New Year’s Resolutions, with a helping hand from Uncle Sam
If asked, most of us could come up with a handful, if not all, of the most popular New Year’s resolutions Americans make. For starters, think “be more healthy” and you should come up with at least a few of the top ten: quitting smoking, getting fit, drinking less alcohol, and losing weight. As we’ve [...]
October 19, 2011A Message to Netflix: ‘The consumer isn’t a moron; it’s me!’*
Woe be it to the marketer who starts deciding what’s best for their consumers without bothering to ask them. I’m a consumer, and I am sure I know what I like better than anyone else, including marketers. I’m even happy to tell marketers — if only they ask me. There are already many case histories [...]
September 12, 2011Applying Account Planning to Smoking Cessation: The NHS Smokefree Campaign
Next week the authors of the short listed papers for the UK’s Account Planning Group’s (APG) Creative Strategy Awards will be presented to the judges. We’d like to cast an early vote for the National Health Service Smokefree Campaign. Here are a couple of reasons: It challenged conventional wisdom. Both in the UK and the [...]
June 30, 2011Decreasing Cigarette Smoking: Are Graphic Labels the Answer?
Last week the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) proudly announced a bold public health initiative to impact smoking behavior. Nine new graphic pictures, with warnings, will be required on every pack of U.S. cigarettes sold and in every cigarette advertisement by September, 2012. “These labels are frank, honest, and powerful depictions of the health [...]
December 29, 2010HHS Endorses Social Marketing: Finally Moving the Needle on Health Behavior?
This month the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) placed social marketing at the forefront of national public health policy. In launching Healthy People 2020, HHS stated among its priority health objectives the need to “increase social marketing in health promotion and disease prevention.” This is a monumental step towards moving the needle [...]