A Social Marketing Approach to Promoting Literacy-Related Behaviors Among Low-Income Families

1. A Social Marketing Approach to Promoting Literacy-RelatedBehaviors Among Low-Income Families Margarita Hurtado, Ph.D., Principal Research Scientist Julia Galdo, M.A., Managing Director, Communication Lori Agin, Principal Communications Specialist Susan Heil, Ph.D., Principal Research Scientist American Institutes for Research May 3, 2010

2. Contents AIR’s Role Social Marketing Formative Research Message and Materials Testing Appeal and Demand Outreach Assessment Lessons Learned

3. AIR’s Role Apply the principles of social marketing to reach Ready to Learn (RTL) families Conduct audience, market, message, and materials research Plan and implement RTL-RR marketing and community engagement activities Conduct process and outreach evaluation on specific aspects of the campaign

4. Social Marketing

5. Effective Social Marketing Is Based On Understanding the Audience Messages that are relevant to them Delivered where they live, work, play, eat, shop and pray By messengers and channels they trust Asking them to take a clear action (that they can take and believe they can take)

6. Formative Research

7. Goals • Identify and understand: • RTL families (target audience) • Marketplace of literacy initiatives and services available to RTL families • Current brand and position of RTL • Resources and potential partnerships • Distribution and communication infrastructure

8. Findings RTL families are focused on basic needs. Most parents have little time to be involved in their children’s activities. Some parents don’t see themselves as their children’s first teacher. Parents don’t have much faith in school system but they do want better opportunities for their children. Most didn’t know that simple behaviors (rhyming and letter recognition games) can help their children get ready to read. Many don’t read to their kids but are willing to try new activities with their kids if they can easily fit them in their schedules. PRIZM-NE segmentation software is useful for localizing and characterizing RTL families

9. Implications:Messages to Parents “Anytime is Learning Time.” Do simple, fun and easy things with your kids anywhere Have your children watch PBS shows that are not only fun but can help them get ready to read Have your children go to ReadyToLearnReading.org Overall: Emphasize the benefits to parents related to having their children succeed in life rather than putting the emphasis on succeeding in school.

10. Implications: Benefits of New Behaviors for Parents Children can be entertained and educated at the same time. Requires little time and effort. Can make them feel better as parents. They are giving their children “a leg up in life”—helping them build a foundation for success and reach their potential.

11. Messages and Materials Testing

12. Goals Test concepts, messages, and materials developed by PBS with target audience Understand RTL parents’ perceptions of concepts, messages and materials Collect information that will be used to revise messages and materials so that they are attractive, understandable, and actionable

13. Findings “Anytime is learning time” message was well understood and motivating across groups tested. TV and radio ads that took place in one location and in the present only were more easily understood. Ads that addressed parents directly were more easily identified by the target audience. PBS was a “trusted brand”; familiarity with shows varied. Computer and Internet use was sometimes lower than expected.

14. Implications Keep it simple and direct Model desired behaviors RTL parents tend to be very “literal” so elements should be concrete Maintain unity of time and space Use humor, but make sure you test it with target audience All characters should interact with each other Call to go to ReadytoLearnReading.org may go unheeded due to access limitations

15. Appeal and Demand

16. PBS KIDS Raising Readers DVD Most children highly enjoyed the DVD and watched it often Children who enjoyed the DVD more, were also more likely to have watched it more often Frequency watched DVD Enjoyed DVD (Response cards = 4,201) Younger children (3-5 yrs) tended to watch and enjoy the DVD more than older children (6-8 yrs)

17. Outreach Assessment

18. Goals Obtain information on parental attitudes, perceptions, and behaviors related to the campaign Assess the implementation of the campaign at the local level Identify success factors and lessons learned

19. Findings and Implications • The “Anytime is learning time” message is reaching parents—60% had heard it. • Parents understand and internalize it, but need concrete examples or modeling of the message. • Awareness of the “Anytime is learning time” message is associated with behaviors encouraged by PBS KIDS Raising Readers • Viewership of PBS KIDS shows & playing word games • Engaging with children in word games play increased significantly from 2008 to 2009 • Pre-literacy opportunities may be different in English-speaking and Spanish-speaking RTL households

20. Lessons From Social Marketing Invest the time up front to get to know your target audience and learn how to reach them. Design communication products based on your audience’s needs and wants. Test all concepts and materials with the target audience. Campaign messages, ad content, outreach activities, and other campaign elements will probably be modified based on the above. Apply multiple channels and approaches to delivering information to target audience and reinforce messages.

21. Thank You! Margarita Hurtado, Ph.D. mhurtado@air.org (301) 592-2215 www.air.org/health