Social Marketing in the News
This week an announcement of an HIV testing and counseling social marketing program in Durbin, South Africa, ‘experiential marketing’ by tobacco countries in the UK (think Starbucks for another example), Barbie’s worldwide fashion launch (talk about brand extension), a private sector computer recycling and ewaste program, and Washington State awarded a grant for social marketing to increase awareness, reduce the stigma of mental illness and strengthen the statewide infrastructure for consumer and family support.
And how does Gerard Hastings get so many quotable quotes in the UK newspapers??
Make a New Start
New Start is one of the three new voluntary counselling and testing centres that have been set up in the three major cities around South Africa.
New Start is the first HIV counselling and testing social marketing programme in South Africa with a mission of improving a client’s health by providing the highest quality HIV counselling, testing and referral services.
Tobacco Firms' Subtle Tactics Lure Smokers to Their Brand
Picture the scene: You walk into a chic bar where the clientele is young and the drinks reassuringly expensive; you note the stylish combinations of red and white furniture, the impressive attention to detail that goes into everything from the cushions to the ashtrays. Suddenly, inexplicably, you urgently want to smoke a Marlboro cigarette.
It sounds the stuff of bad science fiction, but Philip Morris, the manufacturer of Marlboro, is such a believer in 'experiential' marketing - where furniture and design are used to subtly convey a brand's strengths - it has created a crack team to transform the insides of Britain's upmarket bars and music events, in an attempt to boost its profits.
Internal marketing plans, drawn up by the company last year and obtained by The Observer, show that Philip Morris offered financial incentives to managers to fill their bars with furniture bearing the Marlboro logo or place its branded ashtrays and vending machines in areas where smoking is allowed.
“All that former advertising money has to go somewhere,' said one industry insider.’The tobacco firms are looking to create extensive "design languages" in bars and clubs and other venues through the use of particular types of furniture or material which will make people think of their brands.”
Experts said such marketing was becoming increasingly popular. “The more subtle the message, the more likely it is to be accepted,” said Gerard Hastings, director of the Institute for Social Marketing and Centre for Tobacco Control based at Stirling University.
Parents Braced for Barbie Fashion Drive
Mattel, the manufacturer of Barbie, will today unveil its first advertising campaign for a fashion range influenced by the famous figurine.
The seven-figure drive for the firm's Barbie Fashion range will feature on terrestrial and satellite television in the coming six weeks, and will be advertised in women's magazines such as Prima, Bella, Hello and Woman's Own.
Mattel say the shorts will promote a "world of friendship, fashion and catwalk aspirations", but its campaign has been criticised by marketing commentators, who believe the company will only worsen "pester power", forcing parents to give in to the demands of their children.
Johanne Broadfield, Mattel's director of licensing, said the adverts marked the next step in the reinvention of the Barbie name, which already counts a fragrance among its branded products. "Barbie is much more than just a doll," she explained. "We have evolved to be a true global fashion brand."
However, Professor Gerard Hastings, director of the Institute for Social Marketing at Stirling University, said: "Pester power is well-researched phenomenon and we have to ask whether it's right to pressurise parents in this way."
Computer Recycling For Education Targets Solid Waste Association of North America's (SWANA) Wastecon 2005 with Partnership Campaign
Computer Recycling for Education announced today a partnership and licensing product campaign to promote their theme-character, Ewaste Eddie, at the Solid Waste Association of North America's (SWANA) Wastecon 2005.
"Our goal is for Ewaste Eddie, with his 'Remember to Ecycle-it'® proclamation, to become universally recognized as the worldwide icon for computer recycling and e-waste prevention. We are actively seeking partners who are looking for an e-waste icon for there education and outreach programs. Our goal is to promote Ewaste Eddie as the international ambassador for educating the public on e-waste, computer recycling, electronics waste prevention and electronics reuse, through social marketing," said President Al Chaney a retired solid waste specialist formally with the California Environmental Protection Agency (CalEPA).
Washington among Seven States Awarded $92.5 Million for Mental Health Transformation State Incentive Grants
The Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) today announced the award of $92.5 million to seven states, including Washington State, for Mental Health Transformation State Incentive Grants (MHT SIGs).
These cooperative agreements will provide funds to transform state mental health service delivery systems -- from systems dictated by outmoded bureaucratic and financial incentives to systems driven by consumer and family needs that focus on building resilience and facilitating recovery.
Washington's grant -- totaling $2.73 million for each of the five years -- will be used to build the infrastructure for an on-going process of planning, action, learning, and innovation in mental health care. Key elements will include a social marketing initiative to increase awareness, reduce the stigma of mental illness and strengthen the statewide infrastructure for consumer and family support.
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