Social Marketing Panorama

Muddling through Newtown

2012-12-23T00:55:32-05:00

I feel that I, like many others, should say something here to respond to the murders at Newtown, CT. To say, especially, how social marketing can be used to respond to violence or to prevent violence. Actually, very soon after I heard about the shootings in Newtown, I begin to think, "How can social marketing be used to prevent something like this?" Violence generally, handgun violence specifically, are some of those "wicked problems" that people often call upon social marketing to address. But to tell the truth, I am still trying to work my way through a fog of emotions to think very rationally or strategically about how to address a tragedy like this.

A couple things I do know, however. Gun violence is a multi-determined problem. It is like a spiderweb, and we need to look at every strand that supports gun violence and consider what can be done to address each of these strands. A single simple solution is not going to do it. And social marketing gives us that 360° view of all the factors that support a problem and of all the potential remedies. Having a marketing mindset helps us look at a mix of solutions they can have a synergistic effect, which can succeed where single or silo-ed solutions cannot.

The other thing I know is that we have to consider the worth and dignity of every individual involved in this: the children, the teachers, the mother of Adam Lanza, and yes, even Adam himself. The police and first responders. Gun owners and those who want nothing to do with guns. Individuals and society and our culture. We need to seek to understand, and we need to develop insight, if we are ever to reduce or prevent the problem of gun violence; to prevent a massacre like Newtown. Beyond these sureties, I am still muddling through the fog.

Maintaining Behavior...I Mean Blogging...I Mean...

2012-12-03T21:28:25-05:00

Hi, remember me? Trying (once again) to recommence blogging! There is a lot I like about blogging. I get a lot of goodies from it—i.e. benefits. But it is very hard in some ways too, and I give it up from time to time…hmmm, sounds a lot like maintaining other behaviors! So, let's take a look at my blogging behavior from a behavior change point of view.

One of my favorite ways for understanding behavior change is to use the questions that are laid out in the "Simplified Elicitation Methodology" (a formative research approach to gain insight into the barriers and facilitators an audience associates with a health behavior—Middlestadt, Bhattacharyya, Rosenbaum, Fishbein, and Shepherd, 1996). Over time, I have found this to be extremely helpful in understanding why people do—or don't do—a particular behavior. So what does this in entail?

This method, which I refer to as “Six Easy Questions,” consists of three pairs of questions. They are: 1) what are the good things that would come from doing behavior X, and what are the bad things that would come out of doing that behavior? 2) What would make it easier to do behavior X, and what would make it harder? And finally, 3) who would approve of my doing behavior X, and who would disapprove? What are the answers to these questions for my blogging behavior? (This feels somewhat like having a focus group with my navel!) 1) The good things that come out of blogging for me are that it gives me an opportunity to think out ideas in my head and try them out. I like the idea of being a though leader, of being able to teach and mentor from my experiences, and to learn from others. I like engaging the community of social marketers that is involved in behavior change. What are the bad things that come out of blogging for me? Nothing really! No downsides at all.

2) Okay, what makes blogging easier for me? Well, there is certainly no dearth of issues to write about! I have numerous experiences and interactions with others in the social marketing and behavior change community to call on. Having enough time to reflect and compose helps, also. Now, what makes it harder? This is a very rich vein to mine for me! First, for me, writing is like giving birth—painful! (A female friend of mine doubts I could know anything about this, but I know what I know.) I write well; the finished product is almost always good. But, just getting from the primary processes in my brain down to the coherent secondary process of the finished product is hard! Another thing, it's hard for me to find time to blog. My “day job” and my private consulting keep me busy. And then I do want to spend time with my family! So, it feels like it's hard for me to find time, or when I do find time, it’s at 2:30 or 3 o'clock in the morning when I am a “bear of very little brain” (as Winnie the Pooh says). Also, I don't have very good keyboard skills. Thus, there is a lot of editing to do, despite the help of spell check or spell correction on whatever device I'm using.

3) Finally, who would approve? Well, so far it seems everybody who reads the blog approves. Even people who aren’t readers think it is great I am blogging. No one disapproves (except my family doesn't like it when I take time away from them to blog!).

Alright, there is a map of the barriers, benefits and facilitators that I encounter when blogging. (Now you know more about me then you may have ever wanted to—or that I ever wanted you to!) Hopefully, this also provides you with an example of how to use the Six Easy Questions. Given that these are the barriers and benefits for me, what might be some interventions that I could put into place to move me along towards maintaining my blogging behavior? I thought of these:

Number One. Develop a publication schedule or calendar of various topics on which I can write. I have had one of these in the past, and it helped tremendously. I think it would help to do this again so that I'm never at a loss of content to write or that is fresh in my mind. Of course, I want it to be flexible enough that I can write about “breaking news,” too.

Number Two. I can easily talk about social marketing. I think it would be easier for me to compose a blog post just by talking about the subject and recording it. At least I can get my initial thoughts down. These usually come out pretty coherently. Then if I needed to make edits, I could do that. So, I will begin using a dictation program like Dragon Dictation, which I've used to compose other documents. (As a matter of fact, I'm composing this post now on my smart phone, using the dictation app that came with it!)

Number Three. I plan to talk to other successful bloggers—folks who are my social media angels, and ask for tips on how they're able to blog on a regular basis.

Number Four. I'm going to ask for expressions of support from friends and colleagues, for those times that I do blog. (Gifts of well brewed coffee and high-quality dark chocolate will also help! Hint, hint.)

Alright dear readers, what suggestions or "interventions" do you have to help me maintain my blogging behavior?! What about you? What are behaviors, either personal or professional, that you're trying to maintain? What have you found as barriers and facilitators? What's made it “fun, easy and popular” for you to maintain your chosen behaviors? I really want to hear back from you, so make sure to comment. And I encourage you to give the simplified elicitation methodology a try, if your behavior change program is not working the way you think it should. Then, make midcourse corrections. (Preferably, however, include it in your initial audience research before you even develop your interventions!)

I thank you deeply and sincerely for being a part of my blogging community and for engaging me here! And if you need an address to send that chocolate and coffee to, just let me know! See you here in a couple weeks, I promise! Sent from my iPhone

Way Cool Resource: USF Social Marketing Conference (aka Social Marketing Nirvana)

2012-05-24T21:30:20-04:00

What better way to get back into blogging than with a "Way Cool Resource," a quarterly feature? And what better Way Cool Resource to highlight than the University of South Florida Social Marketing Conference?! For me this conference is the center of my professional universe, god's navel event! I have attended since 1997, and the conference has consistently engaged and rejuvenated me with its content. Logistically, it is one of the best planned conferences I attend. And relationship-wise, I get to see and hug the many friends and colleagues that social marketing has brought me over the years.

This year, the conference will use a "collaboratory" format on the first day. These will be facilitated discussions to allow participants to delve deeply into social marketing practice in the domains of academia, the public sector, NGOs, training and consulting, and environmental sustainability. The second day will host presentations about specific program endeavors. I think this new format will provide variety and will be very engaging!

The "old stuff" that I love will be there, too: participants from across the US and around the world; novices to the folks who wrote the books; friendly people with a passion for making the world a better place!! There is still time to register! And if you can't be there in person, follow us on Twitter: #SMC2012.

Putting the Blogging Back in Social Marketing!

2012-05-15T01:21:52-04:00

Greetings, All!

Just when you thought it was safe to travel to blogosphere, I am coming back! I am emerging from two semesters of teaching graduate social marketing classes--something I love, but that takes an enormous amount of time.

Coming very soon, blog posts on:

The importance of "social" in social marketing
A parable of behavior change
The more things change, the more they stay
the same
Way Cool social marketing resources (a quarterly feature)
...maybe even reflections on teaching new social marketers

So, bookmark the site, update your RSS feeds, and I will chat with you soon!

Joy is Attending the CDC's Health Communication, Marketing and Media Conference!

2011-08-19T11:29:34-04:00

Last week I attend the 5th occurrence of this conference. It was one of the best conferences I have attended in a long time! 1,110 participants from 25 countries. Excellent content and relationship building. To use professional jargon, I was as happy as a pig in mud! It is difficult to identify all of the nuggets I gleaned from the conference, but here are a few.

1. J. Walker Smith of The Futures Company (formally Yankelovich) distilled 3 points from consumer research in the US: Caution--consumers are cautious in how they approach decisions about financial markets and other matters. This leads to Curation--people want to hear from citizens, not "authorities." So they find networks that can collect and curate information they want. All of this is in the service of Contentment--People want their decisions to led to actions and purchases that bring contentment. Health communicators and marketers need to consider their work in the context of these themes.

2. Photovoice is a tool for formative research in which people take pictures of their everyday lives, review the pictures through a group methodology in which they identify themes and areas of concern, then use these findings to inform intervention strategies.

3. Tools to track social media: Sproutsocial can track the purposefulness of engagement; Tweetercounter.com provides stats related to Tweeter posts; Topsy.com counts hashtag mentions; Klout.com--assesses your social media influence and engagement.

4. Ed Keller, of the Keller Fay Group, had these observations about social media: a) Social media is made up of two words. 90% of the value is on the social side. It is not technology that made us social; b) Social media is an enabler, not a driver, of stories. What is our story? Who can best tell it? Then ask, what is the best channel? c) If we want to be "social," then we have to act "sociably"--listen before we speak, offer something on-topic about what people are interested in. d) The ethics of social media is about honesty, transparency, relationships.

5. To generate engagement in social media [and I think this is true for all relationships-sm1guru]: a) give people something of interest to talk about--something that excites them [guess we have to listen and get to know them first-sm1guru]; b) give positive messages; give periodic updates on a topic; c) provide opportunities to interact and act--e.g., videos, games, questions.

6. Craig Lefebvre--long time social marketer and social change agent reminded us to listen; to get away from science and take a look at the popular culture most people experience; we need eureka moments of insight, not confirmation of our scientific thinking.

7. Many of our communication interventions has been based on the assumption that the paradigm for change is "Think, Act, Feel." More and more research shows it is "Feel, Act, Think." Emotion is the elephant in the behavior change room--focus there. [This reminds me of a saying from my social work days, "Insight doesn't lead to behavior change, but behavior change might lead to insight."--sm1guru].

8. From Bev Schwartz, at Ashoka, in a panel on social entrepreneurship: "Change makers live at the intersection of passion and drive."

9. Big Concern--I did not attend every session that talked about social marketing, but every session I attended on it focused primarily on the Promotion P, or the speaker did not seem to understand social marketing process and the 4 Ps well. And this from some people who should know better! That should not being happening at this conference!

10. Big Announcement--CDC is developing a new decision support tool to help us create and analyze messages--including those for social media platforms--based on 10 evidence-based variables that are significant predictors for stated intentions and behavior. The tool is like CDCynergy meets TurboTax. For more information, send your contact information to: messageworks@orau.com.

Happy 40th Anniversary Social Marketing!!!!

2011-07-01T13:13:05-04:00

“Yes, my dear love, you have changed my life so!!!! I pledge my heart, my soul…” OH, hello!! Just starting my celebration of a very significant anniversary! The 40^th Anniversary of Kotler and Zaltman’s 1971 article in which they coined the phrase social marketing! Social marketing’s ruby anniversary! Come celebrate with me!

My own love affair with social marketing only goes back 14 years, and I was a reticent lover at first. It took four exposures before my feet were swept out from under me. (The usual excuses: “Social what? Didn’t the Berlin Wall just fall?” “Well, that is interesting, I suppose, but it sure seems like a lot of work!” “Could you make this subject ANY dryer?!”)

BUT BOY, when I fell, I fell hard! It was like the skies opened up and a silver platter came floating down with all these wonderful ways to make the lives of people better and make the world a better place! AND I HAVE NEVER LOOKED BACK!

And I am not the only one who has had this crush! Look at these “love letters” (I know I will miss counting something here!):

A newly formed international social marketing association
2 international list serves (one at least 15 years old, with 3,000+ members)
At least 6 conferences in 5 countries (including one in its 21^st year)
2 dedicated journals
10+ textbooks
Curricula in multiple colleges (20 and counting…)
6+ major firms and non-profits
Social marketing centers in Scotland, Canada, Poland & Australia
Use by national governmental agencies in the US & the UK

So, why have I remained so smitten? Just some of the reasons I am willing to divulge…

Marketing expresses a basic quality of what it is to be human, dating back to our ancestors, when the tribe by the river had plenty of fish but no way to cook them, while the tribe on the hillside had plenty of wood for cooking fires, but no tasty fish…then they got together and exchanged wood and fish.

It gives us a 360 degree view of the causes of an issue and potential solutions.

It gets us out of our interventional silos and provides a logic model to tie together all of our interventions (services, outreach, education, advocacy, products, technology, policy and environmental change).

It is based in commercial marketing which never has problems reaching the "hard to reach!" And commercial marketing is always evolving, so there is always more to learn and grow into.

You get to meet some way cool people, who are all pulling on the same oar to make the world a better place!

I found my heart's desire, my vocation (as in the Latin, voco, vocare, “to call").

“…Yes, my dear love, you have changed the world so! And so, my darling, I re-pledge thee my troth for the next 40 years…! And you who witness this, will you be there, too?!

(Cartoon by Hugh, gaping void.com)

Marketing--It's All in Your Head

2011-06-16T00:15:46-04:00

Recently, I had the opportunity to listen to a conference on neuromarketing. Neuromarketing uses learnings from neurology about how the brain responds to various stimuli, in this case advertising materials, to understand our behavioral choices. So, for example, researchers will hook people up to electroencephalograms (EEGs) or place them in functional MRI machines, expose them to advertisements, or to component images, text, etc. and see which areas of their brains light up with activity. Talk about “getting into someone’s head!” (I wrote about neuromarketing in an earlier blog post, entitled “The Neurology of Marketing” on 10/27/08, about the book, Buyology: Truth and Lies About Why We Buy, by Martin Lindstrom.)

This has contributed to a growing body of knowledge and insight about why we do the things we do. For example, neuromarketing is exploding the “myth of rational choices”—That we carefully consider “the facts” in making a decision. Rather it highlights that most decision making is at a subconscious level, outside of our awareness; that most of the brain processing around choices takes place in emotional centers of the brain, not the logical centers. So, what are the implications for marketers, commercial or social? Do we have to bring an MRI machine into our focus groups?! Happily, no! Presenters at the conference discussed a number of “ready to use” learnings that I think we can begin applying right now. I will review one set of learnings now and relate other information in a later post.

Steven Walden, Senior Head of Research and Consulting, Beyond Philosophy, discussed “10 Psychological Principles for Managing Customer Experiences:”

We make decisions based on preconceived expectations and prejudices of what an experience will be - not what it is. Our previous experiences set the tone, often subconsciously, of any interaction. But you can breach expectations to create a new market space (e.g., expanding a library into an entertainment center).
We don’t consider all the elements of an experience, only those most noticeable (to the senses). And these often have to do with pleasure or pain. (Consider background music in a store, use of designs and colors in an office, a doctor touching your shoulder while listening to your heart.)
We identify a moral code in what you do, even if it is not directly relevant to the purchase in question. This can color any other received information about you. (E.g., a department store offering canvas bags, rather than plastic; a bank’s Red credit card which generates donations to charity with each use.)
Sometimes we don’t know about the things that influence us, we just subconsciously perceive them (e.g., the design of a car’s dashboard)…It’s about creating an emotionally and subconsciously engaging experience (e.g., the nerdy appeal of Best Buy’s Geek Squad)…Including those one second moments (e.g., Placing a smiling face on something makes the user more positively disposed to it.)
Emotional twinges affect our ‘in the moment’ decision making and hence behavior (e.g., a pleasant voice on the other end of the phone; Starbuck’s writing YOUR name on you drink cup; the “cool” sleek design of an orange juicer.)…It’s about making routine experiences fun (e.g., pushing a button in a grocery store produce display to hear the bananas sing; Southwest Airlines’ off-beat sense of humor during safety instructions).
We are prone to be wary of anything that threatens our well-being. (Implication: we are more sensitive about losses than gains. If someone has a negative experience, you are going to have work x-times harder to get them back to a positive state about you.)
It is about what we want from an experience at a deep level and as we traverse it! (e.g., motivators may be deeper than what is expressed on the surface. No one ever got fired for buying an IBM—that may be the real motivation beneath an argument that “it is more powerful than a Mac.)...It’s about building attachment between employees and customers—building fans. (London Symphony Orchestra needed to increase the numbers of subscribers. They discovered people wanted to meet their favorite performer, so the symphony included a meet and greet after every performance.)
Our memory of an event is not perfect, but subject to “manipulation.” (e.g. adding a pleasant experience to the end of something unpleasant –think a colonoscopy!—can help people remember it as more pleasant and less painful.)
We like to follow the herd, be seen as part of the group. (Implication: cr eate followers and fans, a sense of community. E.g., a flower shop presents a special offer only to it Facebook fans; Harley-Davidson shows groups of biker dudes in its promotional materials.)
We get bored with the same old, same old. Sometimes innovation for its own sake is important. (Implication: if you are not perceived as being in fashion or ahead of the curve, you will be left behind in your audience’s mind.)

One of the things that struck me out of all of this is the importance of creating positive experiences for our audiences. So, I challenge you: take a look at some of the principles. What ideas come to mind about how we can apply these principles to health behavior change, social change, and improving community well-being? Send your ideas in the comments and I will post them!

Stop Looking for a Silver Bullet! We need Wooden Stakes and Garlic, too!

2011-05-23T00:16:57-04:00

As you may have noticed, it has been awhile since I last blogged. My time has been taken teaching a wonderful course on Marketing Public Health at the UNC-CH Gillings School of Global Public Health. During this time I have also had the opportunity to conduct a number of trainings and to consult with a range of erstwhile social marketing endeavors. One thing that has stuck out to me in all of these situations is how often people tend to focus on one intervention strategy as the panacea for the social ill they are trying to make better. "We need to raise awareness." "If we just change the policy." "We have GOT to develop our brand [i.e., usually a logo]." "Let's have a community health fair." "We need to organize the community." People are seeking that one silver bullet that will that will slay the beast of the problem they are attacking. Well, my fellow change agents, we need more!

Bill Novelli, a very early adopter of social marketing and one of the founding principals of Porter-Novelli, one of the first social marketing firms in the US, is fond of quoting this line attributed to Danish inventor and poet Piet Hein: "Problems worthy of attack, prove their worth by hitting back." Most of the problems we seek to ameliorate are huge. They have existed for some time. And they have multiple determinants. My friends, we are fighting monsters and they can bite back! Like the monster hunters of old, we need not only a silver bullet, we need wooden stakes and garlic, too! (And yes, fire and swords and pitchforks!) We need a Mix of interventions!

The social marketing process, when followed correctly in best practice fashion, provides a wonderful antidote to the tendency toward single interventions. Formative research that includes an environmental scan, a review of successful and promising practices, and that seeks insight into our audiences can provide a 360 degree view of the both the determinants of a problem and potential solutions. The focus on reducing barriers to behavior and increasing benefits or facilitators for that behavior is almost disappointingly simple, but opens one up to a variety of interventions. The idea of the marketing mix (of the traditional marketing strategies of product, price, place and promotion) provides a discipline for planning that emphasizes the synergistic power of coming at a problem from several angles. (Ever hear of the principle from general systems theory that the whole is greater than the sum of its parts?) Social marketing can lead us to the mix of solutions most likely to make a positive difference for our problem.

When you are fixing a salad to solve the "problem" of personal hunger sure, you may just go for the wedge of lettuce. But more than likely, you are going to add carrots and broccoli and tomatoes for taste and color and vitamins, you are going to throw on cumbled blue cheese and chicken or ham for flavor and for the protein to keep you satisfied for several hours. And you are going to top it off with a dressing (low-fat, of course) to help it go down so smooth, croutons for a satisfying crunch, and some fruit on the side for a sweet finish.

Do the same when you are planning your interventions. Go for the whole salad bar, not the just the lettuce. Quit looking for the one silver bullet, get the stakes and garlic out too, and light a bonfire. We are fighting monsters--and for the sake of our audiences and our communities, we need to use the right tools. You do want to win, right?!

What Social Marketing Is and Isn't: A Declaration of Distinctions

2011-03-21T20:46:18-04:00

Last week, three leaders in the field, Nancy Lee,¹ Michael Rothschild² and William Smith³, published a declaration of what social marketing is and isn't on the Georgetown Social Marketing List serve. As they state in their transmission message, this comes from their frustation with "the breadth of interpretations of social marketing and the lack of distinction between what social marketing and other behavior change paradigms purport to do." (Amen sister and brothers!) They approach this by stating: 1) what principles social marketing shares with other disciplines; 2) what principles are unique to social marketing; 3) distinctions between social marketing and other approaches to behavior change (commercial marketing, communications, regulation, social media and non-profit marketing). They also provide a definition of social marketing and state its unique value proposition.

As a sneak preview, they identify these four principles unique to social marketing:

Value exchange
Recognition of competition
The 4Ps of marketing
Sustainability

Whether these strike a familiar chord or not, you can read the whole declaration here: Social Marketing Declaration of Distinctions Final.

The authors note that they are responsible for the declaration, "with insights provided by a number of other colleagues [including yours truly]." They go on to say, "We do not mean to imply that this represents the field or should immediately be accepted as an official stand for the field. We do, though, hope that this is the beginning of a discussion that does lead to some agreement as to what social marketing is and stands for."

I say we should print this out, post it above our desks, and carry a copy in our pocket to share with all our colleagues!

¹Nancy Lee is a co-author with Philip (father of social marketing) Kotler of seven books on social marketing and marketing, an an independent consultant. ²Mike Rothschild is Emeritus Professor or Marketing at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. ³Bill Smith is former Executive Vice President of the Academy of Educational Development.

My New Years Wish for Social Marketing

2011-01-04T00:23:38-05:00

As we go into the new year, these are my wishes--that:

1. You begin every thought and sentence related to social/behavior change with the words, "Lower barriers and increase benefits (or facilitators);"

2. You give up your addiction to awareness and messaging;

3. You take some time to plan rather than jumping to tactics;

4. You remember to evaluate what you are trying to do;

5. The world will understand that social marketing is not communication, and is not social media;

6. That the global social marketing association will flourish

7. We all, in the midst of our serious and important work, remember the joy.

These are my wishes. May they become your resolutions!