Thinking Like a (Social) Marketer Jim Bender, MHS, CHES Academy for Educational Development Kari Sapsis, MPH National Immunization Program, CDC

Session Objectives By the end of this workshop participants will be able to: Define the 4 “P's” of marketing Understand the importance of audience segmentation Describe 3 criteria on which to segment an audience

What is Social Marketing?

A Definition Combining a marketing mindset with behavioral science for a good cause.

What Social Marketing is NOT Selling Manipulation Just advertising or mass media Any single intervention

Social Marketing: Four Principles Audience-centered Focuses on behavior Program maximizes meaningful benefits and minimizes barriers Decisions are based on evidence

1 2 3 4 The BEHAVE Framework BENEFITS & BARRIERS ACTION ACTIVITIES TARGET AUDIENCE ACTION ACTIVITIES We will address these benefits and barriers through these activities. To influence that action we will focus on these benefits and barriers. We will help a specific target audience.. …to take a specific action. The BEHAVE framework Is solidly based in behavior-change research. Helps you move from program objectives to tactics. Outlines a planning process. Forces you through the process. The BEHAVE framework helps you work methodically without skipping ahead to tactics before you understand where you are going and why. The value of a framework like this is that it helps you to put on paper the logic behind what you’re doing. You must write down—and check out—your assumptions. You’ll be working with the BEHAVE framework over the next two days. 1 2 3 4 Base decisions on evidence and keep checking in

Challenges for Immunization Promotion Organizations Identifying and prioritizing target audiences and their prevention needs Designing interventions to meet those needs

Competition: What the Goal Behavior Must Beat Out All other options, including the risk behavior that I’m doing right now!

Florida’s TRUTH Campaign Problem: How to stem the growing numbers of teen smokers? Challenge: What exchange can we offer teens to compete with smoking? Florida’s task: marketing nonsmoking to teens in the face of rising numbers of smokers. First challenge: What’s the exchange? What do teens want? (Take some responses.) What do they get out of smoking? (Take some responses.) What do teens dislike? (Take some responses.) What is the competition? (Take some responses. Tobacco industry, other activities that teens could join in and identify with, etc.)

Florida’s TRUTH Campaign What do teens really want? What reward do they get out of smoking? How can we offer a similar reward? What do they really dislike? How can we link that with tobacco? Florida’s task: marketing nonsmoking to teens in the face of rising numbers of smokers. First challenge: What’s the exchange? What do teens want? (Take some responses.) What do they get out of smoking? (Take some responses.) What do teens dislike? (Take some responses.) What is the competition? (Take some responses. Tobacco industry, other activities that teens could join in and identify with, etc.)

Looking at Smoking from the Audience’s Point of View Allure of Smoking (competition) Brand identity (cool, hip) Independence (rebellion) Individuality Nicotine high Relieves stress Allure of Not Smoking (benefits) Health Keeps some adults happy In fact, when you look at smoking from a teenager’s point of view, the competition is tough for a social marketer. Teens may find more reasons to smoke than to reject smoking. It’s cool. It’s hip. What better way to show your independence from your parents? What better way to show that you are a decision maker, an adult, than to use a product your parents don’t recommend? A product which lets you hold your life in your hands? (That’s why tobacco companies no longer completely hide the dangers of smoking; they sell them.) You also get a proven stress reducer and a nicotine high. What do you get if you chose not to smoke? Not much from a teenager’s point of view. Sure, you’ll be healthier years down the road. That might be nice, but by then you’re really old. And what else? A few adults might be happier, but they are just the people from whom you want to show independence.

Offering an Exchange Allure of Smoking Undermine Benefits Add Benefits Brand identity (cool, hip) Independence (rebellion) Individuality Nicotine high Relieves stress Allure of Not Smoking Health Keeps some adults happy Undermine Benefits (overcome barriers to nonsmoking) Add Benefits In fact, when you look at smoking from a teenager’s point of view, the competition is tough for a social marketer. Teens may find more reasons to smoke than to reject smoking. It’s cool. It’s hip. What better way to show your independence from your parents? What better way to show that you are a decision maker, an adult, than to use a product your parents don’t recommend? A product which lets you hold your life in your hands? (That’s why tobacco companies no longer completely hide the dangers of smoking; they sell them.) You also get a proven stress reducer and a nicotine high. What do you get if you chose not to smoke? Not much from a teenager’s point of view. Sure, you’ll be healthier years down the road. That might be nice, but by then you’re really old. And what else? A few adults might be happier, but they are just the people from whom you want to show independence.

TRUTH Campaign Benefits: Offer teens independence, a sense of self-control, a voice, and a connection to a group by joining the TRUTH campaign Competition: Portray the competition as big tobacco that manipulates, lies, and makes teens look like ‘‘suckers” Competition: “Portray the competition as “Big Tobacco,” which manipulates, lies, and makes…” [use caps and quotation marks around Big Tobacco, follow it with a comma and use “which” instead of “that.” Recap: The Florida program identified these benefits that teens cared about and created a viable alternative to the competition.

Florida’s Big Idea Reposition the tobacco industry —and the anti-tobacco movement— by creating a hip, youth anti-tobacco brand. What Florida offered its teens was a brand. A cool, hip brand for a youth movement against tobacco. No one was ever told not to smoke. Telling young people what to do would not have worked. Instead, teens were offered something: A chance to be part of an anti-tobacco movement that was taking on friends of the tobacco industry (all part of your parents’ generation), a group that actually wanted kids to smoke.

Behavior Change 19% decline in cigarette use among middle school youth 8% decline in cigarette use among high school youth And it worked! A year after the youth groups were formed and the advertising was launched, for the first time in 19 years there was dip in tobacco use by Florida teens. What’s more, surveys showed the dip was linked to the TRUTH campaign. Source: FYTS, 1998 & 1999. (n=22,000)

I understand your problems, frustrations, aspirations I know a lot about you. I understand you well. I understand your problems, frustrations, aspirations and needs.

What do they want and need? Who are they? What do they want and need?

Social Marketing Principle #1 Know exactly who your audience is and look at everything from their point of view.

Traditional Public Health Education Mindset “Where is the greatest need ?” GREATER NEED GREATER PRIORITY

Targets of Opportunity Less Need>>> More Need Easy to Change>>>Hard to Change

Social Marketing Mindset “Where is the greatest opportunity for prevention of disease?” GREATER OPPORTUNITY GREATER PRIORITY

Audience Segment: a definition A group of people who are enough alike that a single intervention will be reasonably successful with everyone in the group

Why Audience Segmentation? Allows you to reach the largest number of people possible, who have similar wants and needs Enables you to reach them with greater efficiency and effectiveness

Segmentation Variables or Criteria Demographics Current behaviors Stage of “readiness” for change Benefits and barriers What else??

Criteria for Deciding on a Target Audience Where is the need? How big is the audience segment? How easy are they to reach? How likely are they to take the necessary action? How feasible is it for your organization to reach them?

Prevention Challenge Identifying and prioritizing target audiences and their prevention needs

“My City” Priority Target Populations Children with asthma African American seniors The general population High risk adults

Example— Influenza vaccination: Seniors age 65 and over in “My Town” Females Males

Tried, will never do again Tried and have not done consistently- Seniors Age 65 and Over Segmented by Previous Behavior and Intention: Influenza Vaccination Tried and do each year Never tried Tried, will never do again Tried and have not done consistently- intend to do again

“All seniors, age 65 and over, who have gotten a flu shot in the past, and intend to get one again”

Target Audience— Let’s Think Broadly Consumers Influencers Intermediaries Providers

Social Marketing Summary Audience-centered methodology; Systematic way to segment audiences; find targets of opportunity A focus on behavior; Framework for targeting interventions to increase benefits and reduce barriers for target audience; and Evidence-based decision making