Just a quick note to let you know that I will be traveling until April 3rd so will be unable to post during that time. More when I return...

links for 2006-03-21

• Prevention Communication Research Database
  A searchable collection of audience research conducted or sponsored by HHS agencies.
  (tags: research focus_groups qualitative quantitative target_audience)
• PSAs in a New Media Age
  Shouting to be Heard: Public Service Advertising in a New Media Age was released by the Kaiser Family Foundation
  (tags: PSA advertising)
• Media Tips for Nonprofits: Working with Families, Working with Media
  Putting a human face on your issue for the media - from the Communications Consortium
  (tags: public_relations media)
• Media Tips for Nonprofits: A Guide to Placing Op-eds and Letters to the Editor
  Includes detailed guidelines for the editorial requirements of the top 100 U.S. newspapers
  (tags: public_relations media)

I have a new article up on MarketingProfs.com called Strategic Social Marketing for Nonprofits.

If you run a nonprofit, you know that marketing is essential to your mission. To many nonprofit managers, marketing equals fundraising and nothing more. But your organization exists for more than just bringing in donations. By using social marketing methods, you can boost the effectiveness of programs and activities that are the reason your organization exists in the first place—to make a difference.

Social marketing uses the same tools and techniques of commercial marketing, but its purpose is to bring about positive health and social change. Rather than focusing on sales or funds raised as the ultimate outcome, social marketing's bottom line is behavior change...

I hope you'll read the rest for what I think is a good basic overview of social marketing.

From the WOMMA newsletter, we get a glimpse into the power of Mom WOM for influencing the entire family. Lucid Marketing's Kevin Burke gives us five reasons for targeting mothers for word of mouth campaigns:

Tip #1. Moms are your customers
Recent data suggests moms control 80 percent of household spending, and they are typically buying for themselves, their husbands, and their kids. Capture "Mom WOM" and you capture a huge market of valuable consumers for nearly every consumer business.

Tip #2. Moms are busy and discerning
Moms have more choices than in previous generations. They are pressed for time and often juggle a work-life balance. Moms multi-task skillfully because they have to. They're on the lookout for solutions to make life easier, which is one reason why they strongly embrace the internet. If stranded on a desert island and can only have one medium, they chose email over all others.

Tip #3. Moms are not classical influential profile
Moms value relationships to a greater extent than anyone else because they experience the strongest relationship anyone can have -- a mother and child. Moms are good at building relationships and enjoy sharing know-how. You can see relationships growing and word of mouth happening at ball games, bus stops, birthday parties, etc.

Tip #4. Moms are extremely credible with peers
Moms are big influencers in mom-to-mom dialogue. They are more likely to make personal recommendations to other moms, and they rank WOM from other moms as the most trusted means of finding out about new products and services. The thought process is as simple as, "she's like me and knows what I face!"

Tip #5. Moms have widely differing behaviors
"Typical" mom activities? There are no such thing. Their busy lives lead them to all different places and experiences.

As a mom of a 5 and an 8 year old, this definitely matches up with my own experience. I make 90% of all purchasing decisions for the family (#1), hugely prefer to use e-mail over other forms of communication because it's quick and efficient (#2), spend my day jumping between different relationship contexts (#3), will definitely trust the opinions of other moms I know about things related to the kids as well as products/services that will make my life a little easier (#4), and rarely have one day that's the same as the next (#5).

I am WOMMY, hear me roar!

Billboardom has some great examples of creative billboards and outdoor media against drinking and driving. It's fun to see social marketers thinking outside the 30-second PSA box.

links for 2006-03-16

• CDCynergy - Social Marketing Edition
  CDCynergy is a multimedia CD-ROM tutorial and planning guide for applying social marketing systematically to public health programs developed by the Turning Point Social Marketing National Excellence Collaborative
  (tags: tutorial social_marketing how_to)
• Positioning social marketing as a planning process for health education
  article from American Journal of Health Studies
  (tags: social_marketing strategy management)
• The NCI Health Communications Internship Program
  6 month graduate student internships in health communications/social marketing. Application deadlines are 3/15 and 9/15 each year.
  (tags: social_marketing_jobs health_communication)
• Measuring the Difference
  Guide to Planning and Evaluating Health Information Outreach from the National Network of Libraries of Medicine
  (tags: evaluation campaign_effects research)
• PSA Research Center
  Case studies, bibliography and other resources from Goodwill Communications
  (tags: PSA advertising)
• Creativity techniques and creative tools for problem solving
  (tags: creativity advertising marketing)
• Communication Toolkit
  A guide for nonprofits from the W.K. Kellogg Foundation
  (tags: nonprofit health_communication media public_relations how_to)

links for 2006-03-14

• IgniteBlog: STOP AIDS CAMPAIGN (Successful use of marketing for a greater good)
  Case study of the Swiss "Stop AIDS" campaign
  (tags: campaign_effects HIV_AIDS sample_campaigns)

Pharmaceutical companies are amazingly effective at convincing doctors (and patients) that their products are the solution for particular health problems. What can we learn from the marketing techniques that Big Pharma uses, to apply to the social marketing issues we are addressing?

Today's Wall Street Journal features a front-page article
(available only to wsj.com subscribers) called "As Drug Bill Soars, Some Doctors Get An 'Unsales' Pitch." The article describes how the state of Pennsylvania has funded a team of "unsalespeople" to get doctors to consider alternatives to expensive brand-name drugs -- things like cheaper generic drugs, over the counter remedies, and even lifestyle changes. Pennsylvania hopes to reduce the $3 billion a year it spends on drugs for state employees, poor people on Medicaid and elderly people on the state drug-assistance program.

Pharmaceutical companies spend billions of dollars a year on their marketing efforts to make sure that doctors think of their brand-name products when they write a prescription. They employ more than 90,000 salespeople in the US, who are known as "detailers" because they can recite drug facts from memory. Every day they roll from doctor's office to doctor's office, handing out everything from pens and notepads to clocks and tissue boxes emblazoned with their brand logos, hoping to get a few minutes with the docs to deliver their sales pitch.

Pennsylvania's "unsales" force does not have fun promotional items to hand out, but they do have something the drug reps don't have: credibility. They carry a letter of introduction from the Harvard professor coordinating the program and offer free copies of books by Harvard doctors. In addition, Harvard has certified the content of its reps talks as educational, so that doctors who listen to the material and pass a short quiz afterward receive continuing medical education credits (CMEs).

For what types of social marketing issues could we use this distribution model? Research has found that for some health issues, people are much more likely to take action if they are told by their doctor to do something -- for example, getting a mammogram, quitting smoking, losing weight, etc. However, many doctors do not address these issues unless the patient brings it up himself.

A group of rheumatologists I worked with in Mexico explained to me that only a very tiny percentage of Mexican patients with rheumatological conditions like arthritis ever see a specialist. Most people do not know that the field of rheumatology exists, and their primary care physician never refers them to a specialist. They were interested in using social marketing to promote their profession, primarily to general practitioners who should be referring certain types of cases to a rheumatologist. This type of issue, which involves building awareness of available resources with the common goal of improving outcomes for their patients, could also be "sold" through face-to-face meetings with primary care physicians. Ironically, this meeting was part of a conference at an all-inclusive resort near Cancun sponsored by a major pharmaceutical company introducing a new use for one of their drugs.

Most social marketing programs cannot afford to fly in doctors from all over the country to wine and dine them with a fancy vacation while pitching their product, but perhaps your program could identify the largest medical practices in your community and conduct some lunchtime educational sessions while offering CMEs. Visit medical offices to try to get a few minutes of the doctors' time to promote your product, and make sure that your message is one that will resonate with a physician; focus on facts and effectiveness based on research. Provide tools that will help them do what you are asking them to do: ready-made handouts, referral slips, a stamp or sticker to add to each patient's chart. You have something of value you can offer to physicians -- a way of helping them improve the health of their patients. It may not be a branded gym bag, but you have credibility and objectivity on your side.

links for 2006-03-11

• Seth's Blog: Bite sized
  Seth Godin on why some issues get people to take action and others don't
  (tags: behavior_change social_change)
• Media Advocacy Manual (pdf)
  from APHA
  (tags: media_advocacy public_relations media)
• Special Issue on Risk Communication
  from the Health Communication Unit at University of Toronto
  (tags: health_communication how_to)
• Developing your messages: it’s a risky business (pdf)
  Supplement to Issue on Risk Communication from University of Toronto
  (tags: health_communication how_to)
• Media Advocacy Workbook (pdf)
  From the Health Communication Unit, University of Toronto
  (tags: media_advocacy how_to)

links for 2006-03-10

• Houtlust :: nonprofit advertising :: social campaigns
  Blog highlighting international social marketing campaigns
  (tags: nonprofit advertising graphic_design social_marketing PSA)

links for 2006-03-09

• Resonance Partnership Blog: What's New About Word of Mouth? (If you are reading this you should know)
  Marianne Richmond takes on Forbes' article dismissing the importance of word of mouth
  (tags: word_of_mouth)

links for 2006-03-08

• Social Networks as a Marketing Channel?
  article about the challenges of marketing via social networking sites
  (tags: marketing word_of_mouth social_network)
• Global : Ideas : Bank - Welcome to the global ideas bank
  The Global Ideas Bank aims to promote and disseminate good creative ideas to improve society. It is part-suggestions box, part-ideas network and part-democratic think-tank.
  (tags: social_change nonprofit)
• Ideathon
  For 24 hours, we bring together some of the most highly valued people from within Unilever to join forces with peers from other major organisations to generate 'money can't buy' creative solutions for charities.
  (tags: social_change partnerships)
• Impending smoking ban spurs many to quit: study - Yahoo! News
  Illustrates the power of policy to bring about voluntary behavior change
  (tags: policy tobacco behavior_change)
• Ascribe - The Public Interest Newswire
  AScribe Newswire distributes the news of America's nonprofit and public sector organizations.
  (tags: public_relations nonprofit)

Kudos to Charlene Li and her colleagues at Forrester Research for changing the name of their previously titled "Social Marketing Boot Camp" to the "Social Computing Boot Camp" (official title - "Social Computing: Tapping Into the Power of Connected Customers").

After my recent post bemoaning the fact that the term "social marketing" was being co-opted by bloggers and others talking about peer-to-peer and consumer generated media, Charlene agreed that the dual use of the term could be confusing. Thanks to her example, and hopefully others like her out there, we may yet win the war of words, keeping the meaning of the term "social marketing" free from confusion.

And I think the term "social computing" describes what she is doing perfectly.

The Word of Mouth Marketing Association highlights tips from the Prostate Net's Virgil Simons on how he used a grassroots-based word of mouth campaign to increase the number of men in underserved communities getting screened for prostate cancer. Working with a volunteer force of over 300 barbers who went through his training, his project has reached over 10,000 of the participating barbers' customers and detected a whopping 452 cases of prostate cancer.

This campaign was right on the mark in so many ways:

• It reached men at a place that every man needs to go on a regular basis -- the barbershop.
• It utilized people who were trusted in the community, who already had personal relationships with each customer -- the barbers.
• It worked with local hospitals and other partners to have free screening tests available for the men referred by the barbers.
• It jumped on an incredibly timed opportunity for exposure by tying in the campaign with the movie "Barbershop 2," which was released during that period.
• It provided ongoing incentives and recognition for the barbers who were involved with the effort.
• It was such an unusual type of campaign that it was able to get extensive news coverage, and even a mention on the Jay Leno show.
  

For more information, you can see Virgil's presentation at the WOMMA conference (pdf).

links for 2006-03-07

• changingminds.org
  How we change what others think, believe, feel and do
  (tags: behavior_change theory)
• MIT Advertising Lab: future of advertising and advertising technology
  Lots of cutting edge advertising vehicles
  (tags: advertising technology)
• ChangeThis
  Manifestos on marketing, management and other issues designed to change minds and spread important ideas.
  (tags: social_change marketing management)
• 23 Resources on Free Stock Photos for Web and Design - Listible!
  (tags: graphic_design)
• On Social Marketing and Social Change: Interview with Steve Rubel
  R. Craig Lefebvre's interview with Micro Persuasion's Steve Rubel
  (tags: blogging social_marketing)

This week's Carnival of Marketing is now up, hosted by Jack Yoest at Yoest.org. It has several very interesting articles on various aspects of marketing.

Also, forgot to link to the Carnival last week, which was hosted over the course of the week by Larry Bodine at the Professional Services Marketing Blog. Here is the link to the first day of posts, which started off with yours truly (it says "Day Two," but the first day was just the introduction). Follow the links at the tops of the pages to see each day's post.

links for 2006-03-06

• Change Me
  Change Me is an open conversation that brings people together to share ideas through powerful imagery. Find an image that inspires you and use it to express an idea that has the ability to touch or affect the person viewing it.
  (tags: graphic_design cause_marketing word_of_mouth social_change)
• Sand Sicaf - Google Video
  Amazing sand art projected onto a screen as it is created... a medium you may have never seen before.
  (tags: graphic_design personal_favorite)
• Seat Belt Education (1985 - Present)
  Ad Council Retrospective
  (tags: sample_campaigns advertising)
• TVE Asia Pacific (TVEAP): Moving images moving people
  An online meeting place for film makers, broadcasters, educators, and activists to share information and experiences on using the media to promote sustainable development and social justice.
  (tags: media social_change environment)
• The Cause Marketing Resource Center - Cause Marketing Forum
  Cause Marketing Forum
  (tags: cause_marketing)
• Spread the Know
  Graffiti-based campaign to increase HIV status awareness - seems to be part of CBS/Viacom's kNOw HIV/AIDS campaign
  (tags: HIV_AIDS sample_campaigns online_marketing)
• Safer Neighborhoods Are Fitter Neighborhoods - Yahoo! News
  An example of the importance of taking environmental factors into account when designing social marketing programs
  (tags: obesity strategy place)
• Homeless man blogs about his experience
  A powerful way to put a human face on a social issue
  (tags: blogging)
• NBC: In AIDS fight, India pitches manliness
  the “What Kind of Man Are You?” campaign
  (tags: HIV_AIDS campaign_effects sample_campaigns social_marketing international advertising)
• Dove Calming Night - Nighttime Classics Featuring Felicity Huffman ::..
  This is a fun concept - Felicity Huffman is transported into 3 classic sitcoms: the Brady Bunch, the Munsters and Leave it to Beaver. Also, the very specific positioning of the product and cobranding with the National Sleep Foundation is interesting.
  (tags: advertising online_marketing sample_campaigns marketing word_of_mouth)
• Adverblog: More public toilets in NYC!
  a guerilla marketing campaign using cardboard figures making the point about the need for public toilets
  (tags: marketing sample_campaigns)
• Selling A Cause? Better Make It Pop
  Article from Business Week
  (tags: marketing nonprofit)

Each week, I come across many interesting articles, websites and blog posts that are relevant to social marketing, but which I don't have time to write about. I will be starting to post these links here so that you can take a look at them, even if I don't write about them. I have set up del.icio.us to automatically post my daily links, so I'm hoping that it will work with no glitches. Please forgive me in advance in case it takes a few days to get the kinks worked out.

For those who are interested in browsing through all of my bookmarks related to social marketing, you can go directly to my del.icio.us links. I am still in the process of moving over all of the links from my website to del.icio.us, but it should be done soon. One of the things I really like about del.icio.us is that I can categorize one link with several different tags and am not confined to keeping, say, a link about researching the effects of a media campaign in either "research" or "media," but can put it in both simultaneously.

So, I hope you'll enjoy your "byte" of this del.icio.us new feature (ouch - horrible pun!).