Social Marketing Panorama

Marketing--It's All in Your Head

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:”

 

1. 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).
   
   
2. 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.)
   
   
3. 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.)
   
   
4. 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.)
   
   
5. 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).
   
   
6. 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.)
   
   
7. 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.)
   
   
8. 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.)
   
   
9. 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.)
   
   
10.   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!

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

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

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!

Healthy People 2020 Gives Love to Social Marketing!

The new Healthy People 2020 objectives rolled out yesterday.  And in them are objectives for social marketing for the first time ever!  You can go to http://bit.lyhLN62e, and read objective HC/HIT-13 for more information.

This came about through the dedication and work of a number of people, especially Bob Marshall and Craig Lefebvre.  Thanks are also due to the people who spoke in favor of the inclusion of social marketing during the comment process.

This does not quite reach the level of endorsement that Great Britain gave social marketing by selecting it as THE preferred health behavior change strategy. (See their National Social Marketing Centre.) However, with the multiple levels of review and clearance the objectives received, this gives social marketing great cache. (And we know that policy is a determinant of behavior, right?!)

So, if your colleagues or your agency are hesitant about adopting social  marketing, you can now respond, "But dude (or dudette), it is in the Healthy People 2020 objectives!"

Want a Social Marketing Membership Organization? Answer the Survey!

For many years there has been interest expressed in a global social marketing membership organization--and perhaps a US membership organization, too. An organization with the clout and cache to stand up and say THIS is social marketing (not messaging and not social media!), an organization that helps us network and continue feeding our heads ("remember what the door mouse said"), an organization that might credential people as social marketers, and maybe have a really cool logo-ed tee-shirt we can wear!

Well, for over a year now, serious planning has been going on.  Folks donated money; others are drafting organizational by-laws, and people are expressing interest in serving in an organization.

Once again, we need your input!  Please go to http://bit.ly/bcRLsV to take a short survey about what you want out of a social marketing organization.  Help us fine tune it, so the cost/benefit exchange tips in your favor!  The survey is open till the end of the month.

And thanks!

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!

 

2 Es and a Pyramid—Back to School with Social Marketing!

By now all public schools, colleges and universities in the US are back in session.  In that spirit, I want to go back to school with you and review part of the alphabet and some geometry--2 Es, and a pyramid to be exact.

 

2 Es

In my reading and conference-going over the spring and summer, two terms kept popping up:  emotions and the environment.  Regarding emotions: discussions about how we make decisions based on emotion first, then find the facts to back up our decisions.  MRI scans from neurobiology, revealing that the emotional centers of our brains "light up" during decision-making, when presented with certain informational or advertising stimuli--before the cognitive centers of our brains light up.  Recommendations that we focus on emotional appeals, rather than on factual appeals.

Regarding environment:  if you are looking for fertile ground in which to grow, or to practice, social marketing, look no further than environmental issues.  More and more environmental programs are showing an interest in using social marketing.  I can think of protecting turtle breeding grounds on beaches, air quality, wise water use during droughts and lowering peak use power demand, off the top of my head.  Despite skepticism in some quarters about global warming, there are public and private sector groups proposing programs that have a product and benefit, that need people to act in some way.  Whether they are focusing on a technology product or on a behavior change, we should be there with social marketing in hand.

Perhaps social marketing needs "The 2 Es" to go along with
The 4 Ps!

 

The Pyramid

Dr.Thomas Frieden, director of the CDC, has proposed a pyramid to describe public health interventions, their level of influence (societal to individual) and their impact on life expectancy.  From bottom to top, the levels are:  socioeconomic factors; changing the context of default decisions; long lasting protective interventions; clinical interventions; counseling and education. Interventions at the bottom have more impact on the whole population, but may encounter political and other resistance.  Interventions at the top require more individual effort, and may not be as widely nor immediately effective.

I look at this and see a smorgasbord of opportunities for using social marketing!!  I think a social marketing approach can be applied at each level.  And I have heard one state health director comment that social marketing can be most effective in the lower levels of the pyramid!

So...If you are looking opportunities to grow or to use social marketing, consider the 2 Es and a pyramid.

Social Marketing Resources I Learned About on My Summer Vacation

Do you remember as a kid when you went back to school after summer vacation, and the teacher asked you to write about what you did all summer?  Well, this blog obviously has been on vacation for a month, and its writer actually got some time away, too! While I was away from the blog, I learned about a number of new resources (as well as being reminded of several "old" ones) that I thought you might be interested in.

Blogs
Social Marketing exCHANGE--From Ogilvy Worldwide Public Relations which, despite their name, does some whiz-bang social marketing programs.  Begun in April, the blog touches on a wide variety of current issues and problem applications, and brings to bear all of Ogilvy's brain power and experience.

Upstream--From UNC-CH's Interdisciplinary Health Communication Certificate Program. Pithy, interesting posts about current issues and findings in marketing and health.  Very interesting to see what is top of mind from the next generation of social marketers and communicators! (I know some of the "students" involved in this.  Their skills are such that I would hire them today!)

Pew Internet in American Life Project--As social media continues to grow as a fact of life and as an intervention resource we can use in social marketing, this blog becomes more indispensable!  Pew does all sorts of wonderful, real-time research on how people are using social media, who is using it, and for what (a lot of it for health issues), and they publish informative, wonderfully readable reports. A must read!

Memory Stick (yes, memory stick!)
The National Social Marketing Centre in London has created a series of PowerPoint slides and PDFs that teachers and trainers can use to, well, teach and train about social marketing. Called "A Starter for 10" (don't ask me about the name, its a British thing!), these ready to use tools offer concise definitions and examples of best practice social marketing, along with presenter notes. They explain some parts of the social marketing process with a different slant from what you hear in the states (if that is where you are located), in a way that I find refreshing and interesting.

Journal
The Journal of Sustainable Behavior--Begun by environmental social marketing guru, Doug McKenzie-Mohr.  Has an editorial board that is a who's who of social marketers and behavioral scientists.  Just announced, so the site will be populated with more information soon. Bookmark it now.

Books
Social Marketing and Public Health: Theory and Practice--by Dr. Jeff French and colleagues at the National Social Marketing Centre, with contributions from others.  Okay, here is what will become a definitive text about our field! It has everything a textbook should, and...a plethora of cases studies and examples that are excitingly new to me, a decidedly English take on certain things like "scoping" and "insight," and subjects not covered in other textbooks, such as doing social marketing on a shoe-string budget (how does that apply?), an overview of theories, a review of social marketing's effectiveness, and strategies for capacity building.  It ends by illuminating the art and nuances of practice by including interviews with social marketers from around the world.  (In the spirit of disclosure, I am quoted in there.)

Social Marketing for Public Health: Global Trends and Success Stories--by Cheng, Kotler and Lee. This is the new installment from what has become the social marketing printing press of Phil Kotler and Nancy Lee. Joined by Dr. Hong Cheng, from the E.W. Scripps School of Journalism at Ohio State, the authors provide a deep, rich compendium of social marketing applications to health issues from around the world.  The book begins with an overview of basics.  Each case is set up around the phases and concepts of social marketing.  The book is eminently readable.  If someone has ever said to you that social marketing is some flash in the dark phenomenon, with limited application and no future--show them this book!!

Website
CDC's Gateway to Health Communication and Social Marketing Practice--Okay, I have mixed feelings about this resource.  On the one hand, it is a rich aggregation of many excellent CDC resources having to do with health communication and, to a lesser extent, social marketing.  Concise briefs on audiences, social media channels; case studies; tools to assist with planning, including the CDCynergy CD ROM based planning tools for health communication, risk communication and social marketing.  They have even added a "lite" version of CDCynergy-Social Marketing for people who are familiar with strategic planning and social marketing.  Wonderful stuff.

My concern is that they really smush together communication and social marketing as approaches to social change.  They sometimes appear to say that social marketing is a subset of health communication practice.  Other times they omit content about social marketing in sections where you expect to find it.  I believe they will sort this out.  However, for now, it adds to the existing confusion between communication and social marketing.

By the way, I did do more on my real vacation than find social marketing resources!  Check out these pics:

 

  

The Future of Social Marketing--via the USF Conference

In previous posts, I have reported on plenaries at the 20th Anniversary USF Social Marketing Conference that discussed the past and present states of social marketing.  A Day Two plenary looked at the future of social marketing.  The presenters were Craig Lefebvre, Chief Maven at Social Shifting, John Strand from the Academy for Educational Development, and Bill Novelli--one of the founding fathers (see June 25, 2010 post).

Craig Lefebvre

• "'At the center of every human soul is the intense longing to be closer to God." (www.gapingvoid.com) Most people in the world believe this. A brand that can empathize with that is powerful.
• Talk about "market failures" and policy makers listen. There are market failures in the health information marketplace.
• We need to focus on the brain and what neurobiology can tell us about human behavior.
• How can we "make hope visible?"
• Engage people as actors in their own lives, not as audiences.

 

John Strand

• We need to attack the "big gnarly problems."
• We need duty and discipline in what we do.

 

Bill Novelli

• The "big armamentarium" (look it up!) is social change. Social marketing is a piece
  of this.
• We have: a model; skills; data; courage.

 

From the Discussion

• Marketing and social marketing should be a required course in public health,, urban planning, medical fields; environmental fields and pubic administration.
• MBAs should be required to take a marketing course.
• Should there be a social marketing section in the American Marketing Association?

 

From where do you get your inspiration, dear colleagues? From where do you get your agenda?  I challenge you to look back over this post and the last two posts, and find something that throws an extra log on what fires up your work!

Thanks for all you do!