Social Marketing
"Culture of Wellness" is goal for new technologies.
I wrote about HealthCamp RDU a couple of weeks ago, and really looked forward to the event. Unfortunately, I had to leave after the keynote (such is the life of an account person). But wow, what a great lesson from speaker Nick Augustinos of Cisco on the direction of health information technologies and trends in health information sharing. Be sure to check the homepage soon to see videos of the conference.
I can't recap everything Nick said here, but one thing I wanted to pass along is the idea that we are moving from a "Culture of Pathology" to a "Culture of Wellness"- the basic concept isn't new, but hearing it spelled out in terms of technology was enlightening, so thanks Nick. I want us all to consider how healthcare marketing shifts as a result of this cultural transformation. How do we as marketers move consumers away from a diagnose/fix mentality to a prevention mentality? It has been the mission of public health officials for years, and it is clearly becoming an important direction on which providers and managed care companies should focus. The technology available today makes this the opportunistic time - so what would you do first?
Embracing life with emotional connections.
As advocates of making an emotional connection, I have to blog about the Embrace Life spot that rates 10+ for EC. It got forwarded to me a couple months ago thru the adworld, and my sister (non-adworld) just forwarded it to me. Which tells me this internet phenomenon is now reaching stay-at-home moms. Now she's a very intelligent gal, and she thought it was pretty, but she wasn't sure she got what they were trying to communicate - hence, her question to her adsister. She got the main message - Wear Your Seatbelt - but she was looking for something deeper...Why is his family there? Are they saving him? Are they the reason he should wear it?
All good questions, and all likely part of the message intent. The key point is it made the emotional connection for her to begin questioning and thus, interacting with the communication...and bravo, she understands the main point - Wear Your Seatbelt! I passionately explained the whole emotional connection thing to my sis to which she responded, "hmmmm...so, are you bringing your broccoli salad Sunday?..."
We do a lot of social marketing (we call it "oughta marketing") and this is one of the best spots I've seen. I believe the beautiful emotional connection (love) has created this beautiful viral phenomenon (6 million plus views). If you haven't seen it yet, you really oughta click below.
Does it make your favorite commercial list?
Michigan says so-long to smoked lasagna.
May 1st is quickly approaching. For most, it’s just another normal day. For Michigan residents, it will mean that we can walk into any bar or restaurant and walk out still smelling like the sweet scent of perfume that we put on earlier in the evening.
But, more importantly, it means we will no longer be exposed to secondhand smoke, the third leading cause of preventable death in Michigan.
In order to raise awareness of Michigan's new indoor smoking ban, we partnered with our long-time client, the Michigan Department of Community Health, to kick off a very cost-effective social marketing PSA campaign. Check out the spot below.
And join us in saying so-long to smoked cheesecake, smoked side salad, smoked carrot cake...
Innovative cause marketing.
Trying to explain how cool this interactive cause marketing campaign for the homeless is just can't do it justice. You have to watch the clip below. I promise it's worth the minute of your time. You are forced to "not ignore" the virtual homeless person on the streets of NYC. You can control the situation by making him open a door to a home.
Then after you're engaged, you can text a donation. Kudos to Pathways to Housing for this imaginative, innovative, interactive campaign. We do a lot of cause marketing and it gives me goosebumps when we can really make a difference. Hopefully, this campaign will not go unnoticed, like its subject matter, and truly make a difference for the homeless.
So what did you think...was it worth your minute?
The Red Cross boosts sales with a hot new product.
What is the product? Hope. During the holidays, the Portugal Red Cross opened a retail store in one of the busiest malls in Portugal, with the idea to sell tangible donations of hope.
What a brilliant non-profit marketing and fundraising idea. Leo Burnett Lisbon developed the campaign that helped the Red Cross climb into the top ten for sales at the mall. Here is a brief snapshot of what they did.
The Red Cross has now opened additional stores in Spain and Portugal but will sell Stories of Hope this time. Books being sold have titles such as, The Children who learned to Smile, The Engineer Who was a Super Hero and The Girl who Forgot to Cry. The books are completely blank inside other than a marker and a note that reads “You can help make each book a happy ending by donating to the Red Cross.”
I hope that the Red Cross continues to raise money in this new venture, and that it soon makes it to the States. What do you think? Would you be more willing to donate if you were actually able to “shop” for your donation?
Healthcare marketing - social media boosts organ donor drive.
Through my work in organ donation healthcare marketing over many years, I have learned that organ donation is a topic that people either don't want to think about - or one that is near and dear to their hearts. I fall into the latter category. You can't hear the life-changing stories from organ recipients and families of organ donors and ever be the same. Which is why I'm so excited about the opportunity to use social media tools to extend the Donor Drive 2010 message for our long-time client, The Gift of Life Michigan.
Part of the problem with getting people to sign up has been getting them to take the time to register online (btw, just signing your driver's license is not enough!). Hence, this quick-read, yet multi-functional microsite is designed to make it VERY simple. The widget allows you to sign up right there. You can share the widget via Facebook and Twitter. Email messages can be sent to family and friends letting them know you've just registered and encouraging them to follow suit. You can see the total count of registered donors, even by county. Compelling recipient and family donor video testimonials and opportunity to share your own organ donation story provide the emotional connection to seal the deal.
It's only been a couple of weeks and already over 5000 widget impressions and over 125 widget installs. Help share the gift of life. Sign up on the widget below and share the widget.
And know that you've made a difference. Just one donor can save or improve the lives of 50 people. And there are thousands in Michigan just waiting for your help.
Let us know your thoughts on this social media strategy and any other successful cause social media strategies you've used.
Creative social marketing example #21: United Way.
I love when I get a social marketing assignment. Because instead of selling capitalism with my creativity (not that there’s anything wrong with that), I get to sell people on the idea making the world a better place. Some of the best creative has come from public service announcements. What makes this campaign for the United Way Toronto special, is that it was not just a brilliant idea, it was brilliantly executed. That takes commitment, passion and know-how. Kudos to the production team that pulled it off (no pun intended)!
If you have any other creative social marketing examples to share, please do! This blog post is last in the series, 21 creative social marketing examples.
Step2 kids toys: online reviews converting loyal customers .
Before becoming a mom, my knowledge of toys consisted of about 3 things: Sit' N Spin, Big Wheel and Play-Doh. When realizing my dance rendition of Single Ladies by Beyonce and what I feel was a very well-thought out and entertaining reading of “Goodnight Moon” wasn’t quite enough to entertain my toddler for more than a few minutes, I entered a new realm – securing imaginative, stimulating kids toys. A trip to Toys "R" Us for me was comparable to a couch potato running the Boston Marathon. I almost passed out. There was no finish line in sight. I didn’t even break in my sneakers but I did break out in a sweat. I high-tailed it out of the store and headed home and jumped online. How many toy kitchens can there be? Seriously? Hundreds! Pure panic. Until I hit “read customer reviews” and felt immediate calm. Moms, just like me. Ones who have bought the product, took the time to write a review, and were kind enough to share it with millions of online users including little ol’ me. The one that I thought looked the best in the photo had terrible rankings - they had about 5 categories along with side notes, followed by complete reviews. So, thank you Katie from Minnesota, the anonymous grandma from New York, the mom of 3 from Wisconsin for your reviews, and the many more moms who saved my little one from having to endure my somewhat rusty dance skills. I knew which products were flimsy, which ones were hard to put together, seemed too big, and didn’t function well. I ended up with a fabulous Step2 kitchen which I found in stock using the store locator feature. I am no longer green to kids toys. In fact, I’m a rewards member now at Toys "R" Us – and I must say they send great coupons (read Jo’s blog about coupon use)! And really, Step2 has gained a very loyal customer via good feedback from current customers. I have quite a few Step2 products now – like the easel and outdoor climber. Reviews are important. And if your aiming to hit moms, pay close attention to what is said about your products online. Women are the primary purchase decision makers and word-of-mouth goes right to the pocketbook. Make it part of your marketing strategy. And if words aren't enough, check out some stats in this blog by Robert Gorell, I can only imagine these stats have increased in terms of the power of customer feedback.
Social media: you won't tweet me back.
While doing social media training here at the agency, I finally figured out why so many people do not respond or follow on Twitter...
They don't know how!
Although Twitter seems pretty self explanatory, especially to those of us that were in college when Facebook and MySpace first hit the social media scene, that doesn't mean everyone can follow along and quickly grasp the concept. For those who need the extra help, it means there will be some research involved... yes, you have to google how to twitter. Sounds like a simple enough request, right? Wrong. Most people look to social media because it should be fun, easy and exciting... not one of those words implies having to LEARN first.
I can now say from experience, that little effort to learn something new goes a long way to gaining a positive new tool to promote your business and yourself. Do you disagree? I'd love to see your thoughts.
P.S. If you can't get somebody's attention through social media like this poor man, maybe you should try a new tactic!
Creative social marketing example #20: United Nations Campaign.
Sometimes creative not only breaks through the clutter but breaks new ground in what is possible. It’s pretty mind-blowing to imagine a poster campaign that talks. This is truly interactive at it’s best. The UN Voices Project combines cutting edge mobile phone and image recognition technologies. The campaign is used to put out the message of those who would otherwise go unheard. People around Sydney were encouraged to take a mobile phone photo of the persons mouth and sent it as a picture text to the number on the poster. The sender then receives a return phone call with a pre-recorded message from the person they have photographed. The call to action is embedded in the phone message where people are then encouraged to leave their own comments through the UN website. I applaud the creatives that came up with this idea and the technologists that made it happen. It is inspires the rest of us to push ourselves to create new ways of communicating our messages. Have you seen any other groundbreaking examples of creative that re-invent the way we engage? Please share if you do!
This blog post is #20 in the series, 21 creative social marketing examples.
