Social Marketing - a marketing for good?

Before talking about Social Marketing, it's better say what it is all about.
Lovely Wiki comes to help: "Social marketing is the systematic application of marketing, along with other concepts and techniques, to achieve specific behavioral goals for a social good."


Here is the rest of the article - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Social_marketing


The term itself appeared in 1971. It happened after Philip Kotler and Gerald Zaltman published "Social Marketing: An Approach to Planned Social Change". 
The main aims are that those ideas used in marketing can be applied not just to sell goods, but to change behaviors and attitudes as well.


Such areas as environment,health,protection need people's behavioral changes.The main goal is to sell ideas to make positive changes in people attitudes towards social problems, so targeted correctly the message then bringe harvest of a long term positive change.


The grounds of social marketing stand on 4 "P's":

 

• Product - The social marketing "product" is not necessarily a physical offering. A continuum of products exists, ranging from tangible, physical products (e.g., condoms), to services (e.g., medical exams), practices (e.g., breastfeeding, a heart-healthy diet) and finally, more intangible ideas (e.g., environmental protection).
• Price - Refers to what the consumer must do in order to obtain the social marketing product. This cost may be monetary, or it may instead require the consumer to give up intangibles, such as time or effort, or to risk embarrassment and disapproval. 
• Place - describes the way that the product reaches the consumer. For a tangible product, this refers to the distribution system--including the warehouse, trucks, sales force, retail outlets where it is sold, or places where it is given out for free. For an intangible product, place is less clear-cut, but refers to decisions about the channels through which consumers are reached with information or training. This may include doctors' offices, shopping malls, mass media vehicles or in-home demonstrations. 
• Promotion - Promotion consists of the integrated use of advertising, public relations, promotions, media advocacy, personal selling and entertainment vehicles. The focus is on creating and sustaining demand for the product. 

There are as well additional "P's" of Social Marketing:

• Publics--Social marketers often have many different audiences that their program has to address in order to be successful. "Publics" refers to both the external and internal groups involved in the program. External publics include the target audience, secondary audiences, policymakers, and gatekeepers, while the internal publics are those who are involved in some way with either approval or implementation of the program.
• Partnership--Social and health issues are often so complex that one agency can't make a dent by itself. You need to team up with other organizations in the community to really be effective. You need to figure out which organizations have similar goals to yours--not necessarily the same goals--and identify ways you can work together.
• Policy--Social marketing programs can do well in motivating individual behavior change, but that is difficult to sustain unless the environment they're in supports that change for the long run. Often, policy change is needed, and media advocacy programs can be an effective complement to a social marketing program.
• Purse Strings- Most organizations that develop social marketing programs operate through funds provided by sources such as foundations, governmental grants or donations. This adds another dimension to the strategy development-namely, where will you get the money to create your program?

Taken from this webpage - http://www.social-marketing.com/Whatis.html

One of the most important role players in all that issues are the audinces. That is why it's extremely important to target them correctly as well as choose the correct type of target audience.In this case (as in many other cases) research is sesential.
The problem is that many people don't even know about the existing problems till somebody tells them. Thus social marketing as well leads and educational role.


Here is an example of the social marketing campaign to make my thoughts more visible.
This video tells about the problem of immigrants and their slavery when they move from their native countries. This problem is timing not only in Europe or Asia, but in Russia as well.
We have illegal slavery markets as well as almost all of workers who build the houses,roads,clean the streets etc are illigal immigrants.
Education of population on the existing problem can raise the awareness and make significant changes in the problem.

Social Marketing can play a significant role in changing attitides and behaviors. However some issues need the Government interference.

This can be a hard task either for the government,people and companies.

However it is always worth risking as the end result will bring benefits to everyone.