Abstract
Strategic Social Marketing by Jeff French and Ross Gordon provides a well-rounded view of social marketing that will broaden each reader’s understanding of the concept. In a refreshing take on social marketing, they focus on strategic social marketing, which is defined as: “The systemic, critical and reflexive application of social marketing principals to enhance social policy selection, objective setting, planning and operational delivery” (p. 45). Taking a more macro view, this is different from other books on social marketing that focus on individual level behavior change almost exclusively.
Throughout the authors develop the reader’s understanding of social marketing from traditional concepts to the latest discussions and conceptualizations among academics. This should not be surprising given the authors’ contributions to recent developments in social marketing thought within and beyond the Journal of Social Marketing. Not shying away from both sides of the story, they also present criticisms, contradictions, and critiques, blending theory to aid readers in reaching their own conclusions. With thoughtful insights and enlightened citations, this is a must read for anyone in the area.
Chapter 1 offers a reason for macromarketers to be interested in the book. It identifies the place of strategic social marketing within macro level program and policy design. Concentrating on the well-being of citizens, empowering them for change, and ensuring an involved, co-created change program, the discussion moves away from the more paternalistic underpinnings of many traditional social marketing texts. A focus on systemic and structural changes needed for highly complex contexts also makes this relevant for macromarketers.
A review of traditional social marketing literature and the development of the concept and its controversies is provided in Chapter 2. A real contribution of this chapter is in the clear delineation between marketing, social advertising/communications, and social marketing. Specifically Figure 2.1 gives clarity to much of the confusion around social marketing. The base of the pyramid shows the core social marketing principle of “social value creation through exchange and social offerings” (p. 30). Above that are social marketing concepts, for instance social offerings, relationships, “social behavioural influence and citizen/customer/civic society focus.” Social marketing tools and techniques cap off the pyramid. Many practitioners and academics alike confuse the tools of social marketing with social marketing proper, and this diagram goes some way to put that right, as does their discussion of the critiques, weaknesses, and boundaries of the discipline. Their short discussion on ethics in this chapter points to a gaping hole in the literature for future research.
Chapter 3 looks at some of the broader considerations of social change, specifically, the politics that accompany social change goals and the social marketer’s role within this environment. Moving away from an expert defined model to a value for a citizen model of planning social institutions is espoused. Another concept of particular interest to macromarketers in this chapter is the concept of wicked problems. These are highly complex problems, such as obesity and environmental degradation, which have so many interconnected perpetuating factors, that they are hard enough just to define, let alone solve (Rittel and Webber 1973). Insights into behavioral economics and nudging are delivered with links to their interventional applications.
Part II provides a run down on the social marketing mix, strategic social marketing, and value creation. While seemingly more micro in nature, a critique of the use of the traditional 4Ps for social marketing is provided and alternatives discussed. While mention is made of holistic interventions and the label of “macro-marketing” is given in Figure 4.3, perhaps the meaning of that word in the figure differs somewhat from the understanding of readers of this Journal. However, this is not to say that some of the core ideas are not shared, as the inherent interaction of society and marketing is included here. Chapter 5 gives a particularly interesting discussion on the influence of social marketing on policy creation, coherence and integration.
The chapters of Part III deliver a rich and enlightening discussion on systems thinking and theory, macro-level theory for social marketing, and critical social marketing. While Chapter 7 on systems thinking omits the important work of Roger Layton and Don Dixon on marketing systems, its thorough approach to general systems theory will broaden the understanding of any macromarketer. The habits of a systems thinker on pages 192-193 could very easily match the thinking and assumptions of many (if not most) macromarketers.
Chapters 9 and 10 give a whirlwind tour through common research approaches and methods suitable for social marketing. These chapters seem a little out of place given the strategic focus of the rest of the book. However, while so many areas are covered that no one is discussed in a large amount of depth, the reference lists more than make up for any superficiality. Chapter 11 though provides an excellent synthesis of thinking around strategy and policy development. Another must read chapter for macromarketers and those interested in marketing and public policy development, it includes insights on policy appraisal, development, and selection, along with insights on the application of managerial marketing strategy concepts to social policy generation. Chapter 12 presents multiple “how to’s” of social marketing strategy implementation while chapter 13 takes this further to up-stream issues of targeting policy makers and embedding social marketing in social policy strategy.
The final chapter looks at critical social marketing and rounds out those topics that might be of particular interest to macromarketers. It not only posits a critical approach to social marketing but also to commercial marketing and its impact on society. Disappointingly, the authors do not go into depth in this chapter, nor do they dwell on approaches to critical reflection, however this lack actually points to an area with much room for contribution in the future. Reflexivity and the consideration of ethics in social marketing is also put forward, but again, are areas for future research. Overall, this book is a phenomenal depository of postmodern thinking on social marketing. It has a refreshing viewpoint on social marketing and is sure to become the core reader for those interested in the broader macro-level issues with social marketing.