Social Marketing

Marketing Mix 55
Advertising
• Media buying: Most ad agencies can also buy media time or space on your behalf. They keep
pace with the going rates for television and radio time, newspaper and magazine space, outdoor
advertising rates, and other opportunities to place your message before your audience.
Sometimes, government organizations and others do not buy media but use public service
announcements or PSAs (which are described on page 57). Your ad agency can help you
determine the best time to distribute your PSAs and which media venues are most likely to
give your message significant placement or airtime.
Compensation
It is also important to know how advertising agencies make money. Most agencies are paid
through one or more of the following compensation arrangements:
• A percentage of the media buy
• An hourly rate for labor with a “multiplier” to underwrite overhead, plus direct reimbursement
of other costs (such as production costs and the media buy)
• Compensation related to outcomes (for example, a fee for every unit of product sold)
The government rarely attempts to compensate agencies based on results, though such a
compensation is increasingly common in the private sector. In Florida, however, the state health
department negotiated one of the few government-funded, performance-based advertising
contracts in existence. With the help of a compensation consultant, the state linked the agency’s
multiplier (that is, the number by which the hourly labor rates are multiplied) to the results of the
state anti-tobacco campaign on which the agency worked. One issue you may want to consider
is whether your ad agency would be better focused on your outcomes if outcomes were a part
of its compensation package.
Choosing an ad agency
Finally, remember that ad agencies are in the business of making things flashy and inviting.
That’s important. But even an entertaining spot won’t be effective if it is “off strategy” – that is,
if it doesn’t address the behavioral determinants for your audience to do a behavior. You cannot
forget your strategy when an ad agency pitches its approach. Don’t let them railroad you - part
of your job is to evaluate whether an advertising approach, no matter how funny or interesting
it may be, fits with your strategy.
One simple way to remember all of this is to ask four key questions about each advertising
agency or social marketing firm making a pitch:
1. Are they listening? To you, to the audience, to the research?
2. Are they strategic? Do they have a clear idea about how their plan will change the behavior,
not just look cute or get people interested in the topic? Remember, this is marketing, not
education. Your bottom line isn’t about what members of the audience know. It’s about what
they do.
Social Marketing Behavior A Practical Resource for Social Change Professionals