An example of a social marketing campaign, can you spot the use of pr?

Source :Social Marketing Institute (Evaluation of Click it or ticket Campaign)

Click it or Ticket is a model social marketing program showing how success is possible by combining enforcement with communication outreach. The first step was to re-define the product benefits - using set belts were made important not to save your life, but to keep you from getting "busted" by the police. A new law was passed by the North Carolina legislature which made it possible for police to stop and ticket motorist who were not wearing their seat belt.
Communication aspect of campaign
Success of the initial Click It or Ticket program depended upon the effectiveness of its marketing and media campaigns and the level of public visibility it was able to achieve. To bring the necessary public attention to the Click It or Ticket message and to publicize the checkpoint effort, state officials utilized a variety of media and events before and after each phase of the program. During the campaign's first year, more than $150,000 worth of television, radio and newspaper ads were purchased across the state. Television and radio spots delivered PSAs (Public Service Announcements) at strategic times throughout the year to convey the campaign's precautionary seat belt messages and to warn drivers about the potential $25 ticket for not complying with the State's mandatory usage law. The campaign also conducted regular media outreach through press releases, op-eds, and program statistics for each county published in local newspapers. News coverage of the program The office of the Governor's Highway Safety Program also held special media events featuring prominent politicians and celebrities to generate press coverage for its campaigns. In addition to these measures, the current campaign also utilizes the Internet to publicize its message and to illustrate the program's results.

Summary
Country/State:
State of North Carolina, USA
Target Audience:
General population of North Carolina, automobile drivers and passengers.
Objectives:
The Click It or Ticket program was initiated to:1. Increase seat belt and child safety restraint usage in North Carolina.2. Decrease the number of fatalities and serious injuries in auto accidents.3. Decrease the economic costs associated with auto-related accidents.
Media/Marketing:
Earned Media, television and radio advertisements, billboards, posters, political and celebrity events, media outreach, and police checkpoints.
Donors/Sponsors:
North Carolina Department of Transportation/Governor's Highway Safety Program, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA), the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety, the North Carolina Department of Insurance, and the Highway Safety Research Center of the University of North Carolina (HSRC).
Duration:
1993 - Present

http://www.social-marketing.org/success/cs-clickit.html

Are Public Relations and Social Marketing overlapping?

In adopting one of the alternative models of the relationship between PR and Marketing functions by Kotler and Windak. The consensus is that social marketing and PR have overlapping functions in some areas.
For example according to John Cole Morgan the role of the chief information officer in the British Government have three kinds of duties towards the public:

• To tell them what the government is doing on their behalf and with their money


• To make them aware of their rights and obligations


• To persuade them to do something eg. to use condoms as a protection against AIDS

For the first two duties public relations would be appropriate however to persuade people to change a practice or adopt a new behaviour, this calls for social marketing strategies. Programmes such as these are designed to influence action.

One approach used to influence behaviour includes the Seven Doors Social marketing approach developed by Les Robinson. The 7 steps include:

• Knowledge


• Desire


• Skills


• Optimism


• Facilitation


• Joining


• Reinforcement

The conclusion has to be that these two disciplines sometimes overlap to reach communication objectives. This doesn't mean however that one is taking the others place.

Reference : The Practice of Public Relations by Sam Black

Analysis of Communication Jobs

I looked at the third sector website www.jobs.thirdsector.co.uk to analyse the communication jobs to see if these required any sort of social marketing background. After reviewing about 15 jobs I have to say most of the jobs featured are geared to towards skills and qualifications primarily related to public relations.  These include developing materials for publications , maintaining  websites  and communicating with media and developing campaigns. The jobs also required some sort of additional roles such as fundraising and recruitment of volunteers.  

I have to wander where did I ever get the idea from that social marketing mightbe replacing PR. My follow classmates you don't have to worry your jobs are secure.

Can PR withstand any force?

Public Relations have had to deal with the challenges faced by the industry. These include new media and  with debates surrounding the professionalism of the industry. The role of the PR practitioner might be widening but is it been replaced by another field such as social marketing? 

It can be argued that the two disciplines have different roles and serve different purposes. 

The public relations practice according to PRSA is about reputation  - the result of what you do, what you say, and what others say about you. Public Relations aims to earn understanding and support and influence opinion and behaviour.  

While Social Marketing seeks to " influence social behaviours not to benefit the marketer ,but to benefit the target audience and general society.

This distinctive difference shows that social marketing has its place , public relations clearly outlines itself  as a practice that is still needed for building relations with various publics.

References: What is Social Marketing by Nedra Kline Weinrich

                    

                      Introduction to Public Relations by Sam Black 

    

                     www.prsa.org

                     

Sectors that are becoming dependent on Social Marketing

It can argued that some sectors such as the not for profit organisations and political departments are moving away from just raising awareness. Instead they are in the business of influencing behaviour change . For instance public communication campaigns under the NHS in the UK have campaigns meant to impact some sort of change. These campaigns employee social marketing techniques to achieve their goals.

Some examples are:
Child Safety Week http://www.capt.org.uk/18th to 24th June 2007
Sun Safety Month http://www.sunsmart.org.uk/July 2007
Sexual Health Week http://www.fpa.org.uk/24th to 28th September 2007
World Mental Health Day http://www.wfmh.org/10th October 2007
In not for profit organisations the PR practitioner role extends to areas such as " community development, recruitment , training , infrastructure planning and more." So while they undertake media relations sometimes they have other roles outside the realm of PR.

Some argue that public relations is still relevant especially in the not for profit industry since " the public image of a voluntary organisation is important to its success both for attracting financial support and in securing cooperation of voluntary workers."

Reference: Introduction to Public Relations by Sam Black