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How does social marketing work in peacebuilding? |

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a) Social marketing in peacebuilding

Social marketing has so far been extensively used in the area of health and other social issues. However, it has rarely been applied to conflict transformation /peacebuilding interventions. In essence, social marketing is a strategy for bringing about change – in the attitudes and behaviours of individuals and groups. Therefore, it can be applied to engagement in conflict transformation. Seeing it in the framework of conflict transformation, social marketing targets especially the personal (but also the relational and structural) dimension of change.

Some social marketing Ps and their application in conflict transformation/peacebuilding

Social Marketing "P"	Application to conflict transformation/peacebuilding
Product	Physical: Disarmament (hand in small arms for material incentive) Practices: Traditional and modern conflict handling mechanisms; community dialogue; etc. Intangible ideas: Non-violence; overcoming stereotypes; trust, etc.
Price	What are the costs for changing behaviour? E.g. By giving up firearms, do the people perceive that they are diminishing their security?
Place	Where is the social marketing campaign to take place? An analysis of the context, especially political and security situation, is necessary.
Promotion	What channel(s) are suitable to reach the target audience? What has to be done to make sure the campaign does not do harm? (Conflict-sensitive communication)
Publics	Individuals, traditional elders, communities, state structures (local, regional, national), armed actors, etc.
Partnerships	Civil society organisations, traditional authorities, business community, media, etc.
Policy	Policies on local, regional, national and international level

Source: chachabooth@gmail.com

b) How can social marketing in peacebuilding initiatives work?

One does not have to be a marketing expert to practice social marketing. It does, however, help to understand a few basic marketing principles:

Know your audience and put them at the centre of every decision you make. Social marketing begins and ends with your target audience.
It is about action: The process of heightening awareness, shifting attitudes, and strengthening knowledge is only valuable if it leads to action. Be clear in what you want your audience to do.
There must be an exchange: If you want someone to give up or modify an old behaviour or accept a new one, you must offer that person something very appealing in return. In social marketing you must know your audience well in order to understand what will motivate them to make changes in their lives. What benefits do you have to offer?
Competition always exists. Your audience can always choose to do something else.

Communication is vital for social marketing, as the product is often intangible (especially in the area of conflict transformation/peacebuilding) and has to be distributed through different communication channels.

Key steps - Example 1: Ten strategic questions to help you work towards your social marketing plan 1) What is the social problem that you want to address? In conflict transformation this question needs thorough (conflict) analysis: What are the causes of conflict? How does change happen in the specific context? [Click here for learning materials on conflict analysis.] 2) What actions do we believe could best contribute to changing the behaviours of individuals and groups? 3) Who is being asked to take that action? What is our audience? Also this necessitates a thorough understanding of the actors in the context. 4) What does the audience want in exchange for adopting this new behaviour? 5) Why will the audience believe that anything we offer is real and true? 6) What is the competition offering? Are we offering something the competition wants more? In a conflict or post-conflict setting: Who are potential spoilers and opponents to positive change? 7) What is the best time and place to reach members of our audience so that they are most disposed to receiving the intervention? 8) How often, and from whom, does the intervention need to be received if it is to work? 9) How can I integrate a variety of interventions to act, over time, in a coordinated manner, to influence the behaviour? 10) Do I have the resources to carry out this strategy alone, and if not, where can I find useful partners? What risks will I face when carrying out the campaign? Adapted and extended from: Turning Point: The basics of Social Marketing. How to use marketing to change behaviour, p. 6 (http://www.turningpointprogram.org/Pages/pdfs/social_market/smc_basics.pdf)

Key steps - Example 1: Ten strategic questions to help you work towards your social marketing plan

1) What is the social problem that you want to address?
In conflict transformation this question needs thorough (conflict) analysis: What are the causes of conflict? How does change happen in the specific context? [Click here for learning materials on conflict analysis.]

2) What actions do we believe could best contribute to changing the behaviours of individuals and groups?

3) Who is being asked to take that action? What is our audience?
Also this necessitates a thorough understanding of the actors in the context.

4) What does the audience want in exchange for adopting this new behaviour?

5) Why will the audience believe that anything we offer is real and true?

6) What is the competition offering? Are we offering something the competition wants more? In a conflict or post-conflict setting: Who are potential spoilers and opponents to positive change?

7) What is the best time and place to reach members of our audience so that they are most disposed to receiving the intervention?

8) How often, and from whom, does the intervention need to be received if it is to work?

9) How can I integrate a variety of interventions to act, over time, in a coordinated manner, to influence the behaviour?

10) Do I have the resources to carry out this strategy alone, and if not, where can I find useful partners? What risks will I face when carrying out the campaign?

Adapted and extended from: Turning Point: The basics of Social Marketing. How to use marketing to change behaviour, p. 6 (http://www.turningpointprogram.org/Pages/pdfs/social_market/smc_basics.pdf)

Key steps - Example 2: Conducting a social marketing campaign When should you run a social marketing campaign? Generally speaking, when: You are trying to change the behaviour of a large number of people You are trying to change behaviour over a long period of time You have the resources necessary to manage a comprehensive effort *How do you manage a social marketing campaign?* 1) Defining and understanding: the problem, your goals, your target audience, and what they think about the problem a) Understand the context and define the problem In conflict transformation, understanding the context and defining the problem is mainly done through conflict analysis (find out more). Conflict analysis can inter alia highlight causes of conflict and the role that actors play in conflict and peacebuilding. b) Define your goals The more distinctly you map out what you want, by when you want it, and how you are going to get there, the better equipped you will be for achieving your goals. c) Define your audience Usually, you will want to target different groups of people in different ways. Breaking your audience into sub-groups to target separately is known as market segmentation. Sub-groups have often been created by the following characteristics: Age Gender Ethnic group Economic status Past behaviours Access to products Some questions can help to choose appropriate sub-groups: What are the possible subgroups? Are there higher rates of the problem among any subgroups? Are some groups better able to address to address their problems? Are some subgroups more willing to address the issue? Do subgroups respond differently to respond to marketing approaches? Do groups vary in the amount of resources available to them? Do they vary in the barriers they experience regarding change? Importantly, make informed choices when choosing subgroups! d) Understand your audience Once you have decided which groups you will target as part of your social marketing campaign, you’ll want to learn as much as you can about them, both in general and about their views of the problem or issues you are working on. You will need general information (Where do they live? Education?, etc.) and information related to the problem you want to address: How do they feel about it? What are the barriers to solving it? What do they want? What will convince them to change their behaviour? Who are potential spoilers? In conflict and post-conflict settings, understanding how different actors would react to your social marketing campaign is of key importance. Failing to understand the dynamics in the context could be very risky. So, how do you obtain this information? Some of the most common ways include: Observe individuals and behaviors of interest Conduct behavioral surveys Conduct in-depth interviews Conduct Focus Group Discussions (FGD) 2) Choosing strategies: Brainstorming possible strategies, choosing those which are most appropriate, designing messages, and pretesting your ideas. a) Brainstorming strategies Now that you know what people want, or what potential barriers are, what can you do? How can you make it easier for people to change their behaviour? Several of you can work together to try to think up ideas. b) Decide whether to use different strategies for different segments, or just use different messages and mediums Looking at the ideas you have generated, can they be generalized across groups? Or are they more specific to groups with different challenges and needs? c) Choose specific strategies with measurable objectives With all the information that you have gathered above, the best strategies should already be emerging. When making the final decision, ask yourself which of the strategies you are considering: make the behaviour change most attractive? decrease the costs of behaviour change? improve the customer’s ability to adopt the behaviour change? decrease the attractiveness of competing behaviours? d) Design messages appropriate to different groups Now that you know what you are going to do, how can you get the word out most effectively? First, develop messages according to the strategies you decided on. What do you want to say, and to whom? And, how are you going to say it? Think about the language your target audience speaks. The way you say things is important, adapt your style to the different sub-groups of your target audience. For instance, young people have a specific language style. Some groups of people tend to be wary of any authority and will be hesitant to accept an “expert opinion” thrown in their face. Other groups, however, will only listen to such expert messages. You should have discovered what is important to your audience in the steps before, now, use this understanding to design the message. You might also want to consider using what is sometimes called “panel design”, i.e. messages that follow-up on each other. Most importantly, in peacebuilding/conflict transformation design your messages in a conflict-sensitive way. (see here chapter 7 of this resource kit) e) Consider the risks of your social marketing campaign for peacebuilding In conflict or post-conflict situations, spreading messages in a peacebuilding social marketing campaign can be a dangerous undertaking. Based on your analysis and understanding of the context, identify risks – especially security risks – and think about ways to deal with them. f) Next, select channels of communication Is television the best way to reach your target audience? Or is your intended audience more likely to pay attention to newspaper articles? Radio? Or, talks by experts? Word of mouth? Plays? Be creative! There are many free or low cost ways to disseminate your message! h) Finally, pretest your ideas and messages At this point, you’ve put a lot of time and work into your messages, and you are probably in a hurt to make them public. Pretesting your ideas with a few members of your target audience, however, is a very important step. 3) Implementing and evaluating your work At this point, much of the hard work is over, you now need to go out and do what you planned. If you have planned the details carefully, this part should come together naturally. Whilst implementation, monitor your work and make sure that it is effective. After the implementation, evaluate your social marketing campaign. 4) Do it again! If a social marketing campaign is aimed at long-term behaviour change in the community, then it really never ends. It really only works, if people can see it and when they continue seeing it. Adapted and extended from: The community tool box: Section 2 Conducting a social marketing campaign, contributed by Jenette Nagy; edited by Bill Berkowitz, Jerry Schultz, and Phil Rabinowitz, in: http://ctb.ku.edu/tools//sub_section_main_1324.htm

Key steps - Example 2: Conducting a social marketing campaign

When should you run a social marketing campaign?

Generally speaking, when:

You are trying to change the behaviour of a large number of people
You are trying to change behaviour over a long period of time
You have the resources necessary to manage a comprehensive effort

How do you manage a social marketing campaign?

1) Defining and understanding: the problem, your goals, your target audience, and what they think about the problem

a) Understand the context and define the problem
In conflict transformation, understanding the context and defining the problem is mainly done through conflict analysis (find out more). Conflict analysis can inter alia highlight causes of conflict and the role that actors play in conflict and peacebuilding.

b) Define your goals
The more distinctly you map out what you want, by when you want it, and how you are going to get there, the better equipped you will be for achieving your goals.

c) Define your audience
Usually, you will want to target different groups of people in different ways. Breaking your audience into sub-groups to target separately is known as market segmentation. Sub-groups have often been created by the following characteristics:

Age
Gender
Ethnic group
Economic status
Past behaviours
Access to products

Some questions can help to choose appropriate sub-groups:

What are the possible subgroups?
Are there higher rates of the problem among any subgroups?
Are some groups better able to address to address their problems?
Are some subgroups more willing to address the issue?
Do subgroups respond differently to respond to marketing approaches?
Do groups vary in the amount of resources available to them?
Do they vary in the barriers they experience regarding change?

Importantly, make informed choices when choosing subgroups!

d) Understand your audience
Once you have decided which groups you will target as part of your social marketing campaign, you’ll want to learn as much as you can about them, both in general and about their views of the problem or issues you are working on.

You will need general information (Where do they live? Education?, etc.) and information related to the problem you want to address: How do they feel about it? What are the barriers to solving it? What do they want? What will convince them to change their behaviour? Who are potential spoilers?

In conflict and post-conflict settings, understanding how different actors would react to your social marketing campaign is of key importance. Failing to understand the dynamics in the context could be very risky.

So, how do you obtain this information? Some of the most common ways include:

Observe individuals and behaviors of interest
Conduct behavioral surveys
Conduct in-depth interviews
Conduct Focus Group Discussions (FGD)

2) Choosing strategies: Brainstorming possible strategies, choosing those which are most appropriate, designing messages, and pretesting your ideas.

a) Brainstorming strategies
Now that you know what people want, or what potential barriers are, what can you do? How can you make it easier for people to change their behaviour? Several of you can work together to try to think up ideas.

b) Decide whether to use different strategies for different segments, or just use different messages and mediums
Looking at the ideas you have generated, can they be generalized across groups? Or are they more specific to groups with different challenges and needs?

c) Choose specific strategies with measurable objectives
With all the information that you have gathered above, the best strategies should already be emerging. When making the final decision, ask yourself which of the strategies you are considering:

make the behaviour change most attractive?
decrease the costs of behaviour change?
improve the customer’s ability to adopt the behaviour change?
decrease the attractiveness of competing behaviours?

d) Design messages appropriate to different groups
Now that you know what you are going to do, how can you get the word out most effectively? First, develop messages according to the strategies you decided on. What do you want to say, and to whom? And, how are you going to say it?

Think about the language your target audience speaks.

The way you say things is important, adapt your style to the different sub-groups of your target audience. For instance, young people have a specific language style. Some groups of people tend to be wary of any authority and will be hesitant to accept an “expert opinion” thrown in their face. Other groups, however, will only listen to such expert messages. You should have discovered what is important to your audience in the steps before, now, use this understanding to design the message.

You might also want to consider using what is sometimes called “panel design”, i.e. messages that follow-up on each other.

Most importantly, in peacebuilding/conflict transformation design your messages in a conflict-sensitive way. (see here chapter 7 of this resource kit)

e) Consider the risks of your social marketing campaign for peacebuilding
In conflict or post-conflict situations, spreading messages in a peacebuilding social marketing campaign can be a dangerous undertaking. Based on your analysis and understanding of the context, identify risks – especially security risks – and think about ways to deal with them.

f) Next, select channels of communication
Is television the best way to reach your target audience? Or is your intended audience more likely to pay attention to newspaper articles? Radio? Or, talks by experts? Word of mouth? Plays?

Be creative! There are many free or low cost ways to disseminate your message!

h) Finally, pretest your ideas and messages
At this point, you’ve put a lot of time and work into your messages, and you are probably in a hurt to make them public. Pretesting your ideas with a few members of your target audience, however, is a very important step.

3) Implementing and evaluating your work
At this point, much of the hard work is over, you now need to go out and do what you planned. If you have planned the details carefully, this part should come together naturally.

Whilst implementation, monitor your work and make sure that it is effective. After the implementation, evaluate your social marketing campaign.

4) Do it again!
If a social marketing campaign is aimed at long-term behaviour change in the community, then it really never ends. It really only works, if people can see it and when they continue seeing it.

Adapted and extended from: The community tool box: Section 2 Conducting a social marketing campaign, contributed by Jenette Nagy; edited by Bill Berkowitz, Jerry Schultz, and Phil Rabinowitz, in: http://ctb.ku.edu/tools//sub_section_main_1324.htm

Further guides:
There are many more resources that outline steps in social marketing (many of them in the health field), please find some of them below:

Health Canada: Seven steps to a marketing plan http://www.hc-sc.gc.ca/ahc-asc/activit/marketsoc/tutorial-guide/index-eng.php (last accessed: 26/03/2009) Designed to help you make the initial strategic decisions about your social marketing activities, the tutorial's step-by-step, question and answer format will guide you through the process of developing your social marketing plan. Ultimately, you will have a managerial tool that will enable you to carry out your plan, brief creative teams and volunteers, and better prepare you for finding partners and sponsors. Prepared for Health Canada by François Lagarde, Social Marketing Consultant and Adjunct Professor, University of Montreal.
Les Robinson (Social Change Media): The 7 Doors model for designing & evaluating behaviour change programs http://media.socialchange.net.au/strategy/7_Doors_Model.html (26/03/2009). The 7 Doors is a model of personal voluntary change that's useful as a checklist for program design and evaluation. It began with a thought experiment carried out in 1998 when Les Robinson asked 'What it would take to get me to change my own behaviour? The model has been refined from responses in training workshops, consideration of cognitive theories of change; and the results of some formal empirical research that I conducted.
Spitfire strategies: The Spitfire Strategies Smart Chart 3: An even more effective tool to help nonprofits make smart communication choices http://www.smartchart.org/content/smart_chart_3_0.pdf (Last accessed: 26/03/2009) Whether you are just starting the communications planning process, checking on a communications campaign already in progress, or interested in reviewing an effort that you have already executed, the Smart Chart 3.0TM will help you assess your strategic decisions to ensure that your communications strategy delivers high impact. This tool was not specifically designed for social marketing strategies, does however outline concrete steps to develop a communications strategy.