formative research (data collection)6. Theoretical framework7. SWOT Analysis8. Apply the Marketing Mix (4 P’s)9. Pre-testing10. Plan evaluation strategy

10 Steps to Social Marketing

1. Define the problem & identify desired behavior change2. Set goals and SMART objectives3. Audience segmentation4. Literature review & environmental Scan5. Formative research (data collection)6. Theoretical framework7. SWOT Analysis8. Apply the Marketing Mix (4 P’s)9. Pre-testing10. Plan evaluation strategy

Define the problem

• Harder than it sounds!

• Sexual Assault:• Incidence of sexual assault on campus is too high• Reporting rates are too low• Rape-supportive cultural norm on campus• Students are not trained in bystander intervention skills

Identify Desired Behavior Change

1. Accept or adopt a new behavior2. Reject a potential behavior3. Modify a current behavior4. Abandon an old behavior

Audience Segmentation Strategy

• Identify Primary Audience– Who is going to be doing the behavior?– Are there more than one?

• Identify Secondary Audience– Who influences the primary audience?– Is there more than one group?

• Choose target audience– Can be primary or secondary– Need different, specifically tailored marketing strategy for EACH

individual target audience

Data Collection

How do we learn about the people we want to reach?

– Surveys• Phone• Paper• Online

– Focus Groups• Face to face• Phone• Online

– Interviews• Face to face• Phone interviews• Intercept interviews

Car Seats, Dallas, TX

• Injury Prevention Center worked to increase car seat usage among Hispanic women

“It’s in God’s hands.”

• In 3 years, car seat usage among Hispanic preschool children went from 21% to 73%

• In 6 years, car seat usage had surpassed 85%

5. Data Collection

• What do we know about the people we want to reach?

– WHO• Who influences them?• Who do they influence?

– WHAT• What do they want?• What do they need?• What matters to them?• What keeps them from engaging in the desired behavior?• What would help them engage in the desired behavior?• What do they see as the benefit of a desired behavior?

– WHEN• When are they most likely to act/not act?

– WHERE• Where are they most likely to act/not act?

Theoretical framework

• Should be based on:– Social and behavior change theory– Communication theory– Education theory

• For example:– Diffusion of Innovations Theory– Transtheoretical Model (Stages of Change)– Social Cognitive Theory (role modeling)– Health Belief Model– Cognitive Dissonance

Red Card Campaign, Madagascar

• In October 2006, the Red Card campaign was launched through a mass-media effort

• To give young women tools to say “no” or turn down sexual advances

• TV spots utilized Social Cognitive Theory– Role modeling– Self-efficacy– Social norms

Red Card Campaign, Madagascar

• As of July 2007, over 200,000 Red Cards had been distributed following short 2-hour workshops

• 2,000 Red Card clubs formed• Large increase in calls made to the national

HIV/AIDS hotline• Using the card as a conversation starter with

boyfriends, friends, and relatives

4 Ps Exercise

• Take a moment to think of an issue on your campus or in your community that you might wish to address

• Choose your target audience and your desired behavior change

• Follow along filling in your Planning Worksheet as we go

The Marketing Mix

• Product– What are you selling?

• Price– Answers: “What’s in it for me?”

• Place– Where are the openings or opportunities to reach people?

• Promotion– What does this marketing campaign look like?

Product

• Actual product:– What’s the behavior/action you are selling?

• Core product:– What is the core benefit to this action?

• Augmented products:– What tools, materials, other physical items exist to

help people engage in the behavior/action?

Examples

Verb:• Actual Product: Play (physical activity)• Core Product: Fun!• Augmented Product: Yellowball

Product (cont.)

• Positioning– How do you make your product more attractive

than competing behaviors or options?– Compared to other similar products, how do you

want to differentiate yours?• The “cool” option?• The “smart” option?• The “logical” option?

Price

Price: Barriers

• What are the actual costs or barriers to action?• What are the perceived costs or barriers to action?• What are the perceived benefits to action?• What can we do to offset the costs of actual

barriers?• What can we do to reassure the audience about

perceived barriers?

• What can we do to sweeten the deal?

Drunk Driving in Wisconsin

• http://youtu.be/-gOfbL3Fh8k?t=2m44s

Road Crew Campaign, Wisconsin Dept. of Transportation

• Nearly 20,000 rides given from 2002-2003

• Rides prevented an estimated 15 alcohol-related crashes that year, a 17% reduction

• Average crash costs $56,000. Implementing road crew cost $15,000, estimated savings of $615,000 in first year

Place

– Where do people engage in the desired behavior? • Including physical and virtual places and spaces

– When do people engage with the desired behavior?• Times of day, times of year, holidays, events, etc.

– What are the opportunities or openings to reach our target audience?• Waiting for the bus, on their 21st birthday, Halloween, back

to school season, etc.

Angler Outreach Program, CA• To reduce consumption of locally-caught

white croaker contaminated with DDT and other chemicals in LA and Orange Counties

• Formative research:– Anglers would be motivated by a

directive from health officials– Anglers were very motivated to

protect the health of their children– Not knowing white croaker was

contaminated was the strongest barrier

• The intervention reduced the number of white croaker entering the community by 93%

Promotion

• Where it all comes together– Message

• the “what” and “why”• Based on Product and Price strategies

– Tactics• the “how,” “where,” & “when”• Based on Place strategies

Promotion

• Message strategy:– Key promise:

• If _______, then ______.• If you use these bystander intervention techniques, you will be

a hero and protect your community.

– Cost/Benefit• If you’re worried about ______, don’t worry because _______.• If you’re worried about confronting your friends, don’t worry

because we will give you the tools to intervene without having to confront anyone.

Promotion (cont.)

Channels:What are the target audiences’ media preferences?– Internet– Radio– TV– Email– Snail mail– Newspapers– Magazines– Text messages

Tactics:– Facebook advertisements– Radio PSAs– Posters/flyers– Billboards– Google ads– Facebook page– Social media campaign– Events – Launch party– Press release

Pre-testing

• Send message strategy and any prototypes of posters/websites/logos, etc. to students in your target audience– Students who you already surveyed/focus group

participants– Random students in target audience

Texting and Driving, UK

WIC Breastfeeding Campaign, New York

Potential pitfalls

• Insufficient formative research with target audience– Message may not resonate– Cultural incompetency

• No “buy-in” from target audience or community

• No clear behavioral directive• Unintended consequences

Resources• CDC resources –CDCynergy: Social Marketing Edition 2.0

• NCI Theory at a Glance• Hands-On Social Marketing: A Step-by-Step

Guide to Designing Change for Good by Nedra K Weinreich

More Resources• Social Marketing Institute– Week-long summer intensive training in Boston– Open to students and professionals

• ALE Graduate Student Consultant from Emerson

Dr. Timothy Edgar

Sexual Assault Focus Groups

• High acceptance of known rape myths • Do not believe that “words hurt anybody”– “Family Guy sense of humor”

• Lack of awareness– Surprised that sexual assault happens here– Did not know there were male survivors on

campus• Felt targeted as “potential rapists” by previous

prevention efforts

Sexual Assault Focus Groups (cont.)

• Highly motivated to protect their friends and community

• Want to be the “hero”– “Make us feel empowered to stop it rather than

that we’re the actual rapists.”– “What people would want to know is ‘How can I

come out a hero?’ or ‘How can I learn how to be a hero?’”

– “A superman logo would be legit.”

Be a WIThero

• Target audience: Male undergraduate students

• Desired behavior change:– Adopt these 4 bystander intervention techniques:

1. Don’t laugh or participate in rape-supportive jokes or conversations

2. Change the subject3. Address the issue in the moment4. Step in to prevent potential a sexual assault from

taking place

Tactics: Fall 2013

Fall semester:• Mike Dilbeck, bystander education speaker• Clothesline Project• Sexual assault reality check awareness

campaign (infographics)• Rape myth correction awareness campaign

(posters)

Tactics: Spring 2014

• WIThero Workshops– 90 minute bystander intervention

skills training– Participants get a free WIThero t-

shirt• Roleplay video created by student

leaders• Posters and infographics

addressing self-efficacy• Take Back the Night• WIThero party, co-sponsored by

Student Events Board

Takeaways

• Focus on clear, specific behavioral objective• Segment your audience• Audience-centered approach– Cost/benefit– “What’s in it for me?”

• Get audience input & feedback• Build evaluation into programs