Those of you who are regular readers of Social Marketing in the News have probably noticed that the majority of articles in the popular press that mention 'social marketing' are in non-US publications - and most often in English language publications in developing countries. No more! As a great start to 2006, the LA Times [free registration required] published a lengthy feature on social marketing in the context of the Small Steps campaign [Get the message?].
The U.S. government is now betting on "social marketing," especially as it tackles obesity — a threat to the public's health that can lead to diabetes, heart disease and other serious conditions and that costs the nation an estimated $117 billion annually in healthcare costs.
Now the problems with the article are many. I can hear the wailing and gnashing of teeth of the advocacy community as they read that 'social marketing' campaigns are responsible for the decrease in tobacco use in the US. My teeth chattered when I discovered that Finland (aka, the North Karelia project) was a 'social marketing campaign.' And if you believe the article, all social marketing was learned in the tobacco wars - I would counter (as a participant) that it was the other way around. Anyway, more on those - and other issues - raised by the article later, but in the meanwhile, give it a look over for yourself.
Hopefully more social marketing program managers (federal, state and local - public, commercial and nonprofit) will be making New Years' resolutions to earn favorable media coverage for their programs and social marketing in 2006. See agenda-setting theory and literature if you need a rationale. And watch Social Marketing in the News this Year for the results!
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