Upon my supervisor's recommendation, I attended a talk about behaviour change hosted by Griffith University Social Marketing. Professor Sharyn Rundle-Thiele and Ms. Jeawon Kim discussed the basic concepts of social marketing touching on the responses to complex societal or wicked problems as well as a three step process they use to address these problems, the CBE Process.
According to Prof. Thiele, education, the usual go-to in addressing these wicked problems, could only do so much within a given population. In order for it to work on a larger scale, it was essential that the population be motivated to change for the better. This motivation happens through marketing. Defined by Prof. Thiele as a "strategic way of thinking," the task of marketing is to build associations in people's minds. Going beyond marketing is Social Marketing (often confused with Social Media Marketing by noobs like me) which according to Morgan (2017) on this website:
...seeks to develop and integrate marketing concepts with other approaches to influence behaviours that benefit individuals and communities for the greater social good.Social Marketing practice is guided by ethical principles. It seeks to integrate research, best practice, theory, audience and partnership insight, to inform the delivery of competition sensitive and segmented social change programmes that are effective, efficient, equitable and sustainable.
On Insights in Social Marketing
Another topic discussed by Prof. Thiele was the idea of insights. Insights, based on my understanding, pertain to learnings that arise from thorough investigation. In this context, insights stem from the co-creation stage of the CBE Process as they are informed by 1) Systematic Review, 2) Co-Design, and 3) Surveys. Insights are gained through involvement with all the stakeholders. Co-creation challenges conventional ways of thinking and going about things by way of ensuring that programs are designed by (and not for) people. This helps the stakeholders become empowered to deliver the programs themselves and function as independent change agents within society.
In order to illustrate the CBE process in action, Prof. Thiele and Ms. Kwon presented some exemplars and past projects they had done at SM@G.
"The Sex Profile" by ad agency Ester in Stockholm
The Sex Profile campaign was created to encourage the youth to practice safe sex through condom use. The campaign involved the distribution of free condoms with QR codes printed on the packaging. To participate, users had to download a free, mobile application that would generate a personalised "sex graph" by measuring the rhythm, sound level and duration of sexual activity. The graph would the be published via online platform integrated into the app. Graph statistics were also published as public posters and banners, sparking discussions amongst the target audience in Stockholm. The end result was a spike in registered "sex profiles" and increased positive response to condom use. More information can be found on this here:
Projects by Social Marketing @ Griffith
O-it
The purpose of O-it is to Increase the quality of goods donated to charities. Goods were sorted using two different sorting bags given to donors. The collected goods were then sold at a pop-up shop at Cannon Hill’s Bill Cash Memorial Park. More information can be accessed here.
Waste Not Want Not Project
Another project the speakers presented was the Waste Not Want Not Project which was headed by Ms. Kim. The project focused on reducing food waste in Australian households. The campaign partnered with Redland City Council to roll out a two-week pilot project that involved setting up a make-shift kitchen in the middle of the bustling Stocklands Shopping Centre in Cleveland. The kitchen was manned by celebrity chef Dominique Rizzo who cooked healthy and delicious meals out of leftovers and food "waste." More details about the project and how the CBE process was employed can be found here.
Leave it
The last case study Prof. Thiele presented was Leave It, a campaign geared towards Koala and wildlife protection from dog attacks. The campaign focused on providing a dog training program focussed on reducing dog and koala interactions. It is an ongoing project, and is currently in its fourth year. In-line with the program, a Dog Fest, a promotional event used to raise awareness about the importance of dog training was also created. More information about the campaign and how the CBE process was employed can be found here.
My Insights
Now, how does this relate to or effect my MDP research theme?
A whole lot, actually. Firstly, I think it would be a good idea to work Social Marketing into my research, probably even start to play around with the idea of creating something similar to what SM@G is already doing as opposed to the idea of creating something course or program-related. I'd very much like to direct my energies towards something socially-relevant (not that Fire Safety isn't, of course). I found this workshop incredibly helpful in opening up the potential of design (or Design Strategy to be more specific) in the realm of Social Marketing.
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