Design of Integrated Marketing Communications Plan Popularizing AIDS Preventive Measures - Case Study Example

AIDS- Designing a Communication Campaign for Mexico There are many potential partners that can be used in an AIDS communications campaign. It is good to diversify on the partners that are chosen on the basis of the diversity of the audiences to be covered. Choosing many sponsors is also advantageous in that the strengths of various partners, when brought together, can lead to a success AIDS awareness campaigns. Additionally, no two partners can have the same strengths and weaknesses. In this case, one partner’s weaknesses are another’s strengths. Through supplementation among different AIDS campaign partners, a well-integrated communications plan can be made. The partners may be in the form of media organizations, specialized health care providers, entertainment industry players, providers of Mexican passion such as football, bull-fighting and soap operas, charities that work with marginalized and disadvantaged groups such as the rural poor, drug addicts and street children. Each of these partners has a potential to reach a certain subdivision of the target population better compared to other relevant segments that need to be reached by the AIDS campaign. It is a matter of setting priorities. Jaime (2002, p. 127) says that while setting priorities, an advertizing agency has to consider many factors in order to optimize utilization of resources for the best outcomes. These factors include demographics, the existing barriers to the fight against AIDS, the measures that need to be taken to reduce HIV/AIDS infections, the various target audiences and the most approaches ideas that need to be communicated to a specific audience. Each sponsor excels in at least one aspect of HIV/AIDS campaign. Executives of an advertizing agency should identify the partners that are most suited to a certain aspect of the AIDS campaign and select the best one among the shortlisted partners. The main factors to consider when assessing shortlisted organization include credibility, visibility, financial strength, experience and the extent of entrenchment within the local Mexican community. US Agency for international Development (USAID) The US Agency for international Development (USAID) is a very good partner for the Mexican advertizing agency for various reasons. USAID is a credible, highly visible and financially powerful organization. It is by far the largest donor in matters relating to AIDS to Mexico. It is known the world over for taking a leading role in social marketing of condom use. Lundgren (2009, p. 2) notes that when partnering with USAID, it would be important for the advertizing agency to ensure that the messages created by the organization are localized as much as possible in order to make them possess a local appeal. This is because many Mexicans have a very high sense of national pride. Massingill (2006, p. 5) notes that international organizations easily team up with pharmaceutical companies that have vested interests in order to use social marketing to disseminate HIV/AIDS treatment and prevention information selectively. An advertizing agency’s executives have to be keen while linking up with partners in order to ensure that the set social marketing goals with regard to raising AIDS awareness are realized. In the past, notes Singhal & Rogers (2003, p. 121) USAID has been partnering with other organizations such as Institute for Reproductive Health (IRH), Population Services International (PSI) and Pan American Social Marketing Organization (PASMO) in carrying out HIV/AIDS prevention programs in Mexico and Central America (Lundgren, 2009). Such activities and partnerships put the organization in a good position to maintain mutually benefiting partnerships with advertising agencies in carrying social marketing campaigns (Rodríguez, 2002). Casa Alianza: an organization dedicating to rescuing street children Casa Alianza is an organization that supports street children who have been separated from their parents, leaving them with no other option apart from sleeping in frozen shop doorways, rubbish damps, darkened alleys and underground water systems. This organization has built up a network in many countries, enabling it support initiatives of dealing with problems that these children face. Tawil (1995, p. 1301) identifies one of these problems as HIV/AIDS. Casa Alianza has set up an office in Mexico, where it carries out very helpful responsibilities relating to rescuing children from the exploitative environment that exists in the streets. One of the hostilities that these children face is HIV/AIDS. Olshefsky (2007, p. 428) says that it is obvious that this organization has not established itself to the best of its ability; there is room for improvement. This improvement can be made through partnerships with advertising agencies that are well positioned to lead a publicity campaign with an aim of ridding the country of the HIV/Aids scourge. Usunier (2005, p. 20) says that an organization like Casa Alianza has the kind of exposure in Mexico that an advertising agency would benefit from. In the course of achieving this exposure, the organization must have built some social capital that is sufficient to enable it carry out the most important activities that are of great benefit to the local community. It would be a good advertising agency to partner with such an organization in order to benefit from these financial and organizational strengths in the campaign against Aids. The Mexican film industry and Mexican passions The Mexican film industry has been on the frontline in production of many award-winning films that feature well-known actors and actresses. Most of these actresses are very popular with the youth who are at the greatest risk of contracting HIV/ Aids because of engaging in risky sexual behaviors. Incidentally, this demographic section of the population can be reached easily through films. The main Mexican passions include football, bull fighting and soap operas. Majority of the youth, especially men are fanatical about football. The same case applies to women when it comes to soap operas. Some gay men are also interested in soap operas too. Older men find bull-fighting to be the best pastime activity that they can engage in. an advertizing agency with an aim of spreading the AIDS control campaign should focus on these passions in order to get the attention of majority of Mexicans. The main aim of these campaigns should be to encourage people to change their individual sexual behaviors for their own benefit, and by extension, those of the societies in which they are an integral part. Messages that are communicated through film can only have a positive impact if the departments concerned with matters of creativity devices the best strategies of communication AIDS-related information. In this case, there is need for data relating to the extent of goodwill among other sponsors to be gathered. In case some of the elements of creativity expressed in the film are generating opposition among some sponsors, they can be left out or replacements sought. Care should be taken to ensure that the messages are not ambiguous in manner that negative behaviors can be encouraged by through variances in terms of interpretation. It is easier for advertising agencies to monitor the effects of films as part of the evolution that takes place within a short time within the popular culture. This way, new modalities can be adopted easily by the population on ways of ensuring that the appropriate sexual behaviors are encouraged and inappropriate ones discouraged. It is easy to make films to be customer-oriented compared to other aspects of media communication such as radio and television, which, in most cases, are in the form of free-to-air advertisements. With film, as long as finances are available, the message length can be extended in order to fit in with the desired content that is being communicated. In other words, the HIV/AIDS messages are always consumer-oriented as long as the film medium is used effectively. Radio stations Mexican radio stations are excessively segmented when it comes to issue of audiences and the way Mexicans make their preferences. For radio messages to be effective, they have to be crafted in the form of edutainment features that can captivate the various segments that have existed in the country since the introduction of this medium of communication. Messages relating to counsel on AIDS are most effective when they are kept very short and precise. It may be difficult to provide many facts while at the same time managing to hold the attention of the audience. Meanwhile, this medium is very effective when supplemented with TV and film. In order to make the best use of radio stations, there is need for concept development, planning, feedback, implementation, and production strategies to be well conceived before the campaign has kicked off so that everything can progress smoothly soon after the social marketing campaign has kicked off. Although messages communicated through radio station stations need to target a specific segment, Eldred (2006, p. 12) believes that they must be designed with sensitivity so that they do not cause harm to other segments (audiences). This entails the presence of a strong sense of creativity in the way factual information is presented in a succinct manner without making some people, especially in marginalized communities, to feel offended. Meanwhile, the messages should be designed in such a way that they tackle the HIV/AIDS scourge in a radical manner, mainly through vicious attacks on stigma associated with this incurable disease. Family Health International This is an international organization that deals with issues of reproductive health among women. The main reason why this organization is a good target for advertizing agents that spread AIDS control messages is that it has a strong network of at the local community levels all over Mexico. Through such an organization, majority of the population can be convinced that the behavioral changes that they are being encouraged to adopt are meant for their own good over and above the good of the societies in which they live. Family Health International has had a difficult time trying to offset the existing cultural matrix among Mexicans in the process of ensuring that the reproductive needs of women all over the country are catered for. Instead of an advertizing agency having to go through the same hassle of contending with cultural conservancy, it would be better if a partnership was conceived between the said advertizing agency and Family Health International. Television stations The effectiveness of radio stations is easy to measure as far as social marketing strategies are concerned. Unlike in commercial marketing, AIDS control messages relate to change in behavior. According to UNAIDS/WHO Working Group on Global HIV/AIDS and STI (2004, p. 5), the effects of certain aspects of the communication strategies executed on television can be measured within a short period of time since the commencement of social marketing strategies, for instance, the attitudes of Mexicans towards use of condoms. Any advertizing willing to succeed in using the television for communicating messages that bring about behavior change have many successful stories to study before launching an awareness campaign. There are many award-winning AIDS posters that have been featured in popular Mexican TV stations in the recent past. In order to achieve the set objectives, the designers of television ads in an advertizing agency should refrain from trying to reinvent the wheel. The television is ideal not only for advertizing but also for market research. Market research is the most preliminary step in launching an AIDS awareness campaign. Most of the attitudes, social behaviors, preferences, behavioral patterns and perceptions that either exacerbates the spread of this killer disease are often overtly communicated or expressed through the TV in the form of popular culture. The same medium that perpetuates these undesirable behaviors can be used to dissuade people from doing things that may expose people to HIV/AIDS. The TV is also good for communicating AIDS control messages since motion pictures cover up for the imperfections of the actual words that are used in the social marketing process. It becomes easy for images, symbols and concepts to be used in an interactive in order to bring about richness and persuasiveness of the message that is communicated. The design of an integrated marketing communications plan Quinones should use make use sponsoring as a way of making the advertising agency’s marketing communications plan a success. Singhal (2004, p. 343) believes that sponsoring plans work best in situations where there are many activities that a certain segment in society is fanatical about, such as football, bull-fighting, soap operas and internet-based social networking. Sponsorships are a very efficient way of persuading mass audiences to adopt behaviors that reduce their exposure to HIV/AIDS. There are many mass media utilities to use in today’s information-based society. Quinones may find out that the advertizing agency’s top executives are in support of the TV and radio. However, these mass media tools must be utilized in a cautiously creative manner in order to avoid exposing the country’s intelligentsia to what Sherry (2006, p. 7) refers to as ‘safe sex fatigue’. The creative input of sponsoring groups and organizations should be incorporated in the advertisements in order to bridge the creative gap that may exist. The internet is increasingly becoming a common way of reaching out to a large number of people for commercial, social or formal communication purposes. In the Mexican case, there is a limit to the effectiveness of sponsorship programs executed online. However, the limitations exist only as far as outreach to rural and marginalized audiences is concerned. Educated urbanites would be thrilled by such programs since they give them a sense of progress, pride and sophistication. Online sponsorship programs may take the form of email, e-zines, internet games and social networking websites. Today many potential sponsorship partners are meeting up online by way of coming across advertisements put up by advertizing agencies that promise to deliver high quality and effective media solutions. The high level of uptake of mobile communication technology in Mexico makes mobile phone technology the best way of carrying out sponsorship programs relating to HIV/AIDS control. A good sponsorship program can be entered into through a joint effort involving mobile communication service provider, an advertizing agency such as Quinones’ and an international humanitarian organization with an established networks at the grassroots. The sponsorship program may entail the creation of a hotline for all Mexicans, use of free SMS and MMS (multimedia messages) and mobile phone games. All these are utilities that can generate income through sponsored competitions that would also serve the role of raising awareness on the need to change behaviors in order to avoid getting HIV/AIDS. Creating an integrated marketing communications plan, according to Bronfman (2002, p. 43), entails the use of proper description in order to deliver the right message. The managers of the marketing communications plan may not be sure whether the intended message has been delivered until there is feedback. It is therefore important for sponsors to conceive a plan that is flexible in terms of the feedback that is gotten. The sponsorship program should be in such a way that different courses of action can be chosen at all stages of implementation. This requires a high sense of integration. Faulk & Usunier (2007, p. 95) says that sponsors need to be aware of the attitudes, beliefs and expectations of the audience before embarking on a sponsorship program. After doing this, they can assess the audience’s likelihood of accepting to adopt less risky behaviors with considerable accuracy. This strategy is often used as a guide in development of national health awareness campaigns. It is possible to create award-winning posters only if the professionals working at the advertizing agency have gone out of their way to integrate with the people who have are at a high risk of getting HIV/AIDS. In other words, it is one thing to read facts, figures and charts and to design a sponsorship brochure out of the statistics; it is a completely different thing to go out there and find out how much aware people are about the risk of HIV/AIDS. the latter scenario is more likely to inspire a creative designer to make an award-winning HIV/AIDS poster. It is all about getting first-hand information on how sponsorship program themes can be intertwined into social marketing campaigns in order to make statistics become meaningful to the mass audience. This is the only way in which the audience can actively respond to the information provided to them. Melkote (2000, p. 23) observes that sometimes marketers have to ask question in order to draw the attention of the audience, to measure their level of understanding, and to maintain interactivity. In this case, only the right questions should be asked. In some areas, majority of the population remains tight-lipped about sexuality and for this reason, no one knows much about HIV/AIDs. Such people may be puzzled by explicit HIV/AIDS-related questions; some creativity is needed in any sponsorship program that is targeted at such people. It may be in the form of a game or a communal event that has a fanatical following in the local community. The choice of such activities should be left to organizations that have been interacting with the local populace for a long time. In conclusion, there are many potential partners that an advertizing agency can select in order to facilitate a government-sponsored AIDS-awareness campaign in Mexico. There are many international organizations with a high visibility, media coverage, financial stability, a strong grassroots network and financial stability, which are the main factors to consider when sifting through the heap of non-governmental organizations for the most credible ones. The most successful social marketing campaign for AIDS awareness would be one that brings on board the government as well as organizations such as USAID, Family Health International, Casa-Alianza and major mass media players such as the Mexican Film Industry, TVs and radio stations. All these participants can be of great help in conceiving an integrated marketing communications plan in order to create an HIV/AIDS sponsorship program References Bronfman, M, 2002, ‘Mobile populations and HIV/AIDS in Central America and Mexico: research for action’ AIDS Vol, 16, No.2, pp 42-49 Eldred, L, 2006 ‘Accessing Care for U.S./Mexico Border Populations Living with HIV/AIDS: Faulk, S, & Usunier, J, 2007. 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Sherry Deren, 2006, Research challenges to the study of HIV/AIDS among migrant and immigrant hispanic populations in the united states Journal of Urban Health Volume 82, Supplement 3 / September, 2005. Singhal, A, & Rogers, E, 2003, Combating AIDS: Communication Strategies in Action, Sage, London. Singhal, A, 2004, ‘The entertainment-education strategy in communication’ in Rice, R, & Atkin, C, Public Communication Campaigns, Routledge, London. Tawil, O, 1995, ‘Enabling approaches for HIV/AIDS prevention: can we modify the environment and minimize the risk?’ AIDS, Vol. 9 No. 12 pp. 1299-1306 The Role of HRSA's HIV/AIDS Bureau and the Special Projects of National Significance’ Journal of HIV/AIDS & Social Services, Vol. 5, No. 2, pp. 7 - 13 Usunier, J, 2005. Marketing Across Cultures, Financial Times/Prentice Hall, London. UNAIDS/WHO Working Group on Global HIV/AIDS and STI, 2004, Surveillance Epidemiological factsheets on HIV/AIDS and sexually transmitted infections, Viewed from http://data.unaids.org/publications/Fact-Sheets01/mexico_en.pdf on April 16, 2010. Read More