Introduction
Social campaigns form an
integral part of the environment in industrial and
developing countries. They are often prompted by the
perception that some situation represents a social
problem and merits social action. Examples include the
fact that some people are unaware of some services that
may improve their lives (such as treatment for TB), that
some social systems are unjust (child labor, for
instance), that some individuals are engaged in behaviors
associated with a high level of risk (such as using
illegal drugs), and that some governments are
unresponsive to the needs of certain groups (such as
street children and minorities).
Although
many chronic conditions exist, only some are granted
"problem" status. In public health, for
example, this designation depends largely on medical,
economic, and political issues as well as the possibility
of mobilizing resources for any initiative.
As social problems are
complex and interrelated, solutions need to be developed
in light of the specific socioeconomic, historical,
religious, and cultural framework. Often segments of
society need to be identified who are particularly
vulnerable or exposed in order to be able to develop a
targeted campaign.
Some social campaigns
are designed merely to help bring problem areas into the
open and draw attention to their roots, which can often
be a taboo subject. Although sharpening society's
awareness of a problem is indeed necessary, it is by no
means sufficient for bringing about changes in societal
attitudes and behavior, as these are shaped by habits,
interests, feelings, and beliefs, among other factors.
That is why social campaigns conceived simply to educate
or admonish often turn out to be relatively ineffective.
These limitations and
the success of advertising techniques used in the
commercial world provided the impetus for the development
of social marketing. Introduced by Philip Kotler and
Gerald Zaltman in 1971, this concept combines traditional
approaches to social change with commercial marketing and
advertising techniques. Its originators define social
marketing as "the design, implementation and control
of programs aimed at increasing the acceptability of a
social idea or practice in one or more group of target
adopters".
To this end, it makes
use of methods from the commercial sector: setting
measurable objectives, doing market research, developing
products and services that correspond to genuine needs,
creating demand for them through advertising, and finally
marketing through a network of outlets at prices that
make it possible to achieve the sales objectives.
The difference between
commercial and social marketing thus lies not in the
methods they use but in their content and objectives.
Social marketing is a
somewhat more complex concept, however, and sometimes
also less effective than its commercial counterpart,
since it aims to influence people's ideas and behavior
(for example, to make them give up smoking). Moreover,
marketing social products with a tangible base is even
more complex, as demand has to be created for the idea or
product concept, such as family planning, as well as for
the tools or product itself, such as condoms.
Commercial marketing, in
contrast, simply tries to steer existing patterns of
thought and behavior in a certain direction-convincing
consumers that a certain brand of toothpaste is superior,
for instance, rather than that it is important to brush
the teeth regularly.
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