Philip Kotler and Nancy Lee’s Up and Out of Poverty is an extremely helpful social marketing guide about the essential principles, misconceptions, and challenges. Through the lens of the poverty issue, Kotler and Lee offer a concise 10-step model for developing a social marketing plan that reflects a systematic process and examines the power of “social marketing methodology” to reduce the suffering of the poor. Below is an excerpt from our Page to Practice™ Q&A with the authors.

CP: What is social marketing, and how does it differ from traditional marketing approaches?

PK & NL: Social marketing is a process that applies traditional marketing principles and techniques to create, communicate and deliver value in order to influence target audience behaviors that benefit society as well as the target audience.

There are several important differences between social and commercial marketing:

• In the case of commercial marketing, the marketing process aims to sell goods and services. In the case of social marketing, the marketing process is used to sell a desired behavior.
• In the commercial sector, the primary aim is financial gain. In social marketing, the primary aim is individual or societal gain. 
• Competitors are different. The commercial marketer sees competitors as other organizations offering similar goods and services, or ones that satisfy similar needs. Social marketers see the competition as the current or preferred behavior of the target audience and the perceived benefits and costs of that behavior. This includes any organizations that sell or promote competing behaviors (such as the tobacco industry). 

There are also important similarities:

• A customer orientation is key to success.
• The Exchange theory is fundamental, stating that the target audience must perceive benefits that equal or exceed the perceived costs they associate with performing the behavior.
• Marketing research is used throughout the process.
• Audiences are segmented.
• All 4P tools in the marketer’s toolbox (Product, Price, Place and Promotion) are considered, and often needed to overcome barriers and create benefits.

CP: What are some of the challenges nonprofit leaders face when implementing a social marketing approach, and how can they overcome them?

PK & NL: One of the biggest tendencies is to equate marketing with communications, and in social marketing we find that communications rarely change behaviors. We also need other tools (new or improved products and services, incentives and improved distribution channels) to influence the desired behavior.

There is also currently considerable confusion with the term “social media,” which refers to a communication channel (e.g., Facebook, Twitter and blogging). Social media is a promotional tactic that social marketers use, but it is not the same as social marketing.

Finally, funding can be a problem to justify and secure. Two suggestions: 1) Consider partnerships with the private sector; and 2) Develop a projected return on investment that you can share with funders.

CP: In addition to poverty reduction, what other social programs can benefit from a social marketing approach?

PK & NL: Since the early ‘70s, social marketing, as a discipline, has made enormous strides and has had a profound impact on social issues in the area of public health, safety, environmental protection and community involvement. Fundamental principles at the core of this practice has been used to help reduce tobacco use, decrease infant mortality, stop the spread of HIV/AIDS, help eradicate guinea worm disease, make wearing bike helmets a social norm, decrease littering, increase recycling, register voters, and persuade pet owners to license their pets and “scoop their poop.” Influencing positive financial behaviors is the natural next frontier for social marketers to “get serious about,” as there are clear behaviors that, once adopted by target populations, will improve the quality of life for individuals as well as society.

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