Getting back to the topic of “Social Marketing”, in this case referring to the definition of “bringing about social change”, here are a few things that have caught my attention over the past week or so….
Yesterday, Dateline NBC airred a program which showed the process of creating an infomerial for a bogus product, and how careful wording (both of the product and by the show’s producers in getting the informercial made) can legally con the best of us. Their program is called, “From the Inside Out“, which cleverly was the tagline of the bogus product they made up, too. There was a lot of careful wording throughout this program (on all sides), which only goes to show that we must always be on guard, we must always question, and can’t naively trust anyone. Just because it’s on TV or in an official looking format doesn’t make it true.
Unfortunately, this also makes it harder for the true social marketers to get their messages out, too. First of all, their messages will likely not have that “sexy” look to cut through the clutter. Add to that the history of clever spinning and wording by marketers and advertisers over the years, there will only be a growing suspicion of doubt or distrust over even those of good intentions.
But there are some good companies out there. Reading about how they work and how they describe themselves is one way to get a feel for the honest ones. One site I came across in my google searching is: Marketing4Change.com.
Their wording is nothing but authentic:
We are working because we enjoy it. We work with people we love and work on what we support. Our basic premise: Let’s make the world a cooler place to live. From protecting the Chesapeake to promoting the next great seafood sauce, we tap into our passion. If we’re not hot for your project, we’ll send you somewhere else.
Their philosophy is nothing but clearly stated:
Our roots are in social marketing, which is really about treating socially desirable behavior more as a choice than an imperative.
For what it’s worth, marketing will always have its challenges; the good-intentioned versus the evil-intentioned….and, of course, there will be a huge middle ground between those two extremes as well.
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NOTE: A further thought on the term ’social marketing’:
This reminds me of the debate over the meaning of social marketing, which many are now starting to believe is the same as: social network marketing, blogging, and viral word-of-mouth marketing. These latter terms all lack the ’social behavior change’ component. Here’s where I’ve come across another way to further clarify the ’social change’ definition….
Today on PBS’s ‘The Open Mind’ program, being interviewed was William Kunstler, author of “My Life as a Radical Lawyer”, who went into the political maneurings within the legal system, but he also referred to ’social movement lawyers’ or ‘activist lawyers’. Maybe a clearer term to use for the original meaning of social marketing could be ’social movement marketing’…though the argument has also been make that the original definition should be retained and a new term should be chosen for the newer definition.
