Social Marketing in the News
Food industry Applauds Government Investment in Health Promotion
Food & Consumer Products of Canada (FCPC) commends the government for its funding support for health promotion announcedtoday by Health Minister Ujjal Dosanjh. The $300 million investment over fiveyears will fund initiatives promoting healthy eating, physical activity and healthy weights and includes support for the Integrated Pan-Canadian Healthy Living Strategy. "The food manufacturing industry is committed to and actively engaged in promoting healthy active living, and we applaud the government for committing significant resources to health promotion," says Nancy Croitoru, FCPC President & CEO. "We believe that the health of Canadians is a priority for everyone and we all need to play a role in helping Canadians adopt healthy active lifestyles."
The industry is working with government, health experts and communities to identify short and long-term strategies. FCPC, representing the food manufacturing industry, is on a multi-stakeholder task force advising government on its social marketing campaign on healthy active living.
Blog On (Carefully)!
A blog is born every second, according to recent research, with around 80,000 new weblogs created every day. Then there are chat rooms, forums, IM, Wikis, podcasting, social networks and innumerable other online forums. The content of these creations of “social media,” as they are fast becoming known, runs the gamut from teenaged daily diaries, to community forums like MySpace.com, to corporate websites, to customers angry (or occasionally happy) with a product or service that is routinely marketed through traditional media channels. It is those loose cannons that seem to most fascinate marketers, and at this week's BlogOn conference in New York these marketers pondered how to control, exploit or otherwise “engage” them.
In spite of the survey results that indicated the PR folks are getting on the social marketing train, there was still widespread trepidation from marketing and advertising folks about how appropriately to enter an environment where control of the messaging has shifted from the producer and marketers to the consumer.
Summary of the Ocean Policy Summit 2005 11-13 October
Dawn Martin, Executive Director, SeaWeb, talked about the major role social marketing and strategic communications can play in generating the political will for action. She outlined the steps needed to achieve political or policy goals, beginning with research to distill the key messages, followed by identifying credible spokespeople, bringing science to the media and the public, and creating an appealing message that targets the intended audience. She noted the power of the media, especially television, but also print media, radio and the Internet, and said a well informed and planned media campaign can connect science with the media and eventually achieve a “tipping point” where public awareness increases and political/policy changes can occur, especially if that message creates a sense of urgency and empowerment.
The Walking Fish that Changed Toronto:City Hall wants to make you a better citizen -- through advertising
Advertising is not a new weapon in a government's public relations arsenal, but Toronto may be the only city to effectively encourage change without relying solely on increased fines or ramped-up bylaws.
Instead, they have embraced Axmith's ''social marketing,'' the use of humour, shock and provocation to make citizens take responsibility for their own actions.
''At the end of the day, people don't have a lot time for government. It's not exactly your friend,'' said Mr. Howlett. ''So we try to create a feeling of a neighbour talking to you instead.''
And so far the technique has worked, eliciting not only a demonstrated improvement in adherence to recycling, garbage disposal and water waste, but also catching the eye of other municipalities eager to mimic Toronto's approach.
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Barron County Receives $35,000 Road Crew Grant |
The Road Crew program uses social marketing techniques to encourage people who have been drinking alcohol to choose their services instead of driving themselves. The main difference between Road Crew and Safe Ride is that with the Road Crew program, patrons are picked up at their home or another location and are given a ride home as well - their personal vehicle never enters into the equation.
The program began in three Wisconsin communities in July of 2002. In its first year, the program gave 20,000 rides to potential drunk drivers, and was estimated to have achieved a 17-percent reduction in alcohol-related crashes during the first year. While a Road Crew program costs $15,000 to implement in the first year, that 17-percent reduction saved $615,000 in accident costs.
And a reminder to check in with the "On Social Marketing and Social Change" blog more regularly at http://socialmarketing.blogs.com
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