Be the Wall - Wednesday's Tips - 6/10/09
"Be the Wall - Wednesday's Tips" - June 10, 2009
Author: Amity Chandler, Director of Drug Free Charlotte County
email: Amity_Chandler@ccps.k12.fl.us
Frustrated? Never give up
A dear colleague emailed me the other day frustrated about her current results with her campaign - perceptions had not changed - her audience still thought everyone drinks.
Perceptions take years to form and quite some time to change (though we won’t say years).
Remember, your first priority in your campaign is message recall. If you’ve been at it four months or more, you should be gauging recall and not much more.
You want your audience to recognize the wall image and you want them to associate it with keeping alcohol out of the hands of teens.
You need to remember that social marketing is designed to change behaviors, not necessarily perceptions. In order to change perceptions, you’ll need to do some leg work on your end. Here are some suggestions:
>> Utilize your teens to do some street advocacy. Stand on the side of streets with signs that say Most teens don’t drink. Call me for ideas and logistics for this project.
>> Start a viral email asking people to spread the word that most of your teens don’t drink. Keep it simple - don’t bore them with jargon or talking points.
>> Think about an electronic newsletter to utilize monthly with your normative figures.
>> Do some guerilla marketing! Great fun! Take post it notes and leave in bathroom stalls with the message that most of your county teens don’t drink - ask them to pass it on.
>> Ask your key community leaders to begin and end EVERY presentation, meeting, etc that they do for the month of July and August with a reminder that most of your county teens are not drinking. It sounds like a silly suggestion, but you may be surprised at how quickly this catches on.
Social marketing isn’t easy and it takes patience. This is an experience in patience for all of us. Shoot me an email and let me know how you’re getting over the “hump” or share you’re great ideas with me.
I was inspired this month by Mary Taylor, who gave me the idea of stickers on pizza delivery boxes. They are available for order now and come in two sizes. Shoot me an email if you are interested. Thanks Mary for the idea!