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Part Four: Social Marketing: A Different Slant on Message Objectives

Of major importance to the field of health communication is the Philip Kotler’s “social marketing” framework. Health communication has a mixed ancestry: while generally its roots are in psychology (social, perceptual and behavioral psychology) its other ancestor is in business and economics. Kotler took a business marketing model and applied it to community efforts for health and social change. Building on the work of others in the business world who developed the concept of the “marketing mix” Kotler describes ”4 Ps”: product price, place and promotion. This alliterative framework overlaps to some extent with that of McGuire but specifically details what aspects of the messages content should be included, especially in terms of:

The “Price” of a new behavior (not just as monetary but personal effort and other resources required…and perceived benefits of changing the behavior),

How best to describe ”Product” (e.g. the behavior change itself or the social or environmental change that one attempts to achieve),

The channels by which to send the message that should be used in terms of ”Place” (where a message can best reach someone in terms of a channel or program, and in what stage of life or time of year),

 And finally the overall Promotion (which is often referred to in social marketing as “media mix”: what best mix of print and broadcast etc. to used to initiate and sustain a campaign).

Some have added a fifth “P”, that of “Position”, indicating the specific comparison we can make between our product and that of another on the market (for example, the advantages of getting iron and protein from legumes and quinoa rather than red meat).

As an example, analyze the below anti drunk-driving piece from Kotler’s social marketing perspective:

Research Activity #4

EXAMINE TWO ADDITIONAL HEALTH COMMUNICATION PIECES BRIEFLY, FROM A MCGUIRE AND THEN A KOTLER PERSPECTIVE.  WHICH ONE PROVIDES A CLEARER AND MORE USEFUL EXPLANATORY MODEL, AND WHY?

Research Activity 4

Diabetes Prevention and Control Alliance (DPCA), “Not Me” Campaign: http://tclw.das.ohio.gov/LinkClick.aspx?fileticket=P54CHU9qeQc%3d&tabid=293

DPCA’s poster of a young boy inquiring about diabetes is an example of a piece designed to announce, advise, and activate viewers towards diabetes prevention actions. The message appears to be directed at mothers who may be predisposed to diabetes due to a family history of diabetes or prior gestational diabetes.  Using a stark fact about shortened life expectancy associated with the disease, mothers are advised to “enroll today” in a program.  The fear-based message carries emotional heat because the vantage point of the photo looks to be from an adult height, much like a mother speaking to her child.  The poster may have been posted at OB/GYN or primary physicians’ offices, which would increase its exposure among the at-risk subpopulation.  

Analyzing this ad’s message from Kotler’s perspective, the cost (price) of diabetes is shown to be extremely high if left ignored.  If posted at doctor’s offices (place), both high and low-risk mothers are likely to have seen the ad and perhaps, even perform the behavior advised.  The product, which coincides with McGuire’s message, is a simple task—enroll in a program—and is marketed as conferring significant benefits to one’s health and family.  A website and toll-free phone number rounds out the media mix.  For this example, the objective of DPCA’s message is more clearly understood through Kotler’s model because the price is stated prominently on the ad and the recommended product immediately follows the statement.

WHO Helmet Campaign: https://www.behance.net/gallery/17469469/WHO-HELMET-CAMPAIGN

             The WHO’s helmet ads pictured here are examples of pieces that primarily offer facts to advise and activate receivers to change specific attitudes and behaviors.  Following a fear-based messaging strategy, each ad presents facts about different consequences of inadequate helmet use, including jail time, injury, and death.  It appears to be a print campaign aimed at adult men who are likely to comprise the largest group of motorcyclists and bicyclists in this targeted community/country.  From Kotler’s perspective, similar to the previous ad, the benefits (price) of wearing a helmet (product) are framed to significantly outweigh the costs, overlapping with McGuire’s advise and activate objectives.  These posters were probably posted outdoors near high motorbike traffic areas (place and promotion) to increase their reach and serve as reminders in the very locations helmets are to be used.  Again, viewing this campaign through Kotler’s model explains the WHO’s use of fear-inducing statements and images, meant to elevate the threat/cost of not wearing a helmet.

Capstone: Save the Salton Sea

The rapid deterioration of California’s largest inland body of water has implications for the health and well being of our neighbors, ourselves and other species that inhabit the region and the hemisphere. Although this problem has been recognized for more than two decades, it has continued to grow.

So…

What health communication messages would you suggest for taking this issue on?

Who would your target audiences be, and how would vary messages by different audience segments?

How would you brand your effort?

To take this issue on I would suggest using communication messages that activate the audience to take political action to protect their own health.  The article referenced states that due to the drying of the Salton Sea harmful chemicals are being emitted into the atmosphere that can have severe benefits for the resident living in nearby areas.  I would suggest using fear messages that illustrate what the harmful effects of such chemicals can have on adults as well as for young children and pregnant women & developing fetuses.  

Who would your target audiences be, and how would vary messages by different audience segments?

Target audiences for the campaign would be adults with young families, young adults, and potential real estate investors.  Messages for young families will focus on the harmful effects that the chemicals emitted by the sea can have on their families, the food they eat, and environment they surround them.   Messages for young adults will also focus on the harmful effects of the chemicals but will also encourage them to become advocates for their communities and encourage them to disseminate information. This approach will allow us to gain more allies among a youthful population that will have the time to advocate for change on behalf of their families and communities.  Lastly, we will target real estate investors who have an interest in making sure their investments will be secured.  The article mentioned that as urban areas are expanding thus, development of land and housing is expanding closer to the sea.  Potential real estate investors would be interested in ensuring that the land they invest in is successful.

How would you brand your effort?

I would brand the campaign as an advocacy campaign aimed at protecting the people of the surrounding area.

Would you use media advocacy, and if so, how?

Part Five: Branding

Branding is the process of pairing an image slogan or other stimulus with a product or practice until the two have become synonymous in the mind of the audience. The concept of “branding” derives from the discipline of marketing, with many years many of successful (e.g. Coca-Cola, Marlborough, Mercedes-Benz, Nike, Apple) as well as unsuccessful efforts.  Successes in branding “build relationships between consumers and products” or services that are being marketed.  Audiences eventually become familiar with a product and are reminded of it by seeing the image or hearing a slogan representing that product. One of the best examples of branding in health communication is represented by the long-standing condom promotion and HIV prevention program in Germany, “Macht’s mit: Gib AIDS keine Chance”.  Note that this was initially primarily delivered through billboards and posters; now they have a very impressive web presence as well. 

Examine this measles vaccine poster. Could/should this be better branded, and if so, how?

             The measles vaccine poster, now nearly 25 years old, is essentially two of the same ads in one and would benefit from better branding.  The shrunken cartoon is a redundant piece, as it merely restates the campaign’s name and slogan.  To improve the branding and design of this poster, I would relocate the statement about the local health authority to the bottom of the poster and place the campaign’s new brand in its place.  This revision would place the brand and slogan in closer proximity to each other, pairing the two together visually so viewers will progressively associate the two as a unit mentally.  The brand could be a truncated version of the slogan, such as “Just 1 Shot”, with the “t” in “Shot” or the “1” shaped like a vaccine syringe.  

Branding ISIS

Capstone: Save the Salton Sea

The rapid deterioration of California’s largest inland body of water has implications for the health and well being of our neighbors, ourselves and other species that inhabit the region and the hemisphere. Although this problem has been recognized for more than two decades, it has continued to grow.

So…

What health communication messages would you suggest for taking this issue on?

Who would your target audiences be, and how would vary messages by different audience segments?

How would you brand your effort?

Target Audience: A young demographic would definitely have to be the target because the future of this region that faces imminent danger impacts their future more directly than the older demographic. Therefore the messaging has to be targeted to fit their needs and priorities.  Though we have not done formative research to identify the best age bracket to target, we can make an educated assumption that targeting millennials (ages 18-34) would be a good strategy. This is especially true because this is the demographic that the Coachella valley usually attracts through its music festivals.

Branding: It’s very important create a simple, aesthetically pleasing branding image for this campaign to appeal to this young demographic. As mentioned in the message section, using catchy and simple hashtags would help create the pairing between the cause and the campaign.  Therefore some research has to be done, using the input from the target audience, to create the logo, hashtags, and name of the campaign that will strongly resonate with the target audience.

Part Six: Edutainment 

“Edutainment” is defined either as education done in an entertaining style or entertainment with an educational message built in. A prime example of the former is the Soul City TV/Radio series that emphasizes sexual health, produced in South Africa, and the American PBS program “Sesame Street” that targets preschoolers. Examples of edutainment that comprise primarily entertainment but also include important health or social messages are popular songs about social issues (e.g. Bob Dylan’s “Hurricane”), and movies that focus on the power of the tobacco industry, either from a dramatic or comedic tone.

Capstone: Save the Salton Sea

The rapid deterioration of California’s largest inland body of water has implications for the health and well being of our neighbors, ourselves and other species that inhabit the region and the hemisphere. Although this problem has been recognized for more than two decades, it has continued to grow.

So…

What health communication messages would you suggest for taking this issue on?

Who would your target audiences be, and how would vary messages by different audience segments?

How would you brand your effort?

The target population of this campaign would be the farmers and agriculture workers because of the agriculture runoff creating higher levels of saline in the water. The message goal would be to encourage behavior change in farmer population. It could also be important to encourage the behavior changes in the surrounding communities.

I would brand my efforts towards the farmers as “Save the Salton Sea, Save Your Crops”. I would use images of the Salton Sea along side of a crop bed that doesn’t look healthy.  This method may persuade the farmers and local residents to change behavior to reduce the likelihoods that their crops will die. 

Part Six: Edutainment 

“Edutainment” is defined either as education done in an entertaining style or entertainment with an educational message built in. A prime example of the former is the Soul City TV/Radio series that emphasizes sexual health, produced in South Africa, and the American PBS program “Sesame Street” that targets preschoolers. Examples of edutainment that comprise primarily entertainment but also include important health or social messages are popular songs about social issues (e.g. Bob Dylan’s “Hurricane”), and movies that focus on the power of the tobacco industry, either from a dramatic or comedic tone.

Part Five: Branding

Branding is the process of pairing an image slogan or other stimulus with a product or practice until the two have become synonymous in the mind of the audience. The concept of “branding” derives from the discipline of marketing, with many years many of successful (e.g. Coca-Cola, Marlborough, Mercedes-Benz, Nike, Apple) as well as unsuccessful efforts.  Successes in branding “build relationships between consumers and products” or services that are being marketed.  Audiences eventually become familiar with a product and are reminded of it by seeing the image or hearing a slogan representing that product. One of the best examples of branding in health communication is represented by the long-standing condom promotion and HIV prevention program in Germany, “Macht’s mit: Gib AIDS keine Chance”.  Note that this was initially primarily delivered through billboards and posters; now they have a very impressive web presence as well. 

Examine this measles vaccine poster. Could/should this be better branded, and if so, how?

I believe that the current administration needs to be more consistent when talking about this terrorist group. By having multiple names for the same group of people, they will confuse the individuals listening.  This will most likely lead to  false assumptions and misunderstandings about the terrorist groups. I recommend that only one name be used in order to keep things consistent.

Measles Vaccine Poster

Part Four: Social Marketing: A Different Slant on Message Objectives

Of major importance to the field of health communication is the Philip Kotler’s “social marketing” framework. Health communication has a mixed ancestry: while generally its roots are in psychology (social, perceptual and behavioral psychology) its other ancestor is in business and economics. Kotler took a business marketing model and applied it to community efforts for health and social change. Building on the work of others in the business world who developed the concept of the “marketing mix” Kotler describes ”4 Ps”: product price, place and promotion. This alliterative framework overlaps to some extent with that of McGuire but specifically details what aspects of the messages content should be included, especially in terms of:

The “Price” of a new behavior (not just as monetary but personal effort and other resources required…and perceived benefits of changing the behavior),

How best to describe ”Product” (e.g. the behavior change itself or the social or environmental change that one attempts to achieve),

The channels by which to send the message that should be used in terms of ”Place” (where a message can best reach someone in terms of a channel or program, and in what stage of life or time of year),

 And finally the overall Promotion (which is often referred to in social marketing as “media mix”: what best mix of print and broadcast etc. to used to initiate and sustain a campaign).

Some have added a fifth “P”, that of “Position”, indicating the specific comparison we can make between our product and that of another on the market (for example, the advantages of getting iron and protein from legumes and quinoa rather than red meat).

As an example, analyze the below anti drunk-driving piece from Kotler’s social marketing perspective:

Research Activity #4

EXAMINE TWO ADDITIONAL HEALTH COMMUNICATION PIECES BRIEFLY, FROM A MCGUIRE AND THEN A KOTLER PERSPECTIVE.  WHICH ONE PROVIDES A CLEARER AND MORE USEFUL EXPLANATORY MODEL, AND WHY?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J3POpdFlxWE

Price: The price of participating in smoking, is you could miss out on talking to a cute girl, because she thinks your habit is nasty.

Product: Don’t smoke, it’s a gross habit

Place: This commercial is probably meant for the internet. It isn’t funny enough to go viral and not literal enough to make a statement on TV.

Promotion:  The channel utilized was through a commercial via video

Position: The creators of the video want you to dislike the guy because he is a smoker. If he weren’t a smoker, he could have gotten the girl!

Announce: The final call to action in the video says “Keep it pleasant”. People are not pleasant when they are surrounded by smokers.

Activate:  This commercial had a strong motivation to activate individuals who smoke in public to stop doing so. This would avoid the possibility of swallowing a cigarette.

Advocate: The ad advocates for smokers to quit their smoking habits because you never know what possibilities it could be holding you back from, or if it will lead to unintended consequences.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7uFmqynVSxE

Price: The guy could lose his job because he killed the animal under the carpet. The price is, the animal died due to the guys smoking habit.

Product: Smoking could cause unintentional death or injury

Place: This commercial is probably meant for the internet. It isn’t funny enough to go viral and not very clear audio quality.

Promotion:  The channel utilized was through a commercial via video

Position: The advantage of not smoking is that he wouldn’t have killed the animal under the carpet.

Advise: Don’t smoke on the job

Announce: “Smoking Kills”.  Don’t smoke, it could kill someone or something else.

Activate:   This campaign had a strong motivation to activate individuals who smoke, to not smoke while on the job.

Part Three: Do’s and Don’ts of Motivation and Persuasion

A variety of methods can be used to improve the audience’s reception of motivation and persuasion messages. First, serious health issues cannot be treated too lightly, but at the same time the consequence of not taking an action should not be exaggerated. Credibility can be lost if people are shown dying from a fairly minor or obscure illness but also the message must make a realistic connection between a problem and its consequence. What mismatches between the feel and content do you see in these messages (choose 2)?:

Now try these two:

Analyze the potential effectiveness of one of these smoking control ads;

2. The smoking ad is clearly meant to be entertaining for the viewer due to the camera angle and the position of the smoker, businessman and the cigarette. The intent of this piece was to inform cigarette smokers about how their purchase is related to being taken advantage of.  Unfortunately, the message could easily be considered a joke and can come off as offensive because it mimics sexual abuse. Especially individuals who have dealt with this kind of trauma, may not take this ad seriously.

Analysis of smoking control and child abuse ads:

In this ad, the viewer sees a woman smoking a cigarette with the smoke resembling a rope that ties around her neck. The text on the image reads, “Kill a Cigarette and Save a Life. Yours”. This statement creates an effective campaign slogan because it uses fear tactics to help advocate against cigarette use.

Part Two: Messages that convey motivation and persuasion

Whether the objective is to announce, advise, activate or advocate, the message’s motivational and persuasive contents emphasize change in individual attitudes and group norms with respect to a certain health issue while making the health issue (behavior, social issues and challenges, etc.) foremost in the target audience’s mind. Specific examples of applying activation objectives often derive from fear appeal messages: attempting to arouse fear in the audience by demonstrating to individuals the scary aspects of engaging in a certain behavior and not doing something to mitigate the damage that that behavior can cause. Fear appeal messages usually involve a scary or threatening image or feel to create the desired reaction and promote subsequent behavior change.

The Elaboration Likelihood Model developed by Richard Petty and John Cacioppo and Kim Witte’s Extended Parallel Processing Model provide excellent theoretical bases to frame messages that derive from motivation and persuasion objectives, especially those that appeal to fear. A problem with fear-based messages however is that they may cause maladaptive responses when an individual either does not find the image sufficiently threatening or conversely avoids the message (for example, when its images are overly gruesome). For example, The Partnership For A Drug-Free America’s campaign “this is your brain on drugs” has been criticized for engendering more curiosity than fear among teens in the target audience. Also, if the message is sufficiently threatening, the individual may lack the ‘efficacy’ or confidence to take actions that would eliminate the threat. Feelings of helplessness may actually cause the individual to avoid the message altogether. Therefore, fear messages must be used with caution.

However, other emotions can also be invoked which will help individuals remember a specific message and recall the facts and perhaps the reinforcement associated with the behavior change related to those evoke emotions. Humor, sympathy, excitement and other emotions can also create an association that may help an individual remember the importance of the behavior change. For example, contrast the “feel” of the some of the below messages, all of which have the same general purpose.

And these: http://www.bestmswprograms.com/10-brilliantly-creative-condom-ads/

Research Activity #2:

COMPARE THE FOLLOWING TWO SPOTS WITH RESPECT TO FEAR AND RESPONSE EFFICACY-RELATED CONTENT

https://jasonbiviano.files.wordpress.com/2012/04/health-effects-of-smoking1.jpg

https://twitter.com/nyc_dot/status/314067899079872514

Emotions can be evoked not only by the specific nature of the message but also by images, sounds, and other elements that have both an emotional and physical impact on an individual. For example, concordant and discordant musical notes and colors may contribute to a message oriented toward fear and anxiety on one hand or harmony and sympathy on the other. Individual colors may convey different feelings (Example 1; Example 2) though this may vary from culture to culture.  As musical chords mix different notes to create distinct feelings for different compositions, combinations of colors also vary as a function of the light or heat of a message (see here for more info about this).

In terms of sight and sound, which of the following 3 pieces do you think would create the strongest reaction in an audience?

Research Activity #3

LISTEN TO A VARIETY OF THESE SOUNDS. WITH REFERENCE TO 5 OF THE SOUNDS, GIVE A ONE SENTENCE DESCRIPTION EACH OF 5 DISTINCT FEELINGS THEY CONVEY AND COMBINED WITH 5 MESSAGES THAT SOUND AND FEEL COULD BE PAIRED WITH.

The speeding PSA has high fear, high response efficacy. It is high fear because its goal is clearly to scare the viewer. The PSA is mostly in gray scale and has terrifying statistics pasted all over it.  The smoking PSA has high fear, low response efficacy because although it is eye catching, it doesnt have a call to action.

Research activity #3

  Crash- The classical style music playing in the video makes the viewer feel sad and helpless and could be used to prevent a person from participating in dangerous behaviors that could hurt a child.

This tone could be considered suspenseful and dramatic. It could be useful when trying to prevent distracted driving especially in adults.

Dancing- This upbeat and fun music is uplifting even though the message has a dark side. It could be good music to pair with a behavior people tend to not want to do.

Seat Belt- The energetic and futuristic music is enticing and enjoyable to listen to. It makes the viewer want to pay attention to what is going on on the screen. Unfortunately, it also doesn’t feel current, so maybe not relevant.

Part One

This module, our first, is structured around McGuire’s Communication-Persuasion Model for health communication. Modules and the broader sections to which they belong parallel McGuire’s “inputs” and “outputs”.   This module emphasizes McGuire’s central input, the Message.

The message is the ‘what’ of communication. Communication messages tend to combine both logical and factual content with emotional or artistic expression. The content is the “light” of communication: It lays out specifically how individuals can improve their health or that of the community or at least avoid or reduce risk. Content can be presented in a variety of forms but has to be adjusted to the cultural and economic context of the audience.

The emotional, artistic and expressive aspects of a message comprise the “heat” of the health communication piece. Messages often employ humor, sympathy or empathy, anger, anxiety or even fear with respect to a specific health issue. Colors, sound and other touches may be added to contribute to a multisensory and more memorable audience experience with the message. A message is a stated or implicit statement that presents a key aspect of communications destination and strategy to the target audience or a segment of the target audience. Messages should derive from key campaign objectives; without such objectives, messages may seem unclear to a target audience.  These campaign objectives represent what the source or ‘sender’ of the message wishes to do: announce, advise, activate or advocate. (Note that messages can manifest more than one or even all of these objectives…but in doing so may risk clarity!).

Brief definitions of these actions are presented below. In practice, many health communication pieces combine two or more of these objectives:

Campaign Objective: Announce

Presentation that direct individuals as to where they can obtain services, buy a product, or (in the case of health fairs) get more information about a specific health issue. They can also direct the individual to watch or read other media which will provide them with additional information and motivation.

Examples:

https://www.prostateconditions.org/outreach-programs/prostate-cancer-screening Or…

http://www.rbcdesign.net/Examples%20of%20Design%20Work%20for%20RBC%20Design%20Studio/styled-4/medical-advertising-marketing-graphic-design.html

Campaign Objective: Advise

Factual statements regarding health behaviors, risk factors, medications, etc. Information objectives are fairly simple knowledge oriented factual statements informing the target audience about the positive aspects of certain behaviors or other actions or their negative impact. Advice takes the form of information that can help address the challenge of presenting new knowledge or can help clarify misperceptions that people may have. Finally, this information may serve as “booster shots”, reinforcing existing knowledge and reminding the target audience of certain issues.

Examples:

https://gettested.cdc.gov/reasons/default.aspx

Campaign Objective: Activate

Motivating or persuading the audience to attend to and act on the advice or other information presented.

Example:

http://osocio.org/message/aids-campaign-takes-a-different-look-at-social-diseases/

Campaign Objective: Advocate

Documentaries and articles, movies, public demonstrations or ads that embrace and promote a social or political point of view.

Examples:

This current one: http://blacklivesmatter.com/

And this one from nearly 50 years ago: https://www.flickr.com/photos/13476480@N07/20510410925/in/photostream/

Campaign Objective: Combined Objectives

Pieces that attempt to achieve two or more of the above objectives.

Examples:

Research Activity #1

http://www.sandiegocounty.gov/content/sdc/hhsa/programs/ais/about_ais/demographics.html

The source of this website is the San Diego County Health and Human Services Department. This site lends information to older individuals who may be suffering from issues involving their independence. This site could also be helpful for a family who has parents/grandparents that need some guidance. This site offers help hotlines and information about how to get help. It also informs the public about the growing trends in elderly individuals. It is a factual site with mostly numbers. Very few photos or charts. It does not seem to draw on any emotions.

Advise

http://www.gardasil.com/hpv-and-your-child/what-is-hpv/

This site informs the reader about the risks of the HPV virus. It informs the reader about why it’s serious and how the reader can prevent the disease. The main goal of this site is to adise the reader to get vaccinated with Gardasil. It offers a long list about how the vaccine can help prevent a multitude of diseases caused by HPV. It never explicitly says, you must get the vaccine, it only recommends it.

Activate

http://sdrunforthehungry.org/

This site is available to promote a 5K and 10k run to feed the hungry. It offers a few sad stories, photos and statistics about how your help can make a difference in the community. It’s goal is to not only get the viewer up off the couch and exercising, it also wants the viewer to come out and support the cause.

Advocate

http://veganoutreach.org/modernfarms/

The goal of this site is to advocate for the vegan lifestyle of eating. The authors want to readers to covert to this way of thinking and eating. They will tell you why they are right.

Combined Objective

http://www.bewellbuzz.com/general/10-reasons-flu-shots-dangerous-flu/