Examples of social marketing

I .Click It or Ticket
Click it or Ticket is a model social marketing program showing how success is possible by combining enforcement with communication outreach. The first step was to re-define the product benefits - using set belts were made important not to save your life, but to keep you from getting "busted" by the police. A new law was passed by the North Carolina legislature which made it possible for police to stop and ticket motorist who were not wearing their seat belt. The price was now a financial fine and jail time if people did not use their seat belt. Places, checkpoints, were established throughout the state where motorists were stoppped and checked for seat belt use. The promotion P was directed at advertising the new law and its legal consequences. An extensive evaluation of the program showed not only when both communication and enforcement were combined in a single unified marketing strategy, the results were impressive (a 14% reduction in traffic fatalities), but when the communication was withdrawn and the enforcement left in place, seat belt use dropped dramatically. Once the communication component was restored compliance went back up.

Evaluation

Increased seat belt usage: As a direct result of the Click It or Ticket campaign, the average seat-belt usage rate in North Carolina jumped from 65 percent to over 80 percent in the first six months of the program, and currently stands as one of the highest rates in the nation at 84 percent.

Decrease in highway injuries and economic costs: The dramatic increase in seat-belt usage has led to a 14 percent reduction in fatal and serious highway injuries and a corresponding savings of $125 million in health care-related costs since the program began in 1993. The decrease in the number and severity of auto injuries also resulted in a $33 million reduction in insurance premiums paid to North Carolina auto insurers. Increase in enforcement of auto-related crimes: Because of the Click It or Ticket's system of checkpoints throughout the state, law enforcement officials have discovered more than 56,000 other auto-related criminal offences since the program's start, including: stolen vehicles, felony drug violations, illegal firearms, and fugitives from justice. During a threeweek period of the first year, police officers discovered 1,829 DWI violations and 2,043 drivers with revoked licenses. Funds generated as a result of these offenses and the more than 200,000 seat belt citations, which amounted to $1.6 million after the first year alone, go to benefit local public schools across the state. Campaign awareness: Results from a telephone survey taken after the first year of the Click It or Ticket program indicated that 76 percent of North Carolina citizens were aware of stepped-up enforcement of belt use and child restraint laws. Of those that knew about the program, 88 percent said they specifically knew about the belt use checkpoints. Changed attitudes: Survey results also showed that of those who knew about the program, 57 percent said that it had made them buckle up more often; and 86 percent of all of those surveyed said that they favored programs to increase seat belt use.

Click It or Ticket
In 1993, Governor Jim Hunt of North Carolina launched a statewide seat belt enforcement campaign called the Click It or Ticket Program. In coordination with the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) and county and local law enforcement agencies, the program set out to increase seat belt and child safety use across the state by means of a highly publicized enforcement campaign of the state's mandatory seat belt law. Still in effect as the state's primary seat belt program, the Click It or Ticket campaign achieved immediate success and has become a model for both state and national enforcement programs across the country. Prior to 1980, seat belt use in the United States hovered around 11 percent, even after numerous volunteer and educational campaigns at the local, county, and state levels. Between 1980 and 1984 other efforts were made to increase use through individual organizations, public education programs, incentives and policy changes. These efforts did not have any significant impact in large, metropolitan areas; and by the end of that term, national seat belt usage had reached only 15 percent. In 1984, New York became the first state to enact a mandatory seat belt use law, and by 1990, 37 other states had followed suit. While the vast majority of these were secondary enforcement statutes, laws requiring an officer to observe another traffic violation before citing a seat belt infraction, the national usage rate climbed from 15 to 50 percent. Even with this success, it was clear from results in Canada that laws themselves would not be sufficient to achieve high seat belt usage.

Make the Benefit Enforcement, Not Health

Truly successful rate increases had been achieved in Canada and individual jurisdictions in the US only through highly visible "waves" of enforcement. These results prompted NHTSA to implement Operation Buckle Down in 1991, a two-year STEP (Special Traffic Enforcement Program) to increase seat-belt use. Though there was no uniformity to the level of enforcement or visibility within each state, the program saw the usage rate increase from 53 to 62 percent by the end of 1992. By 1993, North Carolina was one of only a handful of states with a primary seat belt law in place, one in which officers can make a citation without having to observe another traffic violation. Implementation of the primary law itself resulted in a significant increase in belt usage to 78%. As had been observed in Canada, however, the rate decreased shortly thereafter to around 65% where it remained. It was clear to state officials that a long-term approach was needed to achieve and sustain a high usage rate.

Combine enforcement with visibility

Success of the initial Click It or Ticket program depended upon the effectiveness of its marketing and media campaigns and the level of public visibility it was able to achieve. To bring the necessary public attention to the Click It or Ticket message and to publicize the checkpoint effort, state officials utilized a variety of media and events before and after each phase of the program. During the campaign's first year, more than $150,000 worth of television, radio and newspaper ads were purchased across the state. Television and radio spots delivered PSAs (Public Service Announcements) at strategic times throughout the year to convey the campaign's precautionary seat belt messages and to warn drivers about the potential $25 ticket for not complying with the State's mandatory usage law. The campaign also conducted regular media outreach through press releases, op-eds, and program statistics for each county published in local newspapers. News coverage of the program The office of the Governor's Highway Safety Program also held special media events featuring prominent politicians and celebrities to generate press coverage for its campaigns. In addition to these measures, the current campaign also utilizes the Internet to publicize its message and to illustrate the program's results.

II .PeachCare for Kids:

Marketing Childrens Health Insurance to Working Families Georgia Department of Medical Assistance: PeachCare for Kids

Situation
PeachCare for Kids, created by the Georgia legislature in spring 1998, is the Georgia edition of the federal Childrens Health Insurance Program, designed to provide childrens health insurance for working-class families. Under the new PeachCare for Kids program, children can receive comprehensive medical care including check-ups, accident coverage, prescriptions, and eye and dental care for only $7.50 per child per month, with a maximum of $15 per family. There are no co-payments or deductibles, and children under 6 are covered free. For over 300,000 Georgia children living without health care, this program is a wonderful opportunity. Prospect Associates has been involved with PeachCare since its inception, as the agency responsible for designing and implementing all marketing and communications for the program.

Strategy
Marketing PeachCare for Kids has a number of pragmatic as well as psychological challenges. First, from a pragmatic standpoint, these parents are living incredibly busy lives. We need to make it as simple and straightforward as possible for them to learn about PeachCare and to enroll in the program. We must speak to them on the TV and radio stations they listen to, and reach out and find them in the communities where they live. Second, from a psychological standpoint, we must recognize the strength and dedication of these parents. PeachCare for Kids is a program for the classic working-class Georgia family: 90% of these parents work. Over 60% live in two-parent households. The majority of them are not receiving any other form of state assistance. They are independent and self-supporting, and likely do not perceive themselves as poor or needy. They are simply hard-working parents whose employers do not provide private insurance, and who therefore have never had any way to get insurance for their children. To speak effectively to these parents, PeachCare for Kids needed to recognize and appreciate their strength, independence and dedication to their families. To reach these parents in a variety of ways, we developed a multi-disciplinary communications program that includes a range of components: from statewide advertising to grassroots community outreach. All efforts will be synchronized with four flights throughout the year, to give PeachCare four annual "booster shots" of media, PR and community-oriented events. The following section details tactics being pursued in each area.

Actions

Advertising The PeachCare for Kids media campaign includes television, radio, outdoor and transit advertising. Using the non-profit status of PeachCare for Kids, we were able to create a program that combined paid and public service advertising. We negotiated extremely reduced rates for outdoor advertising, 50% bonus coverage for transit advertising, and bonus on-air public relations, community event and public service support from radio and television broadcast media. To ensure coverage throughout the year, we arranged our advertising program in four flights: 4-6 weeks each in winter, spring, summer and fall. The advertising campaign follows the theme, "Now You Can Afford Peace of Mind," addressing the practical and the emotional needs of potential PeachCare families. Creatively, advertising is intended to evoke the heroism of the working-class parent, recognizing their love and dedication to their child. The radio commercial, "Vicky," tells the story of a father and his daughter, and the TV commercial, "Emma," spotlights a mother and her son. Public Relations To maximize efficiency, public relations events are synchronized with advertising. Tactics include creating new stories and press events, as well as a series of public relations products including audio news releases, newspaper matte stories, etc. During the first month, we orchestrated two major events to stimulate media coverage and generate awareness: the December 1 launch, which was hosted by Grady Hughes Spalding childrens hospital in Atlanta, and the December 16 Statewide Sign-Up Day, which was cosponsored by nearly 100 hospitals throughout the state. Community Outreach Community outreach is an absolutely essential part of the PeachCare for Kids communications program. Local organizations from schools and hospitals to churches and community centers have personal relationships with these families that cannot be matched. Our community relations program is a broad based effort that has encompassed a range of possible partner organizations, from the Georgia school board to the Georgia Hospital Association to the United Way, and dozens more. Since we began doing community outreach, just prior to the September 1 pilot launch, we have conducted in-person trainings with over 500 local and state organizations. To start the community outreach process, we conducted a series of statewide trainings. These trainings included members from the local health care provider and hospital communities, as well as other local community-based organizations, and served as the building blocks for statewide education about PeachCare for Kids. We continue to build on these partnerships through a quarterly PeachCare for Kids Update Newsletter, that provides ongoing information about the status of the program, upcoming events, and ideas for partner participation. Person-to-Person Outreach Many partners have expressed an interest in having a PeachCare for Kids representative speak about the program to their constituencies. The Right-From-The-Start Medicaid workforce, with over 120 representatives statewide, specializes in doing non-traditional outreach. Prospect

trained each of these workers on doing PeachCare for Kids outreach and since the launch, the workers have been speaking to families and giving presentations all across the state -- from the statewide meeting of the Georgia PTA to the Thanksgiving Day parade in Macon, Georgia.

Results
Prior to the launch of the marketing and communications campaign, the toll-free number was receiving an average of 50 phone calls per day. The day the marketing program launched, phone volume jumped to 1,000 per day and has continued to climb, today averaging 1,300 calls per day. On December 16, the Statewide Sign-Up Day, phone volume more than tripled. In six months of statewide eligibility, the Georgia Department of Medical Assistance has received over 80,000 applications for PeachCare for Kids. Of those applications, over 36,000 are now enrolled in PeachCare, more than half of the programs two-year goal. An additional 13,000 more children have been referred to Medicaid. In total, more than 57,000 children now have access to health care for the first time and applications are continuing to pour in at the rate of 500-1,000 per day. While other states have received criticism for failing to enroll children in CHIP programs, PeachCare for Kids marketing program has been identified as a role model by other states and the Childrens Defense Fund in Washington, DC. In December 1998, Prospect was awarded the Gold Mercury Award, an international award for outstanding achievements in public relations and corporate communications, for PeachCare for Kids.