Download Branding in Social Marketing

Authors: Sarah Leonard & Yvette Morey ([email protected])
Bristol Social Marketing Centre
Spotlight on Social Marketing #6: Branding in Social Marketing
Branding theory and practice within social marketing is arguably only partially developed,i with few
examples of branding applied to behaviour change available in the literature.ii Brands are often
recognisable by their logo, for example, a famous brand logo is the ‘Nike swoosh’. This logo is used as a
communication tool to convey implicit associations with Nike and Nike product users (such as athletic
mastery) backed up by the strap-line ‘just do it’. As a key technique used by commercial marketers for
decades to build relationships between target customers and products or servicesi there is a strong
argument for the use of branding techniques for social marketers wishing to build relationships
between their target audience and the behaviours they seek to manage.viii The case for the use of
branding in social marketing is growingii iii iv and successes such as the ‘Verb’v and ‘truth’vii campaigns
are well documented:
The VERB Campaignv
The Centre for Disease Control (CDC) made use of branding in its public health campaign to
encourage children aged 9 – 13 yrs to be physically active.
The brand – VERB – and tagline, ‘It’s what you do!’ were developed in conjunction with a
number of advertising agencies, however a crucial element of VERB was that it was created
“for tweens, by tweens”vi thus resonating with tween values.
Research conducted with tweens revealed that the brand should portray physical activity as
something that was fun, not competitive, easy and accessible to all children.
Brand attributes for VERB were: inclusiveness, playfulness, having fun while being active with
friends, and accessibility.
The campaign involved raising brand awareness among the target audience; creating brand
equity through association with other popular brands; and bringing the target audience into
contact with the brand through experiential marketing activities and promotional tie-ins.
Affinity with the VERB brand was associated with more positive attitudes towards physical
activity among the target audience.
The truth® Campaignvii
The American Legacy Foundation wanted to develop a brand capable of competing with the
idealised image of smoking associated with tobacco brands like Marlboro and Camel, which
would appeal to teens and influence them not to smoke.
The truth brand aimed to expose the tobacco industry as manipulative, delivering idealised
counter-images of young people joining a social movement, taking control of their lives and
rebelling against this industry.
As with VERB, the ownership of the brand by its target audience (teens aged 12 - 17 yrs) was
essential to the development and success of the brand.
Change, stemming from exposure to the campaign, was evaluated by awareness of the various
components of the campaign (such as ads) and, ultimately, by the decision not to smoke.
Brand equity was measured on a variant of Aaker’sviii (1996) ten dimensions model and the
brand was found to have high equity amongst its target audience, and to be perceived as being
of high quality.
The campaign was consistent with social psychological theories on the formation of self-image
which indicated that young people would adopt and act on self-images that are idealised and
consistent with their values.
Key points:
Potential drawbacks of using a branding strategy for a public health campaign include the cost
and length of time required for a brand to gain awareness and for a shift in attitudes and social
norms to take place, as well as the difficulty of evaluating and measuring actual behaviour
change.
However, the successful development of a relationship and affinity between a brand and its
target audience makes it a valuable asset that can be adapted locally or regionally, or be takenup by partner organisations.
In line with social marketing’s customer orientation criteria, brands should be based on
detailed ‘insight’ into the benefits to individuals over those of competing behaviours. For a
brand to succeed in building strong relationships branding should elicit a value propositionviii
where benefits must be perceived as credible, believable and desirable to the target audience.
The degree to which the consumer feels bonded to the brand depends on how closely they
feel it fits their perceived self image.ix Brand images that reflect and enhance the self image
may more effectively challenge competing behaviours than functional benefits (as previously
used in many public health awareness campaigns) would alone.viii
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iii.
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viii.
ix.
Evans, W.D., & Hastings, G. (2008) Public Health Branding. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
Basu, A., & Wang, J. (2009). The role of branding in public health campaigns. Journal of
Communication Management, 13(1), 77-91.
Keller, K, L. (1998) Branding perspectives on social marketing. Advances in Consumer Research,
25, 299-302.
McDivitt, J. (2003) Is there a role for branding in social marketing? Social Marketing Quarterly,
9(3) 11-17
Asbury, L., Wong, F. L., Simani, M. P., & Nolin, M. J. (2008). The VERB Campaign: Applying a
branding strategy in public health. American Journal of Preventive Medicine, 34(65), S183–
S187.
Wong, F., Huhman, M., Asbury, L., Bretthauer-Mueller, R. McCarthy, S., Londe, P. & Heitzler, C.
(2004) VERB™ — A Social Marketing Campaign to Increase Physical Activity Among Youth.
Preventing Chronic Disease, 1 (3). Available at: www.cdc.gov/pcd/issues/2004/jul/04_0043.htm.
Evans, D. W., Wasserman, J., Bertolotti, E., & Martino, S. (2002) Branding behavior: The
strategy behind the truth campaign. Social Marketing Quarterly, viii (3), 17-29.
Aaker, D. (1996) Building Strong Brands. New York: Simon & Schuster.
Aaker, D., & Joachimsthaler, E. (1997) Building brands without mass media. Harvard Business
Review, 75(1), 39-50.