November 14, 2007
Social Marketer Responds To Critics
A Boston Globe article critical of social marketing — charity efforts to advertise and sell mosquito nets and other health products — is being questioned by a leading advocate of the practice on his blog.
The newspaper cited two recent studies that say that whilet social
marketers believe in charging a minimal cost to show the
products’ value, the fees actually lower the number of needy people who use the beneficial items.
But R. Craig Lefebvre, chief technical officer at Population
Services International, a Washington group that is a strong proponent of social marketing, writes that the article deals with abstract issues, not practical ones.
If nonprofit groups were to forgo the income they receive as part of
social marketing, “I wonder where all the resources will come from and
what the trade-offs would be,” he writes on his blog, On Social Marketing and Social
Change. “We should be talking about realities, not ideologies, and seeking practical and sustainable approaches to improving the health and social conditions of poor and vulnerable peoples.”
And while the Globe article mentions Population Services International’s success in distributing condoms in Africa, Mr. Lefebvre wonders how fair a shake social marketing received.
“While the balanced part of the piece does include some proponents calling for complementarity in strategies, the media advocate in me realizes that when your opponent gets the first and last word in, the reporter’s mind was made up.”
What do you think? Is social marketing a worthwhile practice to help
needy people? Or should health products be provided free? Click on the
comments link below this post to share your thoughts.
— Ian Wilhelm
Comments
Commenting is closed for this article.
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What do you think? Is social marketing a worthwhile practice to help needy people? Or should health products be provided free?
BOTH. There is a place for both social marketing and free distribution for most health products. What doesn’t work well is reliance on only the public or private sector to improve health.
http://gateskeepers.civiblog.org
GK
— Gates Keeper Nov 14, 10:24 PM #
There have been a number of comments to the article and blog post on our social marketing list serve. A sampling of them are available at http://tinyurl.com/2sb556
— Craig Lefebvre Nov 15, 11:30 PM #
Should social marketing be used to help needy people or should healthcare be free?
Strange question, lol!
However, social marketing is really the best way to get the word out. I mean if it’s genuine then it’s good. I tell people who purchase my tools to ensure they use them ethically. If the company truly has the person’s best interests in mind instead of their own pocketbook, then yes, by all means use social marketing to get whatever you have that will help them in their hands.
Should healthcare be free? Let’s see what America says when they vote on the next President.
– Michael S. Copeland- Social Media Marketing Tools at http://SocialMediaBlaster.com
— Michael S. Copeland Nov 18, 09:15 AM #