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August 11th, 2010
 By Virginia Moore, Health Communications Associate
AdWeek Media’s annual What Teens Want Conference spans the gamut of teen entertainment culture-music, technology, fashion, gaming-you name it. For those of us working on youth public health issues, there is much to be gleaned from the experience of marketing giants and newbies alike, such as MTV, Coca-Cola, and Stardoll, to name a few. Here are three universal takeaways from the most recent conference.
Teens Don’t Mind Being Targeted by Marketers
While many adults are wary of marketing tactics, such as product placement and advertising, teens are accustomed to and comfortable with them. A Mac conspicuously placed in a movie scene or a Coke billboard in a NASCAR video game is par for the course in most teens’ eyes. They realize it’s marketing, but generally, they don’t consider it invasive or annoying. To them, the brands and product placements enhance the content teens are consuming and make it more lifelike.
Teens are also more likely than adults to interact with a brand online. They don’t mind “friending” Nike on Facebook or receiving a gift from Coke in a virtual world. When brands give teens something cool to interact with, they are often willing to do so.
Teens Demand Content With Altruistic Edge
For all the hilarity, absurdity, sex appeal, and shock value that programmers and content developers work into their plots and products, that’s not all it takes to satisfy teen audiences. More and more, they want to see “giving back” in the on-screen content they consume. At one time, it may have been enough for the companies teens supported to donate to a cause or run a “green” shop. But nowadays, teens want to see good deeds being done in their entertainment media-as well as the comedy and tastelessness, of course. This shifting cultural value presents a wider opportunity for all kinds of social issues to find acceptance in the teen universe.
Teens Are Wising Up to Social Networking
As the first generation brought up in the hyper-connectivity of social networks, Millennials are learning to navigate this space skillfully. They are getting better at determining what is inappropriate-or just plain inconvenient-to post online. One teen panelist at the conference confessed that Facebook often “gets him in trouble,” and has updated his profile more prudently as a result. Another panelist shared that some teens maintain two profiles on a social network-one intended for their relatives and other contacts, and another for their inner circle of friends. Although some deception may exist in the online social sphere, the good news is that today’s teens understand the realities and seem to be deliberate about how they share their personal information.
Tags: adweek, cocacola, facebook, green, mac, marketing, millenials, mtv, nascar, nike, social media, social networking, stardoll, what teens want
Posted in Web & Interactive | No Comments »
October 27th, 2009
By Stephen Murphy, Senior Vice President, Digital Strategy and Innovation
Web 2.0 and Gov 2.0 have everyone in Government “a-Twitter.” The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services has forged a very public lead, with its social media work on the peanut recall and, now, swine flu. Other agencies may be holding back, either because they do not understand what the social media fuss is all about, do not know how to implement social media, or simply do not have the staff to take on “one more thing.”
I wonder, too, if agencies question the value of social media. At IQ Solutions, we have been able to significantly increase Web site traffic for one of our agency clients by deploying a Twitter strategy that allows the client to engage with online influencers about the health landscape. Since the launch of the campaign in April 2009, the client can claim more than 1,000 new followers for its site. In other words, the agency has attracted these new customers to its fold. Were the client a corporation, these customers would be important to the bottom line and measurable in terms of goods sold. But the Government does not sell goods; it provides information. So, what is the correct measure, the Government equivalent of goods sold? I believe success is measured by current customers and customer acquisition.
Much in Government has been formulated around public awareness. Think of the venerable public service announcement (PSA). Using PSAs, we can measure media impressions and make educated guesses about how many people heard the spot. A corporation that advertises will gauge the impact of its media campaign in terms of gross rating points (GRPs)—the percentage of the population that has been reached by the message. But it will determine the true effectiveness of the campaign by goods sold. To count only impressions or awareness provides no real equivalent to sales. The only equivalent in Government to goods sold would be the names and addresses of individuals and organizations to whom the messages have been sent—through a clearinghouse, for example. Those are Government agency customers. You can count them. You can see which states they live in. You can determine their demographic composition and, therefore, the customer acquisition rate. Isn’t that the true metric of value to the Government—the number of people served or use of the GPRA measures (Government Performance Results Act of 1993)?
So how does all this apply to social media? Twitter, Facebook, and YouTube are cool, indeed, but coolness is not the measure of the effectiveness of social media as an information dissemination tool. There must be a link to the number of people served. Typically, the social media is measured by the number of views, friends, and followers. But these are simply a better version of awareness, as in the PSA example above. As with the funniest Super Bowl commercials, the ad is often memorable, but the product only vaguely recalled. And, if sales don’t result, the ad will be pulled. So, viewers, friends, and followers, alone, may not be the ultimate measure. Only when we can create linkages to downloads, products ordered, and the equivalent of sales can we truly claim a customer acquisition.
I believe that “cool-to-customer” is the next wave in social media metrics. Companies such as Salesforce are already leveraging customer relationship management tools to create linkages to Twitter and Facebook. Take a look at Salesforce to see how a query posted in Facebook becomes a response on a corporation’s frequently asked questions page and, then, a globally advertised answer available to any Google searcher interested in that question. Companies and Government need to have a global view of their customers wherever they reside—and today they often reside in social media.
When you involve yourself in social media, you are not just cool, you are responding to real customers who have real questions. By using the right tools, you can move beyond guesstimates about how many people you have served and who they are. You can pinpoint results and people served, by conversation, by state, and even by household. “Big Brother?” Well, if I am a person who needs and wants servicing on topics you provide, I say you are offering a disservice to me if you don’t provide me with answers. To go one step further, what price privacy in an age of “follow me?”
Tags: department of health and human services, facebook, hhs, interactive media, online, salesforce, social media, Twitter, youtube
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August 13th, 2009
By Kim Callinan, Jennifer Isenberg Blacker, and Alexandra Rampy
The Third Annual National Conference on Health Communication, Marketing and Media is coming to a close. It was a fabulous couple of days of sharing and learning. Our only regret is not being able to be a part of every session that took place. The ones we attended were ripe with lessons learned that can be immediately applied to our work, and to the work of our clients.
Below is our “Top 10 Lessons Learned” from the conference. Some of the insights were “ah ha” moments, where we heard an idea that just clicked. Others were things we’ve been preaching all along. And still others were themes that were so prevalent throughout the conference that it would be hard to write a summary and not include them. We hope that you find them helpful.
Consistent Themes
1. Social Media is the Wave of the Future-Enter or You Will Be Left Behind. A frequent theme throughout the conference was one we agree with wholeheartedly. Social media is happening NOW. Don’t wait until you have it all figured out-it will never happen. Get started now. Sanjay Koyani with FDA offered a nice summary of lessons learned from his efforts, which seemed to mirror others and our own experiences: 1) Start somewhere: Evolution versus revolution; 2) Start by just listening; 3) Start with low risk, high impact web 2.0 tools, such as Twitter; 4) Don’t recreate the wheel; partner with other agencies to increase your footprint, maximize your resources, and extend your reach; 5) Listen to the wisdom of the crowds; and 6) usability test to evaluate goodness.
2. Don’t Use Technology for Technology’s Sake. While there was strong consensus about the importance of stepping into social media, we also heard many presenters talk about the importance of making sure that technology is supporting your social marketing objectives, rather than driving your efforts. Know the goals you are trying to achieve and then choose the best platforms to achieve them, rather than riding the technology wave and forgetting your end goal. Our own Jennifer Isenberg Blacker discussed this at length during her presentation on NIDA’s social marketing efforts.
3. Don’t Abandon Traditional Media. Many presenters agreed with the idea that social media is an important way to reach your audiences where they are, but you can’t abandon traditional media. Social media should complement traditional outreach strategies and help extend the reach of social marketing and health marketing programs. Think of social media as one more vehicle that should be integrated into your overall social marketing efforts.
4. People Prefer to be Rewarded Today. One of the biggest challenges with social marketing is that we are asking people to give up something now for a benefit they will get in the future. The challenge that Michael Rothschild and several other presenters offered was to think creatively about whether there was a way to offer an immediate benefit (even if it’s not the ultimate end goal). Some interesting food for thought as we design future efforts.
5. Know Your Audience. And Listen. Another powerful theme was the importance of listening. Multiple people talked about the importance of developing audience-centric campaigns, a basic social marketing pillar. Others talked about the power of social media in following, learning, and understanding your audience. And Mark Weber from SAMHSA talked about the innovative approach SAMHSA is using to partner with mental health and substance abuse groups to help influence health care reform. What was interesting is that each of the presenters was talking about “listening” with different audiences and in different ways, reminding us that we need to be listening and not leaping through the phases of social marketing programs.
Other Insights
6. Change the Power Relationship. During a pre-conference workshop on health literacy, Bill Smith asked the interesting question, “How come the same person who feels comfortable going into a restaurant and asking a waitress questions about a menu will not go into a doctor’s office and ask questions about a surgery they are about to get?” The answer is obvious, and it offers very powerful insights as you think about the development of health literate social marketing campaigns.
7. Judge Social Media on the Platform, Not the Content. Another presenter told a story about how he had originally judged YouTube by the content on it and determined that there was no way a government agency would ever post there. He eventually realized that it wasn’t about the content, but about the platform that it offered. YouTube is now the second largest search engine, beating out Yahoo, Bing and Microsoft! This insight about judging the platform versus the content is an important one that offers helpful insights as we are evaluating other social media tools. Think about Second Life-a great platform for training and engaging, but the content is likely a turn-off to many. Is it a platform that more government agencies should be engaging with?
8. In Tough Economic Times, You Must Figure Out the ROI. Nancy Lee outlined the steps one should take to develop a return on investment model so you can compare, for example, the cost per program to help people quit smoking vs. the cost per taxpayer to pay for their health care costs. The model was very simple to implement and offers a way to demonstrate the value and effectiveness of your program to policy makers and funders during these tough economic times.
9. Think of Government as a Platform That Provides the Content, Not the Final Product. Erin Edgerton with CDC talked about rethinking the role that government plays in disseminating information. Web 2.0 is about providing a means for people to use the government’s content. The hope is that other organizations will take the content, repurpose it, make it more user-friendly, and disseminate it to larger audiences. She specifically discussed the creation of a widget used during the peanut recall that people could download to their sites. As information about product recalls changed, every site that had the widget was automatically updated. If you create useful content, people will use it.
10. Help Create a Social Marketing Association. Craig Lefebvre outlined efforts to create a global social marketing membership association. Expected launch date: June 2010. The most urgent call to action is a fundraising effort to collect $50,000 by September 1. Lefebvre encouraged conference participants to make a $300 pledge to the social marketing effort. An electronic petition calling for the creation of a worldwide social marketing organization is now available for signing at epetitions (or cut and paste: http://fusomar.epetitions.net/).
The conference theme, “Participation Powers Prevention” also deserves attention. Many delegates and speakers asked: Now what? Where do we go from here? How does my organization or group move the needle? The answer: participation. Whether it’s meeting with your city council in person, joining in the development of our nation’s health priorities through Healthy People 2020, or helping to create the new social marketing association mentioned above, this is participation. And, it can be leveraged for prevention, for healthier communities, and for a greater public dialogue.
Take the podium-What take-aways would you offer as #11, #12, etc?
Tags: audience segmentation, CDC, event, FDA, listening, participation, prevention, ROI, Social Marketing, social media, strategy, traditional media
Posted in Communications & Social Marketing | 2 Comments »
August 12th, 2009
By Kim Callinan, Senior Vice President of Communications and Social Marketing
Another fruitful day at the CDC Conference on Health Communication, Marketing and Media with terrific insights and lessons learned. One thing that rings true for me in my own work and was abundantly clear throughout the conference is that we are all trying to figure out what social media means for the profession. No question it’s emerging. The question is in what direction is it going?
This is another place where social marketers and health communications professionals can look at political campaigns for guidance. During the 2008 presidential campaign, we witnessed-and many even participated in-the power of social media. President Obama raised a record half billion dollars online during his campaign and more than two million people created online profiles on my.barackobama.com. Many, if not most, political pundits have cited his use of social media as one of the primary reasons he won the election. In particular, the campaign was effective at turning campaign supporters into ambassadors who represented the campaign to “swing voters.”
This is a strategy that offers huge opportunity for health communications efforts.
I can remember as an eight-year-old child convincing my grandparents who had both smoked for 20 years to quit smoking. It was on a car trip to Florida that I finally sealed the deal: I crawled under my grandmother’s stall in a bathroom at a rest stop. She was sneaking a cigarette because she didn’t want to listen to any more lectures or see any more tears from me. (I assume the tears were the more powerful persuader, but I didn’t know enough to ask at eight.) She put the cigarette out and said, “I give up. You win.” And that was the last cigarette she ever smoked. I was the right messenger-perhaps the only messenger-who could be so persuasive without turning her off. Social media offers the power to create ambassadors who can engage in one-on-one conversations in ways that television, radio, and print could not possibly replicate. It offers huge potential for public health campaigns.
While social media is evolving and changing, it’s often hard for health communications specialists to know which trends will last and which will pass. We should keep an eye on political campaigns to evaluate the effectiveness of potential strategies. Campaigns are governed by far fewer privacy restrictions and regulations than government efforts and are able to adapt quicker. This offers us the opportunity to observe which trends stick and which don’t. Of course, most of us will then need to figure out how to apply these strategies in the much more tightly controlled world of government regulations that we operate in. But that’s a blog for another day!
If you are interested in reading more lessons learned from political campaigns that can be applied to public health campaigns, please check out my post from earlier today. I’m enjoying blogging about this topic, so more to come.
Tags: CDC, event, health communication, obama, political campaigns, social media
Posted in Communications & Social Marketing | No Comments »
August 11th, 2009
By Dan Johnson, Technical Assistant to the CEO
 The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) kicks off its three-day National Conference on Health Communication, Marketing and Media in Atlanta, August 11. It should come as no surprise that communicating health information through social media will be the hot topic all week. The uptick in .Gov communications and the popularity of social media among young people are creating new realities (and opportunities) for health communicators. Jennifer Isenberg Blacker, VP for Health Communications, will discuss IQ Solutions’ collaboration with the National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA) during a Tuesday afternoon breakout session, “Social Media Tools in Health Promotion.”
Jennifer’s presentation focuses in detail on case studies of NIDA’s use of social media to reach young people. Example: For its Drugs + HIV > learn the link campaign, NIDA used 2.0 strategies to increase views among YouTube audiences of its English-language PSA (by 390 percent) and its Spanish PSA (by 640 percent), and to boost traffic to its web site by 56 percent. NIDA also teamed with AIDS.gov and BlogCatalog to invite bloggers from many countries to participate in “Bloggers for World AIDS Day” and raise awareness among their peers. “The key to success is to involve youth in the process,” Jennifer says. “In fact, the next campaign on prescription drug misuse/abuse among teens includes peer-to-peer online and offline elements.” See the National Conference on Health Communication, Marketing and Media.
Tags: Atlanta, CDC, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, conference, event, health, Marketing and Media, National Conference on Health Communications, NIDA, Social Marketing, social media
Posted in Communications & Social Marketing | No Comments »
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