Social Marketing

1. Social Marketing Martine Stead and Mark Grindle Institute for Social Marketing University of Stirling and The Open University www.ism.stir.ac.uk

2. ISMInstitute for Social Marketing A collaboration between the University of Stirling and The Open University Founded in 1979 Our partner unit the Centre for Tobacco Control Research is funded by Cancer Research UK.

3. Examines the impact of commercial marketing on health and society Uses marketing ideas and tools to improve health and society

4. Where we are – University of Stirling Stirling Edinburgh Glasgow

5. What is social marketing?

6. What does the term ‘social marketing’ suggest to you?

7. Some History

8. 1952: Why can’t you sell brotherhood like you sell soap? Wiebe noted that sellers of soap are generally more effective than those ‘selling’ social causes He analysed 4 social change campaigns, and found that the more they resembled product campaigns, the more successful they were

9. Ideas and tools used in commercial marketing can be used ‘for good’ – to influence behaviour positively, to benefit individuals and society as a whole

10. 1970s 1980s1990s Programmes in developing countries (eg. China, India, Phillippines, Kenya) to promote use of condoms, contraceptive pills, mosquito nets, oral rehydration Growing number of programmes in Aus/NZ, USA, UK to promote lifestyle change - diet, smoking, physical activity, road safety etc 2000s2010s Growing interest outside health eg. pro-environmental behaviour Increasing government interest (eg. UK Dept of Health, National Social Marketing Centre) ?

11. Social marketing is: “The application of commercial marketing technologies to the analysis, planning, execution and evaluation of programs designed to influence the voluntary behaviour of target audiences in order to improve their personal welfare and that of their society” (Andreasen 1995)

12. A process for designing programmes Which influence behaviour voluntarily Using marketing techniques For social good

13. Another way of looking at it: Show the benefits Remove the barriers Create social norms (‘everyone’s doing it’)

18. Social marketing is NOT one particular intervention approach – it’s a framework for solving problems and making decisions This means that every social marketing intervention is different But they all share six defining characteristics:

19. Six defining characteristics of social marketing • CONSUMER INSIGHT • BEHAVIOUR CHANGE • SEGMENTATION & TARGETING • EXCHANGE • COMPETITION • MARKETING MIX

20. 1. CONSUMER INSIGHT • Successful marketing is all about keeping in touch with consumers – their lives, their values, what interests and excites them • Successful marketers have this consumer insight, and use it to create powerfully appealing brands, products and services

21. The UK beer company Carling realised that what young men seek on an evening out is a feeling of camaraderie, being a ‘lad in the pack’, sociability, togetherness Its marketing strategy is all about delivering “enhanced sociability”

22. It delivers this by: Associating the brand with friendship, togetherness, belonging Supporting music gigs and festivals Sponsoring football Interactive marketing (web, SMS, viral) which ‘challenges’ groups of men to do and share silly activities Making young men feel good about themselves

23. Carling: Brand Planning Document

24. Carling: Brand Planning Document

25. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RHHfynLYW1I

26. 1. CONSUMER INSIGHT But what have starlings and beer got to do with social marketing? Social marketing works best where it understands consumers in the same way – and where it can offer equally appealing benefits

27. 1. CONSUMER INSIGHT • The core of social marketing is ‘starting where the consumer is - understanding how they see the world – ‘putting yourself in their shoes’ • How do we get this consumer insight? • We do research (usually qualitative) to understand our consumers

28. Consumer insight: low income smokers, Glasgow 1999 ‘‘Ma family, ma whole family smokes’’ ‘‘Ma wee sister, she’s 12’’ ‘‘I’ve caught ma little brother smokin’’’ ‘‘I think the biggest majority o’ people around me smoke than don’t’’ (Females, 18-24) “My tea an’ ma fag [cigarette]. That’s our night out – our night in” (Female, 25-44) “You’re unemployed, and you’re just sitting there - it’s [smoking] somethin’ tae do’’ (Male, 18–24) “ “It’s as if you’re locked in” (Female, 25-44) [Stead et al, Health and Place 2001]

29. Consumer insight: Young drinkers, Scotland, 2001 “Atmosphere.” “Cheap drink.” “Having a laugh.” “Friends to dance with.” “Alcohol.” “As cheap a night as possible.” (Female, 17-19) “To relax. It’s a laugh … it gives you confidence … just happier.” (Female, 15-16) “We won’t be drinking like this forever.” (Female, 15-16) [MacAskill et al, Scottish Government, 2001]

30. Consumer insight: University students who don’t drink alcohol “If you are stone cold sober and there are a lot of people who are drunk, yeah it’s different, it’s not a pleasant experience.” “You’re encouraged to get drunk, I think…the way the socials [social events] are arranged, they’re all arranged around drinking…so you can’t really escape from it.” “I make a bit of a joke about it” [previously had acute pancreatitis as a result of excessive drinking] [Piacentini et al, J Business Research, 2009]

31. Consumer insight: school children talking about what they want from school drug education Information which is personally relevant, which they will use Educators to tell the truth about drugs To hear from people with firsthand experience of drugs To have their opinions valued and be taken seriously Stories which make them think and engage their emotions To feel safe in the classroom – to be able to express views and share experiences without being judged or getting into trouble [Stead et al, Drugs: Education Prevention & Practice, 2010]

32. How do we build on this consumer insight? By identifying what it is that consumers are really looking for By developing offerings which will appeal to and be meaningful to them

33. Six essential attributes of social marketing • CONSUMER INSIGHT • BEHAVIOUR CHANGE

34. 2. BEHAVIOUR CHANGE Social marketing is an approach for understanding and changing behaviour Success is more likely where behavioural change objectives are specific, realistic and measurable ‘Drink moderately’  OR ‘Drink a glass of water between every alcoholic drink’ 

35. Sometimes the behaviour which needs to • be changed is not that of the consumer / • public / patient, but that of: • Practitioners (doctors, nurses, teachers, youthworkers….) • Retailers • Policy makers • …. Social marketing can be used ‘upstream’ to influence services, practices and policies

36. Where the target consumers are practitioners, policymakers, stakeholders, retailers etc…. …the same consumer insight principles apply in dealing with them: what motivates them? what do they need? what barriers do they face? what’s the best offering we can deliver?

37. Six essential attributes of social marketing • CONSUMER INSIGHT • BEHAVIOUR CHANGE • SEGMENTATION & TARGETING

38. 3. SEGMENTATION & TARGETING Ideally, each consumer should be treated differently and made a unique offering This isn’t practical, so consumers are grouped according to similarity of needs/desires The social marketer then decides which segments will become targets

39. Possible segmentation variables • Personal Characteristics: age, gender, socio-economic status, location, occupation…. • Behaviour: current behaviour, past behaviour or proximity to the desired behaviour; risk status • Beliefs and attitudes: why people do as they do at present, the benefits they seek • ….. • The same principles of segmentation apply if we are targeting policymakers, practitioners etc

40. The decision regarding which SEGMENT to TARGET should be made on the basis of: • Viability (is the segment large enough to justify the effort?) • Accessibility (Can the segment be reached?) • Responsiveness (Is the segment likely to respond?)

41. Social marketers have less flexibility than other marketers in choosing our target segments Funding and policies require us often to engage with the ‘most difficult’ groups… …OR to be ‘universal’ But we can still be strategic: - by offering different types of support, activities and messages within one overall programme - by choosing our activities and messages so that they appeal most to one particular segment, even if they are seen by/available to all

42. Six essential attributes of social marketing • CONSUMER INSIGHT • BEHAVIOUR CHANGE • SEGMENTATION & TARGETING • EXCHANGE

43. 4. MUTUALLY BENEFICIAL EXCHANGE The core mechanism of marketing is exchange In commercial marketing, the customer gives their money and time in exchange for the benefits delivered by the product or service In social marketing, the consumer gives up a behaviour, or modifies their behaviour, or adopts a new behaviour, in exchange for the benefits delivered by the new behaviour

44. If we want people to give up an enjoyable behaviour, we need to offer them something equally compelling in return “You can’t just take cigarettes away from somebody and not give them something back” [MacAskill et al 2002, Social Marketing Quarterly]

45. It’s the benefit as defined by the target consumer which matters, not as defined by the expertSo we use our consumer insight to identify what these benefits areCommercial marketers understand, from their consumer insight, that the benefits which people seek from products are more than functional: that they seek emotional benefits such as status, identity, validation…

46. Tobacco companies, in their own words: “Young adult smokers are looking for reassurance that they are doing the right thing, and …. are also searching for an identity. Cigarettes have a key role to play as they are an ever-present statement of identity.” (Rothmans, 1998) The Silk Cut King Size pack was described by women as ‘classy, elegant and refined’ and ‘a sophisticated accessory’, that ‘helps to assuage guilt about smoking’ (HDP, 1998) UK tobacco documents (www.tobaccopapers.com)

47. Going back to the consumers we looked at earlier, what exchange could we offer them? Low income smokers: alternative forms of ‘me time’ Young drinkers: feel-good social opportunities not focused on drinking to excess Young non-drinkers: validation of their non-drinking identity Schoolchildren:engaging and relevant drug education

48. Exchange also applies when we think about other target groups: Teacher: ‘I need a new way of doing drug education with my pupils – they’re bored, I don’t feel comfortable with the subject, it isn’t working!’ Retailer: ‘I need another way of bringing customers into my shop if I can’t promote tobacco any more’ Policymaker: ‘I need convincing that there’d be public support for tighter controls on alcohol’

49. Six essential attributes of social marketing • CONSUMER INSIGHT • BEHAVIOUR CHANGE • SEGMENTATION & TARGETING • EXCHANGE • COMPETITION

50. 5. COMPETITION Competition always exists - your target group can always choose to do something else What is the value of your ‘product’ (behaviour change) compared to the competing products (behaviours)? How can you minimise the competition?