Put on your marketing hat, then set these recent announcements side-by-side: Before the COVID-19 pandemic, 10.5 percent of all US households experienced food insecurity in 2019. With the pandemic recession, nearly 1 in 4 US households have experienced food insecurity this year. According to the US Food and Drug Administration, 30-40 percent of the food...
Distribution is important enough to the social good that the United Nations World Food Programme has won the 2020 Nobel Peace Prize. WFP provides food aid distribution and other services for 100 million people across 88 countries every day to combat world hunger. They often work inside war zones and epidemics and famines.
During the coronavirus pandemic, public officials have promoted social distancing and strongly encouraged us to stay home. But aside from promoting this behavior through traditional and social media, what else could these officials have done to increase the likelihood of compliance? Distributing coronavirus supplies could also help, and South Korea has been held up as...Continue reading
Once it was not unusual for a community to have shared land that everyone owned and everyone could benefit from.
Is healthcare a right or a social good? I examine the relationship between human rights and social goods.Continue reading
If you’re reading this, it’s likely that you are looking for ways to increase your impact. Social return on investment, or social ROI, lets you objectively define and measure your impact. Once you can define and measure impact, use that ability to identify communities to serve. Decisions about who and where you choose to serve–what...Continue reading
According to Credit Suisse, up to one-quarter of U.S. malls will close by 2022. During the past 60 years, malls served as a major public commons in the U.S. The design and stewardship of commons is a crucial component of public-sector marketing. Redesigning failed shopping malls could be an huge public-sector opportunity.
The terms we use matter when designing and promoting public and social goods. I don’t like the term “subsidy” when applied to government programs. It lacks the related themes and ideas that I think we want associated with public spending. The term has also taken on negative connotations that further hinder strengthening our communities through...Continue reading
Look for bright spots of success and hope among your market audience, and you may find your next big idea. Here are lessons from a story about how one underfunded aid worker used turning bright spots into products and services to change a nation.
Kids don’t often eat healthy foods. They give in to the powerful temptation of snacks and sweets. The tactics major food companies use to promote their products exacerbates the problem. What if social marketers apply those same tactics for advertising healthy eating?