by Nedra Weinreich | Mar 8, 2007 | Blog, Social Marketing
Recently a study reported that half of young children in the UK are anxious about the effects of global warming, and often lose sleep because of their concern, according to a survey of 1,150 children between the ages of seven and eleven. The consequences they were most afraid of were poor health, the possible submergence of entire countries and the welfare of animals.
The spokesman for Somerfield, the supermarket that sponsored the survey, spun it this way:
“While many adults may look the other way, this study should show that global warming is not only hurting the children of the future, it’s affecting the welfare of kids now.
“By raising awareness amongst today’s young, hopefully we are improving our chances of reaching a solution.”
I’m afraid that I reach an opposite conclusion. By freaking out today’s young about the global cataclysm that may or may not occur, we are making it less, rather than more, likely that they will feel like this is a problem they can help to solve. How can you not feel paralyzed at the idea that the world as you know it will come to an end unless your parents and all the other parents across the world make major changes? A quarter of those surveyed blamed politicians for the problems of global warming — taking the ability to do something about it even further from the kids’ realm of possibility. I remember how it felt as a teen in the 80s, watching movies like The Day After and worrying about what I would do if I ever saw that bright flash of light that presaged a nuclear strike.
As I’ve said before, whether you think global warming is manmade or not, scaring the public will backfire — especially when it’s children, who either have the difficult choice of confronting their parents about their behaviors or feeling powerless. Warnings of disastrous consequences, without a clear, doable solution, are paralyzing. Better to show the small, concrete steps individuals can take to conserve energy and minimize pollutants for more immediate reasons than the specter of an environmental holocaust.
On a smaller scale, Chip and Dan Heath (authors of Made to Stick) wrote on their temporary PowellsBooks.Blog about a campaign by the Greater Buffalo Chapter of the American Red Cross that uses fear tactics to urge people to prepare for potential disasters. Billboards with simulated newspaper headlines like “November 9, 2009 – Terrorist Strike Leaves City in Chaos!” and “October 14, 2008 – Warnings Ignored: Bird flu outbreak hits WNY” provide the link preparewny.org at the bottom.
It’s not until you note the URL and later visit the website (if you ever do) that you see what is actually the key — and I think quite effective — idea behind the campaign: “If you knew for certain that a disaster was going to happen on a given day, you’d do everything possible to prepare for it.” From there you can go on to find out “What can I do?” with specific suggestions for making a plan, building a kit and getting trained. The question is whether the audience will move past the feelings of fear that are raised by the billboard messages and feel empowered enough to find out what to do about it.
This is quite a common approach in social marketing campaigns, showing the dire consequences that will happen if you don’t take action. I’ve written before about how you can use a fear-based approach effectively (and what happens when it’s not done well).
The fear is not just a psychological response, but a physiological one as well. A study of brain scans done while people were watching Superbowl ads showed that when ads evoked a strong response in the amygdala — the area of the brain responsible for processing threat and anxiety — the ads were memorable but had a strong negative emotion associated with them. People are much more likely to take action when positive outcomes are stressed rather than negative ones (see Chapter 5 summary, toward bottom, for more on this).
Fear can definitely be a big motivator, but when it makes more people want to take flight than fight, the “solution” can become the problem itself.
Photo Credit: sshimmel
Technorati Tags: fear, global warming, disaster, social marketing
by Nedra Weinreich | Mar 7, 2007 | Blog, Entertainment, Social Marketing
Yesterday while I was waiting for my daughter during her ballet class, a well-known celebrity who is currently on a popular TV show walked in to pick up his daughter. Not so unusual, living in LA, but I wouldn’t have even noticed if another mom had not said something. He looked kind of bloated, his skin was blotchy and he was wearing a shlumpy sweatsuit. He was perfectly pleasant to the others in the room, cooing at babies and making jokes, but I found myself looking forward to telling my friends about how awful this guy looked in real life.
As I was on my way home, I realized that what at first seemed like a perfectly normal reaction was really quite a nasty impulse. Why should I expect him to make himself look good (put on make-up?!?) when all he was doing was picking up his daughter. To be fair, he could have said the same negative things about my own clothes and appearance. I decided not to reveal his identity here, as tempting as it is, because I realized that he should be allowed to have a private life.
This got me to thinking about our society’s love/hate relationship with celebrities. While sports figures, musicians and Hollywood types are considered by their fans to be role models, heroes and generally amazing people, there are even more people who delight in seeing those same celebrities brought down a notch. Whether it’s our fascination with Britney Spears’ public meltdown, Mel Gibson’s drunken ranting or pictures of Jessica Simpson’s cellulite in the supermarket tabloids, we crane our necks for a glimpse of a chink in the perfectly polished armor worn by a celebrity.
Why is it so important for us to see an imperfection, to get proof that actors/models/singers are only human? Does it make us feel better about ourselves, how we look, how much money we make? The Dove Evolution video went a long way toward taking away some of the mystique behind beautiful models, and so perhaps we want to be reassured that the person behind the make-up and airbrushed photos is no better than ourselves.
What do you think? Why do paparazzi get thousands of dollars for pictures of celebrities going about their daily lives? Why was Britney’s rehab status updated on the news daily? Is it schadenfreude or are we just a bunch of insecure celebrity worshipers?
And if the celebrity associated with your cause goes from being loved to hated, you have a big problem.
Photo Credit: Heartdisk
by Nedra Weinreich | Mar 6, 2007 | Blog, Marketing, Policy
my polling placeThough even most Angelenos don’t know it (or don’t care), there’s a local election going on here in LA today for School Board, Community College Board and a couple of city measures. I have to admit I did not pay much attention to it until today, when I had to figure out how I was voting, though we have been receiving tons of candidate-related mail for the past month. I am in a mixed marriage — politically speaking (though you’ll have to guess which I am!) — and so my husband and I receive all the mailings geared toward both parties.
Today when I was sorting through some of the mailers we received, I noticed that in a couple of cases the same slates of candidates were being promoted to people in both parties (though the seats themselves are nonpartisan). The group of College Board candidates who on one mailer are “Endorsed by the LA County Democratic Party” are featured on another mailer that says “Republicans support…” (without any actual endorsement from a Republican or the party itself). A third mailer with the same picture of this group highlighted the teachers unions’ endorsement, trying to appeal to those who are moved by cries of “Won’t somebody please think of the children?”
Similarly, another set of mailers are almost exactly the same as each other. But where one has a picture of a donkey in front of a red, white and blue background and the words “Vote Democratic,” the other has an elephant and the words “Citizens for Good Government.” (I guess they couldn’t bring themselves to use the R word, even though in the fine print it shows that several of the candidates are endorsed by the Republican party.)
I guess they’re trying to cover all their bases, but it seems dishonest to state that the same candidates are supported by both parties (how often does that happen, especially in a fight that involves teachers union money?). Most people would never notice the claims of support from both sides because they only get one party’s mailings. I’m afraid that the false advertising and claims of being all things to all people just make me more cynical and distrustful of all the candidates involved.
On a more positive note, today is a gorgeous, spectacular day in the upper 80s, and I just wanted to share the sunshine with a picture of some flowers from my front yard.
UPDATE (3/6/07): While the title may appear to be a major grammatical train wreck, I realize that not everyone else is a wannabe geek like me and that I’d better provide context. I’ll admit that I don’t really speak 1337, don’t use Ubuntu and I haven’t read a comic book since Wendy the Good Little Witch. But I hope you’ll forgive me for trying to get in touch with my inner geek from time to time.
Technorati Tags: los angeles, election, politics, democrat, republican
by Nedra Weinreich | Mar 5, 2007 | Blog, Cause Marketing
I’m a bit late to the party on the (RED) campaign backlash (see Rohit Bhargava, Ann Handley (and her commenters), Trent Stamp, Drew Neisser and Katya Andresen) but have been watching the proceedings with interest.
Rather than rehash what others have already said, both pro and con, in response to the BuyLessCrap.org campaign (tagline: “Shopping is not a solution. Buy (Less). Give More.”), I’ll just add what I have not seen being said yet.
As someone who is a pretty minimal consumer, this approach resonates with me. Do we really need to promote consumerism as the solution to what is essentially a political problem? While I can see both sides to the issue, I have always been somewhat uncomfortable with using a cause marketing approach to issues that can be better addressed with a social marketing or political advocacy approach – i.e., issues that require individual or social change.
From a nonprofit’s point of view, of course, the opportunity to raise funds through cause marketing partnerships makes a lot of sense. However, looking from a wider lens, many issues are not going to be solved just by throwing more money at them. AIDS and poverty in Africa are entangled with issues of political dictatorship and endemic corruption.
One common praise of the (RED) campaign is that, even if it only donates a fraction of the money spent to promote it, at least it raises awareness of the issue. But how many people do not already know that AIDS is a problem in Africa? And what good is that awareness if it does not lead to some sort of action?
I wrote about this with optimism back in October, but at this point, it’s clear that this campaign has missed a huge opportunity to turn awareness into action by not leveraging its connection to Bono’s ONE campaign, which does address political and social change. The (RED) campaign could be so easily and effectively tied into a social movement that starts with the purchase of a branded product, but does not end there. Regardless of the actual size of the pool of money flowing in as a result of the campaign, the larger focus should be on growing the pool of people adding their voices for change and giving them a way to express themselves. Social media tools could be used in innovative ways and Bono’s involvement provides exciting opportunities to tie music into the campaign as well.
If they start to think big, beyond a single purchase of a product, the results could be inc(RED)ible. Otherwise, I’m afraid the campaign is (LESS) than inspiring.
Technorati Tags: red, buylesscrap, one, bono, campaign, nonprofit, cause marketing
by Nedra Weinreich | Mar 2, 2007 | Blog, Resources
Here are this week’s items that were not quite big enough to merit their own entry, but which were bigger than just a del.icio.us link:
- Envision Solutions released results of research on how people are using health information they find online, digging deeper into some of the findings of the Pew Internet & American Life Project. The study found that internet health information seekers are exposed to a significant amount of user-generated media (i.e., blogs, wikis and online bulletin boards), and also frequent websites developed by government, non-profits and corporations. Content provided by peers (particularly Wikipedia) may be perceived as being as credible as that from more “official” sources.
- The video podcast from the Ypulse “State of Teen TV” event I reported on is now available for your viewing pleasure, along with others on “What Youth Brands Can Learn from the Action Sports World” and “The Future of Teen Magazines.” Check them out if you are working with youth.
- The Kaiser Family Foundation has also made available a webcast of a forum held on Tuesday on “Public Service Advertising in Great Britain: Lessons for US Public Interests.” the event featured Alan Bishop, CEO of the United Kingdom’s Central Office of Information, the government organization that implements and coordinates all government public education campaigns, and a panel of several other high-placed American execs who deal with PSAs. (Thanks to Mike Newton-Ward for the tip.)
- I’ve found out about a couple of interesting blogs related to social change efforts in Second Life. One is called A Better World in Second Life, and is part of Joshua Lev’s thesis project, which includes a machinima documentary about activism in Second Life. The other is NPSL: Nonprofits in Second Life, which is a group blog “about non-profit organizations and how they work in Second Life – to collaborate among themselves and with each other, engage with their publics, raise funds, teach, learn and further their real-world goals.” I haven’t been in SL in a while since my first life has been keeping me pretty busy, but I am still fascinated by the potential it holds for social marketing. (via Beth)
- Yet another social network for nonprofits has come out called All Day Buffet. It has not quite launched, but is collecting contact info and areas of interest before the full roll-out. It’s not clear yet how this will be different from some of the many other social change social networks out there (e.g., Change.org, Idealist, Zaadz, etc.), but at some point I should really do a detailed comparison of them all. (via PSFK)
- Speaking of social networks, the Marketing & Strategy Innovation Blog had a great article on how green organizations are using MySpace effectively. And if you want to create your own customized social network, I’m exploring uses of Ning, a retooled site that I think holds a lot of promise for organizations who want to build their own online communities without the negative baggage of MySpace or Facebook.
- If all my posts about using social media for social marketing have inspired you to consider using it in your own program, take a look at Christopher Carfi‘s list of questions to ask before jumping in. It includes a worksheet that will help you think through the who, when, where, why and how before you make assumptions about the “what.” Also see Britt Bravo‘s long list of examples of how nonprofits and their supporters are using social media (and I especially like her description of blogs as the “gateway drug” — seems to be true).
- I love getting glimpses into other bloggers’ cultural traditions, so I thought I would share some of mine from time to time. Sunday is the Jewish holiday of Purim (another in the vein of “they tried to kill us, we won, let’s eat”), which commemorates how brave Queen Esther saved the Jews of Persia from annihilation as decreed by the king. We celebrate by reading the story, dressing in costumes, giving gifts of food to friends and family, and giving money to poor people in our community. The traditional food, which I baked a ton of the other night, is hamentaschen — triangle-shaped cookies with a filling inside. (And the other, even more popular, tradition is to drink so much that you can’t tell the difference between the good guy and bad guy in the story.) Sadly, the story of an evil ruler of Persia who wants to destroy the Jews is not old news.
Until next week, keep the tips coming…
Photo Credit: fensterj
by Nedra Weinreich | Mar 1, 2007 | Blog, Social Media
There are some things I take for granted. One of those is that if, God forbid, I should ever have to call 911, there will be someone on the other end to help. I never thought much beyond that, other than that somehow my information would be conveyed and an ambulance or fire truck would magically appear at my doorstep. Thanks to the very kind invitation of Brian Humphrey of the Los Angeles Fire Department, last week I got to see firsthand what actually happens at the LAFD dispatch center.
Upon arriving at City Hall and taking the elevator four floors underground, Brian met me and showed me around. His phone kept ringing with various news stations looking for blood and guts to feature during sweeps week. He showed me that his phone has buttons with direct access to various local and national media, the governor and the White House. As the LAFD spokesman, he is a regular guest on television and radio news programs, and I see him quoted in the local papers all the time.
From his desk, Brian has access to information on all of the current incidents that the LAFD is responding to around the city. He looked up my address and found a medical emergency happening not too far from my house. He also showed me all of the information stored in the computer system about my house — things like the cross streets, number of bedrooms and bathrooms, the year it was built, where the nearest hydrant is (which he said was a really strong one).
I had the opportunity to go out onto the dispatch floor, where a dozen highly trained men and women handle the emergency calls that come in. All 911 calls initially go through the LA Police Department, and as soon as they determine it is a fire or medical emergency, they direct it to the LAFD’s dispatch center. I got to sit with one of the dispatchers and listen in on some of the calls that came through. While they all have experience out in the field and know how to handle any emergency situation that comes up, they have to follow a specific protocol for how they ask questions and respond to the callers. Once they establish what type of emergency it is, they flip to the appropriate section in their guide and ask a series of questions to which the only answers can be ‘yes,’ ‘no’ or ‘I don’t know.’ This makes sure that there is a certain level of quality control and that nothing is missed.
This attention to collecting detailed information, however, does not delay the arrival of assistance. As soon as the dispatcher has the address and nature of the emergency, the nearest fire station is notified and a fire truck or ambulance is sent out within a minute or two of the receipt of the call. In the meantime, the dispatcher stays on the line with the caller and provides instructions and reassurance until the crew arrives on the scene.
I heard some interesting calls. One was a woman who spoke only Spanish, whose 3-month old baby kept turning blue. She had the baby lying on his stomach while she made the call, and when the dispatcher had her pick up and hold the baby upright, his color improved. As the dispatcher said to me afterward, it’s kind of hard to breathe when you are lying on your stomach. During that call, I was also half-listening to the dispatcher on the other side of me trying to calm down a woman whose child had gone into convulsions.
Another call came in from the LAPD, who had received a report from a woman somewhere on the East Coast that a man in LA was suffering from a drug overdose. When the dispatcher called the number she provided, the man answered, sounded perfectly fine, and became distraught when he found out the police and paramedics were on their way. Turns out he had told his mother he was going to swallow a bottle of aspirin, and she believed him, though he told us he did not actually do it. I’m sure that will be the last time he makes that threat.
Other calls included a report of shots fired and possible victims, a suspect under arrest who had scraped up his elbow in the process, and a person with AIDS who needed medical attention (though they are not allowed to note the presence of the disease to the responding paramedics due to privacy issues). Also, upon looking at the list of current incidents, I noticed a familiar address, which was my old high school. Apparently a student there had a seizure and was being treated. Drama is one thing not in short supply in that room.
I was so impressed with the calm and competent way the dispatchers handled the calls. What for the people on the other end of the phone was (hopefully) a once in a lifetime major emergency, was just another call to be dealt with efficiently and effectively so that the dispatcher could move on to the next caller who needed him. It must be incredibly draining to do that type of work. If there is ever a major emergency, the dispatch center can instantly double in capacity by bringing in the people on the next shift who are not on duty but are always available onsite.
Over lunch in the communal dining room (sweetly made to order for me while the other guys ate massive burgers), Brian told me a wonderful story about how he had decided to become a firefighter. When he was a young boy, his father brought him to work with him one day in Van Nuys (a part of LA in the San Fernando Valley). It turned out that the local fire station had an open house that day, and so they went and got a tour. The firefighter who showed them around made such an impression on Brian that he decided that he wanted to be a fireman. He obsessed about it for a while, but ended up moving on to other typical childhood career aspirations. When he got older, he decided that he actually did want to be a firefighter and eventually was accepted into the LAFD’s training program — what he felt was the best department in the country. On the day he found out to which of the more than 100 neighborhood fire stations in the city he would be posted, he was told that he would be at the very same fire station in Van Nuys that he had visited as a boy. Not only that, but he would be working alongside the same firefighter who had given him the tour twenty years earlier. Wow – love that story!
Brian’s enthusiasm for the department has certainly not waned since that time. I am struck by the pride he and the others I met have in the LAFD, and, as he often reminds me, it is MY fire department as well. He typifies the ethos — so often missing in public agencies — that the department exists to serve, and belongs to, the citizens of Los Angeles.
Sadly, that means that the department is woefully underfunded and is not able to do much beyond the core services such as firefighting, emergency medical services and rescue operations. Brian’s blogging and social media activities are not officially funded, and he must fit them in as he can around his other duties. He is grateful to have received gifts from the local blogging community to help him in his work, including some podcasting equipment and a training manual. The lack of funding and the lean staff of three positions doing media outreach and public relations also means that the department is not able to do much proactive public education around prevention. I wonder whether there are foundations or federal/state agencies that fund grants to local fire departments for social marketing campaigns around safety, fire prevention or disaster preparedness. Any takers out there?
Not too long ago, I wrote about the importance of the “face” of your organization — the frontline staff with whom the public interacts and forms the basis of its opinion about you. With Brian and the emergency dispatchers as its public face, the LAFD is looking very good indeed.
Technorati Tags: lafd, 911, emergency
Nedra helps nonprofits and public agencies create positive change on health and social issues through social marketing and transmedia storytelling strategies at Weinreich Communications since founding the company in 1995. She helps organizations make a difference for the populations they serve by strategically designing programs that draw on state-of-the-art behavior change techniques, digital media approaches and the power of stories. 
