Services and Social Marketing - Essay Example

Services and Social Marketing Table of Contents Introduction 3 2.Key Elements of a Successful Campaign 3 2 Target Market 3 2.2.Promotional Activities 4 2.3.Incorporation of Marketing Plan 6 3.Role of the PPP in the Success of the Project 8 4.Critical Assessment of the Underpinning Theories 8 5.Diagnosis of the Marketing Plan 9 5.1.The Planning Process 9 5.2.Critical Assessment & Recommendations 10 6.Conclusion 11 References 12 1. Introduction Kotler et al. (2002) have defined social marketing as “the use of marketing principles and techniques to influence a target audience to voluntarily accept, reject, modify, or abandon a behaviour for the benefit of individuals, groups, or society as a whole” and have elaborated its objective by saying that “similar to commercial sector marketers who sell goods and services, social marketers are selling behaviour change” (Kotler, Roberto & Lee, 2002, pp.5). It is a noteworthy fact that “the most challenging aspect of social marketing is that it relies on voluntary compliance rather than legal, economic, or coercive forms of influence”, and hence “in many cases, social marketers cannot promise a direct benefit or immediate payback in return for a proposed behaviour change” (Kotler, Roberto & Lee, 2002, pp.5), thereby making the domain highly challenging. In the light of the intrinsic facets of social marketing, as mentioned above and as has been observed in the case of Hindustan Unilever Limited (HUL), the current report will aim at elaborating the key elements of a successful marketing campaign and while doing so, it will take into account the target markets, the required promotional activities, and the incorporation of a marketing plan. 2. Key Elements of a Successful Campaign 2.1. Target Market While it is a known fact that “diarrhoea is the third-highest cause of death in the world in the category of infectious diseases, behind only acute respiratory infections and AIDS” and is responsible for an annual toll that surpasses 2 million, “the paradox of diarrhoeal disease”, according to Prahalad (2006) “is that the solution is known and inexpensive, but it is difficult to reach and educate the poor about the need to wash their hands with soap” (Prahalad, 2006, pp.235). Quite obviously, HLL has a huge target market because “India alone accounts for 30 percent of diarrhoeal deaths in the world” and it is a noteworthy fact that “in India, 19.2 percent of all children suffer from diarrhoea” (Prahalad, 2006, pp.235). India, being a developing country, is paralysed by certain societal factors such as poverty, illiteracy, and above all, “lack of sanitation facilities” (Prahalad, 2006, pp.236). It has been reported that “up-to-date technology, bright packaging, and savvy marketing of tiny sachets of soap that sold for as little as 2 cents allowed Lever to dominate the market” and as a result, “investors, sensing the companys deep understanding of the Indian consumer psyche, saw its shares as a proxy for India” (Bloomberg, 2004). As the fast moving consumer goods (FMCG) sector is becoming increasingly competitive, HLL, which is a major player in this segment, is feeling the heat as “its market share in many product categories is dipping as new competitors offer rock-bottom prices” thereby plummeting its revenues as well as share price (Bloomberg, 2004). “HLL is among the leading soap manufacturers”; however, it has been reported that “in recent years, several regional brands have become popular” and hence, “today, there are soap brands for every price point” (Venkatraman, 2005). In the backdrop of such a situation, it may be observed that although the market has changed, HLL couldn’t substantially refurbish its products. Thus, it is logical to suggest that it’s “time to shine up the brand” (Bloomberg, 2004), in order to make HLL’s soaps popular among its target audience. 2.2. Promotional Activities Wurzbach (2002) has opined that “social marketing activities should include more than promotional activities”, and has categorically stated that the social marketers should adjust their “programme, products, services, or the desired behaviour to make it easier for audiences to change” (Wurzbach, 2002, pp.372). Thanks to its socio-economic framework, “changes in consumer beliefs and behaviour are especially difficult to engineer in India” and in this context, it has been observed that “a deep understanding of the current practices, motivations, and hindrances preventing the use of soap and hand washing is required” (Prahalad, 2006, pp.236). Cheng et al. (2011) have suggested that among the 4Ps of social marketing, promotion should take the last position “because it ensures that the target markets become aware of the targeted product, its price, and its accessibility, which, which need to be developed prior to the promotion strategy” (Cheng, Kotler & Lee, 2011, pp.21). In the case of HLL, “it was an opportunity to stimulate demand for soap through education campaigns” and the promotional activities were augmented as “the health sector and development agencies sought to leverage additional resources and expertise in designing and implementing education campaigns” (Prahalad, 2006, pp.240). Furthermore, the FMCG behemoth received an extra mileage in its efforts when “the government sought to reduce costs and gain professional communication skills and resources in tackling the general health issues associated with diarrhoeal disease” (Prahalad, 2006, pp.240). This action finds support from Cheng et al. (2011) who believe that “promotion strategy is needed to maximise the success of the communications” and have subsequently suggested that “the development of these communications is a process that begins with the determination of key messages, continues with the selection of messengers and communication formats and channels, moves on to the creation of communication elements, and ends up with the implementation of those communications” (Cheng, Kotler & Lee, 2011, pp.22-23). In order to realise its marketing objective, “HLL teamed up with the rural India outreach arm of Ogilvy & Mather to design a behaviour change education campaign focussed on uniting the health attributes of Lifebuoy soap with health messages of germ eradication” (Prahalad, 2006, pp.241). 2.3. Incorporation of Marketing Plan The process of incorporating a social marketing plan can be comprehended from the generalised framework for the development of a conventional marketing plan that is appended below. Figure 1: Product Promotion Stages (Source: Kaufman, 1990, pp.307) It may be noted that social marketing takes an almost similar course as any other marketing activity. To start with, social marketers try and identify the level of unawareness that prevails among the target audience in terms of the particular objective. As the root cause of diarrhoeal outbreaks in India is related to unawareness in the areas of personal hygiene, it has been observed that “HLL sought out initiatives that connect the use of soap to health and hygiene behaviours” and subsequently it “learned of a public-private partnership (PPP) being developed between the World Bank, the Water and Sanitation Program, the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, UNICEF, USAID, and the Environmental Health Project” (Prahalad, 2006, pp.237). On sensing that awareness is being created to a considerable extent, HLL was found to be “trying to expand the soap market through the PPP, one of its oldest and most successful soap products, Lifebuoy, was losing top-line growth at the rate of 15 percent to 20 percent per year, starting in 1999” (Prahalad, 2006, pp.238). In order to augment its market position, “the Lifebuoy brand team was trying to determine appropriate next steps to revive the ailing brand, and began to look toward hand washing”, and simultaneously “as a means of countering sales declines, the Lifebuoy brand looked to HLL’s work on the PPP for new ways to attract and win customers” (Prahalad, 2006, pp.238). The marketing strategy of the Lifebuoy team started with the decision to “leverage the historical brand platform of health by tying soap usage to the eradication of family health problems”, following which “HLL also linked the data demonstrating how soap can help eliminate common health problems, such as diarrhoea, to Lifebuoy, finding that members of families often experience stomach infections (diarrhoea), eye infections, and infected sores” (Prahalad, 2006, pp.238). It is a noteworthy point that “the team also changed the target audience from men to entire families, to expand its audience for the health message and to cater to the increased influence of women on household purchases” (Prahalad, 2006, pp.238). In order to revitalise the brand as well as “to address the health needs of one billion Indians, the team created a reformulation that was relevant, accessible, and affordable to the mass market”, and “HLL replaced the carbolic smell with a more fragrant smell to better appeal to families and women”, while changing “the manufacturing process from ‘hard’ soap production to milled soap production, change that made Lifebuoy longer-lasting and produced more lather” (Prahalad, 2006, pp.238-239). 3. Role of the PPP in the Success of the Project As has been mentioned earlier, the multi-partner PPP had played a major role in the social marketing initiatives adopted by HLL. According to a report by the Indian Center for Management Research (ICMR), “Lifebuoys ‘Swasthya Chetna’ (LSC) was a five-year health and hygiene education program initiated by Hindustan Lever Limited (HLL), the Indian arm of the fast moving consumer goods (FMCG) major, Unilever” (ICMR, 2006). The organisation has further reported that “according to HLL, LSC was not a philanthropic activity, but a marketing program with a social benefit. HLL sought to grow the Lifebuoy brand in India by attracting those consumers who never used soap” and has also testified the objective of HLL by saying that “the company sought to bring about a behavioural change by convincing people to use soaps more frequently, thus creating more users for its brand” (ICMR, 2006). It has been observed that the said PPP had utilised market research data and “designed a programme that tried to link the hand washing initiative to life-changing events or times when new behaviours are most likely to be adopted (such as the arrival of a new baby or vaccination)”, and as Prahalad (2006) has observed, “the complete programme was to include four main pieces: a direct-contact campaign, a mass-media campaign, evaluation, and communications development” (Prahalad, 2006, pp.239). Owing to the vital contribution that it made towards the manifestation of the programme’s goals, “this program was also seen as a successful case for public-private partnership” (ICMR, 2006). 4. Critical Assessment of the Underpinning Theories Adding to the theoretical concept that “social marketing involves applications of commercial marketing techniques, with the influence of voluntary behaviours as its core objective”, Andersen (2005), and Lapinski & Witte (1998) have said that “in contemporary health-focussed initiatives, the use of mass media and community-centred prevention strategies are a promising development, where empowerment of individuals and communities is attempted to achieve change at multiple levels” (Cheng, Kotler & Lee, 2011, pp.357). An application of the same has been observed in the HLL case, wherein, the FMCG behemoth entered into a PPP in order promote its LSC programme, and Prahalad (2006) has testified that “through strategic selection of villages, Swasthya Chetna has maximised use of limited funds to reach targeted demographics to increase Lifebuoy sales” (Prahalad, 2006, pp.242). HLL has been benefitted by its marketing approach largely due to the fact that the “use of a brand can help strengthen the health messages being delivered by conveying quality, increasing consumer confidence, and ensuring that messages are delivered in a non-patronising or non-demeaning tone”, and in this context, Prahalad (2006) has inferred that “by reaching out to poor populations with strong brands and building habits involving their brands, HLL can create an unshakeable hold on customers’ wallets” (Prahalad, 2006, pp.242). 5. Diagnosis of the Marketing Plan 5.1. The Planning Process Planning plays an important role in social marketing, and as has been outlined by Kotler & Lee (2009), this function comprises of the following ten steps: 1) “Background, Purpose, and Focus; 2) Situation Analysis; 3) Target Audience Profile; 4) Marketing Objectives and Goals; 5) Factors Influencing Adoption of the Behaviour; 6) Positioning Statement; 7) Marketing Mix Strategies (Using the 4Ps to Create, Communicate, and Deliver Value for the Behaviour); 8) Plan for Monitoring and Evaluation; 9) Budget; 10) Plan for Implementation and Campaign Management” (Serrat, 2010, pp.8-9). During the course of research it has been found that HLL had accomplished each of these steps with the help of different components of the PPP, thereby defying the popular notion that “a central challenge in ‘selling’ health is the development of successful partnerships between private business and public-health offices and organisations” (Prahalad, 2006, pp.243). 5.2. Critical Assessment & Recommendations As far as the PPP in the HLL case is concerned, it has been observed that “private organisations contribute competencies around behaviour change and delivery of low-cost products, while public organisations provide access to consumers, in effect the channels to deliver messages and extend product reach”, and thus a mismatch arises owing to the fact that “NGOs and governments are interested in an increased quality of life, while private businesses seek increased earnings” (Prahalad, 2006, pp.243). Hence, it is deemed justifiable to recommend that all the members of social marketing PPPs should realise the importance of the ‘social’ element that is intrinsic to their initiatives and likewise, they should align their objectives so that the ultimate goal is manifested through harmonised operations. 6. Conclusion It has been observed that despite being an improvised version of conventional marketing, social marketing is almost a completely different genre of marketing owing to the fact that the social aspects play a highly significant role in its accomplishment. During the course of research it has been found that HLL tried its best to achieve plummeting sales of its ailing soap brand, Lifebuoy, while aiming at creating awareness among the masses about the usefulness of hand washing. The company took into account the various socio-economical as well as educational facets that dominate the highly diversified Indian society and recognised the role that women play therein in terms of influencing household purchases. HLL has been observed to be a competent marketer from the way it broadened its target audience from only men to entire families and successfully conveyed the message that associated hygienic practices with good health. References 1. Bloomberg. December 27, 2004. HINDUSTAN LEVER TAKES A BATH. Businessweek. [Online]. Available at: http://www.businessweek.com/magazine/content/04_52/b3914059.htm [Accessed on June 5, 2010]. 2. Cheng, H., Kotler, P. & Lee, R. N. 2011. SOCIAL MARKETING FOR PUBLIC HEALTH: GLOBAL TRENDS AND SUCCESS STORIES. Jones & Bartlett Learning. 3. ICMR. 2006. LIFEBUOY "SWASTHYA CHETNA": UNILEVERS SOCIAL MARKETING CAMPAIGN. [Online]. Available at: http://www.icmrindia.org/casestudies/catalogue/marketing/MKTG147.htm [Accessed on June 11, 2010]. 4. Kaufman, M. 1990. NUTRITION IN PUBLIC HEALTH: A HANDBOOK FOR DEVELOPING PROGRAMS AND SERVICES. Jones & Bartlett Learning. 5. Kotler, P., Roberto, N. & Lee, N. 2002. SOCIAL MARKETING: IMPROVING THE QUALITY OF LIFE. 2nd ed. SAGE. 6. Prahalad, K. C. 2006. THE FORTUNE AT THE BOTTOM OF THE PYRAMID. Wharton School Publishing. 7. Serrat, O. January 2010. THE FUTURE OF SOCIAL MARKETING. Knowledge Solutions. Asian Development Bank. [Pdf]. Available at: http://www.adb.org/Documents/Information/Knowledge-Solutions/future-of-social-marketing.pdf [Accessed on June 11, 2010]. 8. Venkatraman, L. March 13, 2005. SOAP STORY. The Hindu Business Line. [Online]. Available at: http://www.thehindubusinessline.com/2005/03/13/stories/2005031300941600.htm [Accessed on June 5, 2010]. 9. Wurzbach, E. M. 2002. COMMUNITY HEALTH EDUCATION AND PROMOTION: A GUIDE TO PROGRAM DESIGN AND EVALUATION. 2nd ed. Jones & Bartlett Learning. Read More