Government or nonprofits are usually the institutions we associate with influencing public behavior in support of socially desirable outcomes. But increasingly, there is a role that businesses can and should play in this space. By doing so, they deepen relationships with customers and boost growth while contributing to social good. In From Cause to Change: The business of behavior, Bess Bezirgan, Tom Beall, Jennifer Wayman, and Michael Briggs – the leaders of Ogilvy Public Relations' new global practice, OgilvyEngage – discuss how businesses can harness the power of behavior change and show that what’s good for individuals and good for society can also be good for business.
3. From Cause
to Change: The
business of behavior
Bess Bezirgan,
Tom Beall,
Jennifer Wayman &
Michael Briggs
The Red Papers:
TM
Ogilvy & Mather
4. The Red Papers:
Contents
Introduction
Businesses as agents
of change
The value of behavior change
Moving from cause
to change
Mastering the dynamics
of behavior change
Deciding what change to seek
Plotting the path to supporting change
Realizing the promise of change
5. April , No.
The benefits of embracing
behavior change
Conclusion
Key takeaways
References
About the authors
Acknowledgements
7. From Cause to Change
Like many utilities, Puget Sound Energy (PSE) in
Washington State actively engages in environmentally
responsible operations. Their long-term planning has
long recognized the business imperative of securing
reliable and cost-effective energy resources. To that
end, the company embraces renewables as part of its
sourcing strategy, sells excess generation to utilities
with higher demand, and has “greened” many service
centers and the corporate headquarters.
PSE wants to create significant and lasting
social and environmental impacts. But, make no
mistake, the company is keenly aware of the business
performance advantages to be gained from greater
energy efficiency. And it knows that accomplishing
this is dependent on more than just demonstrating or
exemplifying responsible corporate behavior. That’s
why the company also engages customers in an active
partnership to create energy savings.
8. The Red Papers:
Introduction It is a collaboration that goes well beyond educating customers and
other stakeholders about responsible energy use or creating awareness
around global energy challenges. The company’s ambitious “Re-Energize”
program encourages new behaviors in residential energy use by providing
specific incentives and customer tools like rebates and home energy
calculators. These tools, and the communications around them, prompt
energy customers to take particular intentional actions, reinforce cost
benefits, and support ongoing lifestyle changes that reduce energy use.
9. From Cause to Change
Through this program, PSE says it has helped customers conserve
“more than billion kilowatt-hours of electricity — enough ongoing
savings to serve nearly , households.” Re-Energize participants
enjoy direct cost-savings, and society benefits from the conservation
of critical resources. But PSE wins as well. PSE doesn’t have to
invest in costly new power plants because it is meeting the reduced
customer demand brought about by changed behaviors. This efficiency
maximizes PSE’s performance.
PSE’s initiative results from the intersection of two important
imperatives. Leadership around critical social issues (in this case
responsible energy use) has become a corporate asset central to
business success, embedded in the DNA of company operations. But
companies have realized that path-breaking is not enough. They must
also cultivate and support stakeholder action — among consumers or
other relevant audiences — in order to ensure optimal business yields
and maximize the greater benefit to society.
Corporate leadership in social issues has grown considerably in
the last decade, spurred on in part by the global U.N. Millennium
Development Goals. Companies like PSE have embraced corporate
responsibility roles that go well beyond their own fences, recognizing
that the underpinnings for the security and prosperity of their
enterprises depend on addressing the issues that impact the well-being
and welfare of their communities. Companies are following Michael
Porter and Mark Kramer’s pioneering concept of shared value creation,
a principle that advocates “creating economic value in a way that also
creates value for society by addressing its needs and challenges.”
For PSE, it’s not just about operating a responsible business in the Puget
Sound community, doing good in isolation. Rather they want to be a
company that’s of the community — innovating and providing leadership
around energy solutions that benefit the citizenry and doing so in a way
that boosts the company’s competitive stance and commercial success.
10. The Red Papers:
Introduction Of course other factors are at work, but a driving force behind PSE’s
success is its active involvement of consumers in energy conservation
programs and activities. As it seeks to marry purpose and profit, PSE
facilitates consumer behavior change and creates a two-way dialogue
that leads to richer relationships and much better outcomes.
Purpose-driven profit has largely been the focus of corporate social
responsibility (CSR) and sustainability programs for some time, but PSE
has seized a new opportunity: the harnessing of the power of behavior
change to grow bottom lines and improve the connection with the priority
audiences which are critical to achieving performance, sustainability, and
social responsibility goals. This is an avenue that can increase demand,
boost sales, reduce costs, and increase the impact of existing social
responsibility initiatives and commitments.
While movements to educate or drive awareness about social issues are
vital, affecting the components of personal behavior — our attitudes, our
motivations, our abilities, and more — can push people toward actions
that matter: the routine purchase of socially responsible goods and
products or the use of or engagement with socially conscious services.
Actions like those — and hundreds of others — lead our world toward
better results for individuals, society, and business.
11. From Cause to Change
While movements to educate or
drive awareness about social issues
are vital, affecting the components of
personal behavior — our attitudes,
our motivations, our abilities, and
more — can move people toward
actions that matter.
13. From Cause to Change
In today’s world, people may think that influencing
public behavior change movements in support of socially
desirable outcomes is the distinct purview of governments
or nonprofits. They are seen as experts with the right
sort of authority and credibility. However the private
sector also has played a significant role in advancing
social progress over the decades. In fact, facilitating
behavior change is in many ways an outgrowth of other
socially responsible practices where businesses have made
enormous contributions.
At the turn of the twentieth century, company towns like
Hershey, Pennsylvania or Corning, New York were born
of recognition that investing in improved social conditions
resulted in improved worker well-being, production, and
ultimately profit. Years later, social movements to address
pollution, health epidemics, contaminated water streams,
and more, pointed fingers at manufacturers. In response,
companies gradually evolved from reactive mitigation
responses to proactive citizenship and philanthropy efforts.
14. The Red Papers:
They sought to identify ways in which they could support social and
environmental issues that the citizenry cared about. They wisely sought
to become part of the answer to, not the cause of, the problems being
Businesses addressed.
as agents
of change This kind of private sector engagement in the common good is
fundamental. As business objectives and market opportunities are
aligned with efforts to improve human progress, there is a transformation
underway that is reinventing companies across industry sectors. The
private sector has become the incubator of innovation and the solutions
provider for social problems of great magnitude. Corporations are the
ones providing answers for desalinating water and for capturing harmful
carbon emissions. They are sponsoring massive funding initiatives for
HIV/AIDS, breast cancer, and other disease research. And even though
it is controversial in some circles, the world’s commercial enterprises see
the urgent need to genetically modify food crops for greater nutritional
benefit and higher yield.
16. The Red Papers:
But despite expanded roles that speak to broader corporate
responsibility and engagement with world challenges and social
issues, despite reputation-enhancing programs and campaigns, despite
Businesses expanded product lines that specifically meet the needs of our changing
as agents world, something still is not happening: Companies are changing, but
of change often the stakeholders they are ostensibly changing for, are not.
In April , for example, OgilvyEarth™ published Mainstream Green,
in which they noted a gap in mainstream consumer engagement in
the green movement despite the steady drumbeat of information and
attention from high-profile supporters across the strata of business,
celebrity, and science. Although consumers have been called upon to
recognize the importance of a myriad of green actions, society has been
“unable to convert this belief fully into action.” And indeed the new
call to action for this movement, as OgilvyEarth notes, is to “shift our
attention to identifying the behaviors with the greatest potential impact
and to understanding the best ways to get consumers to embrace them.”
Early employee wellness efforts, designed to reduce corporate health
care costs, also failed to yield desired outcomes largely because, as noted
in Corporate Wellness Magazine, “few employers took steps to create a
corporate culture of wellness so that employees looking to make healthy
lifestyle changes would feel empowered, encouraged and supported on a
daily basis.” It wasn’t until office practices were revamped — the creation
of no-smoking zones or the addition of behavior rewards — that results
followed. For example, among its many incentives, the grocery chain
Safeway buys employees lunch for every eight visits they make to the
gym. In , the company reported reductions in health care spending
of %. That’s worth a lot more than the cost of a free lunch.
Companies do not get the full value from their socially responsible
initiatives when they focus on showcasing what a company believes in
or what actions a company has taken. It’s a one-way dialogue instead
of the two-way exchange adopted by PSE. And it stops short of fully
engaging consumers and other stakeholders as partners in change. When
a company changes its manufacturing operations to be less resource-
intensive or modifies how it packages products to use more renewable
17. From Cause to Change
material, few of these activities create a groundswell that will excite
or induce a movement of people to take similar steps needed to create market
demand or impact. You can’t inspire change by example alone.
Change comes when you engage people in something.
Deeper engagement is not unwelcome. In fact, it is increasingly what
people want. In , Time magazine’s Richard Stengel reported on a
poll that showed evidence of “a changing mind-set, a new kind of social
contract among consumers, business and government” and noted “the
rise of the citizen consumer — and the beginnings of a responsibility
revolution.” The private sector is uniquely positioned to be a leader
of this next civic revolution. Corporations can and should use their
resources and reach to support individuals to take actions that improve
their well-being and that of their communities. Doing so will improve
the lives of consumers and other stakeholders and, importantly, the
profitability of their enterprises.
18. The Red Papers:
The value of behavior change
Behavior change, say Philip Kotler and Gerald Zaltman, is the aim of
Businesses the discipline of social marketing, a process that applies commercial
as agents marketing principles and techniques to prompt and support behaviors
of change that benefit society as well as the individual. Since its introduction
years ago, social marketing has been applied primarily by governments
and nonprofits to promote public programs focusing on improved
health, safety, and/or sustainability practices.
In , Philip Kotler and Nancy Lee suggested that corporations
can and should be engaged in these efforts as well. Kotler and Lee
coined the term “corporate social marketing” (CSM) to describe the
application of social marketing to commercial entities pursuing the twin
goals of business success and social good. Their concept is grounded in
the science and art of social marketing, the premise of which is that the
same marketing principles that are used in selling a product, including
consideration of the Ps (product, price, place, and promotion), can
be successfully applied to selling ideas, attitudes, and behaviors that prompt and
support desirable social change. Advancing public good by seeking to
change behavior, they said, does not have to be mutually exclusive from
building markets for products or services. In fact, the two go hand-in-
hand. Because, as articulated by Kotler and Lee:
“... a change in personal behavior stands a good chance of effecting
change in consumer behavior. When people change the way they act, and
then personally benefit from those actions, they are likely to have a strong
positive association with the company that spurred the change.”
19. From Cause to Change
Investing in behavior change elevates the influence and value of being a
responsible and profitable business. Significantly, we see it as the leading
edge to build a firm connection with stakeholders and reap the benefits of
a two-way relationship with them. For example, promoting and prompting
behavior change can change the degree to which employees positively
manage their personal health and well-being. That in turn can lower health
care costs for companies, as Safeway has shown. And motivating people to
act on their concerns about climate change (beyond just acknowledging
the potential problem) can lead to more purchases of lower-emission,
fuel-efficient vehicles, which in turn increases demand for automakers who
manufacture these vehicles.
Whether engagement in social good is pursued via sustainability,
philanthropy, citizenship, supply chain accountability, or any another
element of CSR, outcomes and benefits can be turbo-charged via the
application of social marketing and behavior change principles.
Corporate social marketing initiatives go beyond traditional approaches.
Good corporate social marketing doesn’t stop at advertising, on-
pack promotions, matched donations, in-community volunteering, or
discretionary spending on social causes unrelated to a company’s core
business. In fact, as noted by Kotler and Lee, corporate social marketing
is reflective of a company’s business objectives while simultaneously
generating social good.
The utility of corporate social marketing is far-reaching and can be
used to engage with a wide variety of audiences and stakeholders —
from consumers to customers to employees — to tackle many business
challenges in socially beneficial ways. Consider the following scenarios:
20. The Red Papers:
Consumer engagement: Good Grocery
A grocery retailer has defined its mission to help consumers make
Businesses healthier food choices — especially for children, given the rise in obesity
as agents among youngsters. The hypothetical retailer, which we’ll call Good
of change Grocery, also recognizes the growing market for better-for-you foods,
which, according to a recent study by the Hudson Institute, made up
% of all U.S. grocery purchases but generated more than % of the
growth from to .
21. From Cause to Change
Good Grocery has heavily promoted its commitment in the area of
healthy eating. Its high-profile presence sponsoring and funding healthy
eating events and initiatives throughout the community is matched by a
commitment to devote a premium amount of shelf space in the store to
better-for-you foods. Good Grocery is eager to lead by example, sharing
its mission and commitments with customers in order to encourage
better food-purchasing habits. The brand manager, CSR officer, and
even the CEO at Good Grocery want to connect with shopper moms
on this issue.
For the most part, Good Grocery thinks it’s doing a pretty good job
developing a bond with shopper moms. They’re receptive to hearing
about what Good Grocery is doing and are aware of the types of
products available at the store.
But despite this (and to the consternation of executives at Good
Grocery), the shopper mom targets aren’t behaving any differently.
Their appreciation of the responsible actions of Good Grocery isn’t
translating into making more better-for-you foods purchases, which is
of course the direct, immediate outcome Good Grocery desires.
In order to create profitability for Good Grocery while also advancing
meaningful dietary change for shopper moms, Good Grocery will need
to overcome the inertia behind old shopping habits. To do that, they’ll
need to understand the behaviors of individuals like the shopper mom.
There are barriers to shopper mom’s involvement that have little to do
with her knowledge of Good Grocery and the need to buy healthy food
for her kids. Shopper mom may know what the right thing to do is and
may have the best intentions, but she may lack the skills to embrace
change or the confidence (self-efficacy) to believe she is capable of
changing. Shopper mom can also be hampered because her motivations
aren’t being addressed properly. Perhaps she’s not being prompted in the
right way to do the right thing. Or maybe what influences her isn’t being
leveraged as it should be. It could be that she doesn’t have reinforcement
for ongoing action on her part.
22. The Red Papers:
A social marketing approach can amplify and expand on awareness efforts
by prompting Good Grocery leaders to focus very specifically on what
shopper mom is — or is not — doing and why. Then they can consider the
Businesses best activities and channels for supporting sustained behavior change.
as agents
of change Employee engagement: Careful Chemical Company
Careful Chemical Company is a hypothetical national manufacturer and
supplier of compounds used by a range of industries from technology to
automotive to household goods. It employs thousands of people in plant
operations, warehouses, and supply chain functions.
Careful Chemical is fastidious about safety. It genuinely cares about its
employees and wants to safeguard its record as an industry standard-bearer
of best practices. The Company is also aware of the costs incurred by
OSHA shutdowns in the wake of safety incidents, both in terms of fines
and production halts — not to mention the potential costs to the company
for worker compensation or disability payments due to workplace
accidents that could have been prevented. As a result, the company invests
substantial time and resources in employee communications about safety
practices and procedures. New employees receive detailed information
outlining proper procedures during employee safety orientations. Signage
and precautionary warnings are placed throughout sites and facilities, and
cascading communications through managers down to line employees
keep everyone up-to-date on changes to safety operations and processes.
Employee lunchrooms and other gathering spots feature safety posters
and reminders of best practices. The Company even incentivizes attention
to safety with modest group monetary rewards to those site operations that
achieve a zero-incident record over a period of time.
23. From Cause to Change
Despite these efforts and more, Careful’s CEO has noticed, with
increased alarm, that when he walks the plant floors or visits warehouses,
he sees employees on the manufacturing line without their safety
goggles. He sees warehouse dolly operators ignoring their safety belts,
and he is particularly disturbed by the sight of visitors moving about
unattended or congregating in areas where they could encounter harm.
While Careful Chemical Company makes use of a wide range of
information and communications channels to shape an environment
of safety, there’s attention to cultural nuances that’s necessary as well.
Beyond information dissemination, the Company must consider the
social and cultural norms that impact why people do or don’t do
things. For example, if plant supervisors rarely wear safety goggles,
they are reinforcing that same disregard in the workers on the line.
Social marketing acknowledges — and leverages — behavior models
like the theory of social learning, which asserts that people learn from
modeling the behaviors of others. When we see others — especially
those in positions of authority — taking certain actions, it encourages
us to engage in similar actions.
In the case of Careful Chemical Company, information must be
supplemented with appropriate interventions and motivations to
change behaviors and intentions, shift attitudes, and transform the
culture of Careful’s employee community.
25. From Cause to Change
Businesses must adopt and invest in an explicit
behavior change agenda if they are to have the kind of
return on investment they desire. And that starts with
understanding behavior itself.
Behavior is shaped by many factors. Our environment
and the people around us, for example, can encourage
or discourage what we do or don’t do. Personal factors
— attitudes, beliefs, knowledge, and habits — impact
our actions. So do characteristics like confidence, self-
esteem, ability, and skill.
Just as there are many factors that contribute to why
we behave a certain way, so too are there many ways to
facilitate a desired change among a group of people.
Often, change is built on a continuum of awareness to
attitudes to intentions to behavior. But it’s important to
remember that this isn’t always the case.
26. The Red Papers:
As the growing body of behavioral economics research suggests,
individuals change for different reasons; their starting points for making a
change differ as well. For example, some people will change their attitude
after changing their behavior as a means for justifying that change. This is
especially true for a change prompted by something like peer pressure.
Moving
from cause
to change
For all those reasons, behavior change programs must thoroughly address
the context of the desired change and be tailored to specific audiences.
Consider the case of Good Grocery, discussed earlier. What may be
missing from Good Grocery’s arsenal are programs that facilitate
behavior changes in shopper moms and engage those same moms in
a specific action. For example:
27. From Cause to Change
• Discounts or coupons as incentives to buy (and try) new, healthier
product lines.
• Shopping lists and recipes displayed throughout the store for meal
options that use Good Grocery’s healthier food products.
• Workshops to teach how to read product labels as a way of building
skills and confidence about nutrition.
• In-store cooking demonstrations (especially those that engage children)
to build skills about food preparation.
• Partnerships with pediatricians, mommy bloggers and other influencers
that moms trust to talk about their experience with Good Grocery and
reinforce the importance of purchasing healthy foods for children.
These are activities that drive more than interest or awareness. They drive
action because they support specific behaviors. And more specifically,
they drive an action by a company’s stakeholder group, not necessarily
the company itself. This is the distinction between a behavior change
agenda rooted in a corporate social marketing campaign and other socially
responsible initiatives. Kotler and Lee articulated the differences as follows:
Definitions
Corporate Social Marketing Supporting Behavior Change
Cause Promotion Supporting social causes through paid
sponsorships of promotional efforts
Cause-related Marketing Donating a percentage of revenues to
a specific cause based on product sales
during an announced period of time
Corporate Philanthropy Making direct contributions to a charity
or cause, usually in the form of grants or
donations
Community Volunteering Providing volunteer services in the
community
Socially Responsible Adopting discretionary business practices
Business Practices and investments that support social causes
28. The Red Papers:
Now consider our analysis of how one company, Campbell Soup
Company, works across the entire continuum of socially responsible
initiatives to support their corporate commitment to wellness and
nutrition and how, specifically, corporate social marketing provides
the boost for creating sustained behavior change that impacts the
company’s bottom line.
Moving
from cause
to change
Behavior change programs must
thoroughly address the context of
the desired change and be tailored
to specific audiences.
29. From Cause to Change
Examples
Corporate Social Marketing Campbell makes a $ million behavior-
change investment in its hometown
of Camden, NJ to prompt changes in
physical activity and diet, with the aim of
helping to reduce childhood obesity in
Camden’s children by % and prompting
purchase of better-for-you food products.
Cause Promotion Campbell created the Address Your Heart
program to raise awareness and funds to
support the fight against heart disease,
pledging more than $ . million through
to the American Heart Association.
Cause-related Marketing Pepperidge Farm, a Campbell brand,
released specially pink-wrapped Milano
cookies to show support for Susan G.
Komen for the Cure® during National
Breast Cancer Awareness Month.
Corporate Philanthropy During football season, Campbell
supports each NFL team’s relationship
with a local food bank by donating ,
cans of Campbell’s Chunky Soup in
support of food drives.
Community Volunteering During Make a Difference Week, Campbell
and Pepperidge Farm employees volunteer
with more than different agencies on
projects related to childhood obesity and
hunger, such as sorting food at a local food
bank and teaching nutrition to urban youth.
Socially Responsible As part of its partnership with the Alliance
Business Practices for a Healthier Generation, Campbell
adopted voluntary nutrition guidelines
for snacks and side items in the U.S. and
Canada. Examples include lower-sodium
soups, whole grain Pepperidge Farm
crackers and breads with zero trans-fats,
and V beverages that provide one or more
full servings of vegetables and fruits.
30. The Red Papers:
Behavior change approaches rooted in corporate social marketing
are not substitutes for other socially responsible initiatives, but they
can maximize outcomes of these CSR initiatives and contribute to
business success. In the Campbell example, the behavior change (a new
generation of customers adopting healthy lifestyles, including learning
how to make healthier food choices) not only contributes to greater
common good but also connects directly to the company’s marketing
Moving and business objectives to build a future customer base for its product
from cause lines that are “better for you.”
to change
33. From Cause to Change
Successful social marketing and behavior change
programs reflect careful and systematic research,
planning, implementation, and evaluation. The
essentials of a successful program are rooted in finding
or creating answers to a number of key questions that
define the The Dynamics of Change.
This is a process that methodically examines:
. What is the change that is desired and achievable
and among whom?
. What is required to bring about that change?
. How is that change best prompted and supported?
34. The Red Papers:
The Dynamics of Change —
Key elements to consider
Audience
What is the desired Discovery and Barrier and
analysis
change we seek? opportunity competitive
and
(Research) identification analysis
segmentation
Behavior
What is required to Partner/ally
C-suite intervention
effect the behavior identification
commitments models and
change? (Planning) & cultivation
theories
How do we drive and Integrated
Incentives &
support the desired & sustained Monitoring &
motivational
change? (Program program assessment
tools
implementation) elements
35. From Cause to Change
Deciding what change to seek
Behavior change is a significant undertaking, and before a company
goes down this road, it must make a careful assessment of both the
opportunities and challenges inherent in what it is about to undertake.
At a minimum, a company must be quite clear on exactly what behavior
change it desires and then determine if that change is even achievable.
If it is, among what audiences or audience segments can that change be
most effectively prompted and sustained? Behavior change also requires
careful consideration of how best to position a committed business to
overcome barriers to success and position itself competitively as a leader
in addressing the issues at hand.
36. The Red Papers:
Mastering
the dynamics
of behavior
change
Real behavior change is rarely a one-
time, one-off decision-making process,
but it is rooted in prompting changes in
decision-making.
37. From Cause to Change
Discovery and opportunity identification
It’s critical for a company to specifically determine appropriate and
realistic opportunities or objectives that are possible with shifts in
behavior. For example, is it increasing purchases of a product (like
healthy foods or fuel-efficient vehicles)? Use of a service (like an
on-site, drop-in health clinic)? A different way for a stakeholder to
do something (like not relying on a grocery store for grocery bags and
instead having customers bring their own)? Reducing consumption
of something (like electricity, as described in the PSE example)?
Remember, the focus and end result should be about getting people to
“do” something different and not just “think” about something differently.
Audience analysis and segmentation
Successful behavior change and social marketing programs depend on
a deep understanding of their target audience(s), including insights
into audience characteristics and needs. Such an understanding also
encompasses a well-rounded appreciation of how the potential behavior
change will fit within the audiences’ lives. What are the factors that
define or influence both the desired change in existing behavior and the
new behavior we’d like them to adopt? Relevant factors are likely to be
found not only within and among the individuals being targeted, but
also within the broader context of their lives — like family, home, work,
neighborhood, and community influences.
Real behavior change is rarely a one-time, one-off decision-making
process, but it is rooted in prompting changes in decision-making. We
typically change our behavior when we make a decision to do or not
do something. So understanding how your audiences make decisions
and what their motivations are is imperative. Look at where your target
audience is along the behavior change continuum to understand better
the triggers that can lead them to take a step toward change.
38. The Red Papers:
Decades of proven behavior change and social marketing programming
also have demonstrated the importance of avoiding blanket approaches
that assume that all members of an audience — be they consumers,
employees, or vendors — can and will move along the behavior change
continuum in the same way. One-size-fits-all interventions rarely work.
Instead they must be tailored to specific audience segments.
Mastering
the dynamics
of behavior
change
39. From Cause to Change
Audience analysis and behavior mapping can help produce the necessary
insights into audiences. These techniques are especially helpful in
identifying the distinct and relevant segments that should be targeted.
This is a process that helps companies address such questions as:
• Who among our audience are likely to be early adopters of a desired
behavior change?
• Are there subsets within those groups that have more of a propensity to
do — or not do — what we want (like buying and using our cold-water
formulated detergent or recycling our packaging)?
• What are the factors that drive their decision-making and that have
implications for moving other audience segments further along the
behavior change continuum?
Behavior or motivational mapping also helps identify the likely
response of audiences to certain variables. Consider how the framing
or presentation of a problem can affect actions. In Nudge, behavioral
economists Richard Thaler and Cass Sunstein note, for example, the
difference between asking people in a survey whether they are likely to lose
weight, versus asking whether they intend to eat certain foods or to diet or
exercise. The result: “When people are asked what they intend to do, they
become more likely to act in accordance with their answers.... The answers
to the questions will affect their behavior.”
Audience analysis also includes identification of secondary targets who
can influence the primary audience or who must act in order to spur
the change in the primary audience. Remember our CEO from Careful
Chemical? He must acknowledge that the supervisors who don’t wear
safety goggles are contributing to an undesirable “social norm” in
the workplace. To reverse this, he needs to learn why these important
influencers are not following the required procedures and address those
barriers head on. Other examples of audience influencers are co-workers,
family members, neighbors, friends, pop culture icons and relevant sources
of authority (physicians, law enforcement, etc.).
40. The Red Papers:
Barrier and competitive analysis
Once you have assessed and segmented your audience, it is time to
identify the barriers you face and address the hurdles in your way.
As you explore barriers, think about the following:
• How is the audience currently behaving?
• What’s keeping the audience from adopting the desired behavior?
• Does the audience have the skill set to do what’s being asked of them?
• What external factors (e.g., legal or regulatory matters, technologies,
and cultural norms) impact how they behave?
• What beliefs and attitudes does the audience have about the behavior
Mastering being sought (e.g., do they believe they have the ability to change; do
the dynamics they believe that something good will happen if they adopt the behavior;
of behavior do they think their social network will support their behavior change)?
change • What competitive behavioral messages or influences need to be taken
into account (e.g., positioning your healthy eating message in an
environment saturated with messages that promote less-healthy options)?
Next, consider the potential challenges facing you as a company.
Are your industry competitors engaging in similar programs and, if so,
what is a niche or focus that you can rightfully “own” and leverage to
support your business objectives? Is your company capable and credible
enough to lead the behavior change movement? As noted by Kotler and
Lee, some issues are simply not good matches for corporations or not right
for them to take on alone. Sometimes, clinical or technical support beyond
a company’s native capabilities is required (hence the value of third-party
partnerships discussed below).
42. The Red Papers:
Plotting the path to supporting change
Mapping out a plan for successfully engaging in behavior change helps
ensure that a company is ready, willing, and able to make a commitment.
That plan, if it is to avoid known pitfalls and enhance the likelihood of
success, must build upon the science that has grown up around social
marketing and behavior change. As widespread behavior and social
change is rarely the province of one agent in a society, planning for
success also includes consideration of organizations that both share your
commitment to your goals and can be cultivated as partners that extend
your credibility, reach, and impact.
Mastering C-suite commitments
the dynamics
of behavior Setting the core objectives of a corporate social marketing plan should be
change done in the context of your broader business objectives and commitments
with input from executive leadership. Behavior change objectives cannot
be pursued in a vacuum. This mustn’t be a discretionary effort but rather
one that is fully integrated into the corporate mission from the C-level on
down. It has to be shaped within broader business, policy, and regulatory
contexts. This prevents siloed efforts and ensures the marriage between
socially responsible, purpose-driven activities, and the business goals of
your enterprise.
43. From Cause to Change
Behavior change programs cannot be conceived of as short term,
or one-channel initiatives. You should keep in mind the following:
• Prompting and supporting behavior change requires a sustained
commitment and is often a long-term proposition.
• You will need frequent and reinforcing messaging, communications,
and program activities, and you will need to seed these through multiple
channels and methods, repeatedly and over time, to obtain
the reach, frequency, and impact required for change.
• Hands-on, active engagement (not just talk) with target audiences
is essential to move them from thinking about something to doing
something.
• It is important that audiences “feel” and see the benefits of making
changes and that they understand their efforts have value and make a
difference. You will need to reward and reinforce the desired behavior
change accordingly.
Effective corporate social marketing programs also require companies
to ensure that their values, principles, policies, operations, and activities
are aligned with the socially desirable behavior change goals they are
pursuing. After all, consider the implications if a manufacturer of sports
equipment, eager to prompt more active lifestyles for children, launches
a campaign to encourage purchase and use of the company’s products in
the United States while at the same time the company is under scrutiny
for child labor practices elsewhere. Their commitment, credibility, and
effectiveness could be undermined.
44. The Red Papers:
Behavior change models and theories
Behavior change strategies can and should build on proven theories and
models grounded in communications, behavioral science, and social
change. Relevant theories and models that have proven themselves over
time include those that:
. Illuminate the stages of behavior change that individuals typically move
through as they consider, embrace, and sustain behavior change (e.g.,
Prochaska and DiClemente’s Transtheoretical Model, also known as
Stages of Change)
. Demonstrate the importance of reaching and influencing not only
Mastering individuals but the social network and broader communities of which
the dynamics they are part (e.g., Bronfenbrenner’s Socio-Ecological Model) and
of behavior . Illustrate how change can come to be diffused and embraced across
change an audience or society over time (e.g., Rogers’ Diffusion of
Innovation Theory)
In our experience, successful behavior change programs must convince
individuals that:
• They have a personal stake in the issue or outcome
• Changing behavior will result in benefits they care about
• The benefits outweigh the costs
• They have the ability to change their behavior
• Services/products are available to help them
• Social norms support their actions
Emerging biological and social science offer additional insights. Recent
studies in neuroscience, for example, show that emotion is, at a biological
level, an essential ingredient in decision-making. This reinforces a long-
held understanding that to prompt behavior change we must touch
the emotions as well as the rational mind. Behavioral economics also
highlights the power of emotion in prompting behavior change, while
emphasizing the importance of both the context and construction of
messages and behavioral choices.
45. From Cause to Change
No. . Stages of Change
CO
N
IO
NT
AT
PR PLAT
EM
PL
E-
M
TE
N
CO
IO
N
RELAPSE
PRE
PAR
ATI
ON
E
NC
ENA
NT
AI
M
ACTION
. Stages of Change
The basic premise of this model is that behavior change is a process, not
an event. As a person attempts to change a behavior, s/he moves through
five stages. Relapse may happen at any stage, causing the individual to
revert to an earlier stage or begin the process again.
People at different points along the continuum have different informational
needs and benefit from interventions designed for their stage.
46. The Red Papers:
No. . The Socio-Ecological Model
N
COMMU ITY
IONSHI
LAT PS
RE
Mastering
the dynamics
of behavior INDIVIDUAL
change
. The Socio-Ecological Model
This is a framework for considering the interplay between an individual,
those with whom they have relationships, and community/societal factors.
Behavior both affects and is affected by multiple levels of influence.
Individual behavior both shapes and is shaped by the social environment.
Each sphere provides an additional opportunity to influence and impact
the priority audience. Ultimately the most impactful programs are those
that are multifaceted.
47. From Cause to Change
No. . Diffusion of Innovation Theory
% SATURATION POINT
LATE ADOPTERS
Cumulative Adoption
TAKE OFF
EARLY ADOPTERS
Time
. Diffusion of Innovation Theory
This theory addresses how new ideas, products, and social practices spread
throughout society or from one audience to another. It is the process by
which an innovation is communicated through certain channels over time,
among members of a social system.
A number of factors are key in determining how quickly and to what
extent an innovation will be adopted and diffused: relative advantage,
compatibility, complexity, ability to be tried, and the degree to which it
can be observed.
48. The Red Papers:
Partner/ally identification and cultivation
In your planning, you will want to consider cultivating partners or allies.
Such partnerships are often a distinguishing feature of corporate social
marketing campaigns. Behavior change connected to solving major social
issues and challenges, like the obesity epidemic or diminishing natural
resources, typically requires expertise that lives beyond most companies.
Arguably too, finding common purpose with a government agency or
a public interest group with an equal commitment to an issue yields
significant benefits such as expanded reach and authority.
So ask yourself: “Do we really have what it takes to knowledgeably
Mastering and credibly lead movements around healthy eating? Education?
the dynamics Energy conservation? Will our efforts be enhanced by working with
of behavior non-profits or public agencies with natural legacies in these areas?
change Whose endorsements and participation will inspire confidence and
strengthen our impact?”
Realizing the promise of change
Bringing change strategies to life is not an overnight activity. You’ll need
to commit to the long haul and actively seek out inventive and inspired
ways to reach, engage, motivate, and support audiences on a sustained
basis. Without question, you will also want to monitor and assess progress
and be prepared to make midcourse corrections to spur improvements.
Integrated and sustained program elements
Proven behavior change and social marketing programs tend to employ
a range of methods to encourage and support their intended audiences
to embrace change. They also take into account the varying needs of
members of the audiences and the fact that needs change over time. As a
result, effective programs avoid dependence on single methods or discrete
approaches used in isolation. Rather, they reflect a range of integrated
elements planned and plotted to unfold over time in ways that are
complementary, reinforcing, and additive.
50. The Red Papers:
Many communications tactics — like grassroots engagement or media
advocacy — are core to traditional behavior change communications
programs. But you’ll need to adapt them to your audiences, their
perceptions of the issue at hand, and the change you’re asking them
to make. Consider the following questions:
• Are communications plans, tools, and products audience- and
issue-driven?
• Are they incorporated into appropriate audience life paths, reaching
targets where they live, work, play, and shop, as well as in the media that
reach and influence them (e.g., social media)?
• Are they reflective of where audience targets are on their change journey
Mastering (i.e., most likely to change, or least likely to change)?
the dynamics • Are your activities and channels delivering maximum reach and
of behavior frequency?
change • Are you using a full suite of media (earned, owned, paid), all of which
play a role in spreading the ideas and social practices that contribute to
behavior change?
• Have you created engagement platforms that promote hands-on
involvement to reinforce active engagement and not passive
communications?
• Have you harnessed the power of media advocates, both in traditional
media and social media, who are often key agenda-setters and opinion-
influencers?
• Have you explored the power of pop culture, which, when used
appropriately, can ignite movements that spark and support personal
behavior change?
51. From Cause to Change
Incentives and motivational tools
With a firm understanding of the change needed (and why) as well as who
is best suited to make this change (and how), you will be able to develop
a framework for supporting the desired change. This should include
consideration of such elements as:
• Motivational platforms and messages
• Program branding and identity
• Creative materials and tools, including how to incorporate them into
existing communications, marketing, and advertising products
While these strategies may seem fundamental to any communications
program remember, we’re suggesting these strategies be filtered through
and crafted against the backdrop of your audience mapping and analyses
as well as applicable behavior change theories and models.
Let’s unpack that. When you craft messages for a social marketing
campaign, think about doing so in a way that underscores the personal
benefit, speaks to motivations, and addresses negative or unintended
consequences and other factors that influence individuals to consider and
embrace change.
And while your audience analysis may have echoes of research performed
by your marketing and research teams (who may profile your audience
and examine their lifestyle and preferences), their work often does not
sufficiently answer why your audience does or does not “do” something.
Health-conscious moms, for example, as a category, may seem to be
predisposed to making healthy food purchases. And yet many of them
do not do so. Many factors influence how they shop for groceries and
what they buy and prepare for their families. For some of these moms,
the perceived health benefits may not outweigh the perceived high price
of these products. For others, the perceived challenges associated with
preparing new foods (added time and complexity) trump their desire to
introduce new and healthier products into their family’s diet. Insights
like these (and their corollary solutions) are what emerge from a social
marketing approach.
52. The Red Papers:
As you consider your branding strategy and the creation of your
creative materials and tools, do so in a social marketing context. They
should be reflective of the behavior profile of the intended audience
and be culturally, emotionally, and linguistically appropriate (while
of course having cohesiveness and synergy with your other traditional
communications products).
Monitoring and assessment
Measurement is crucial to both evaluate success and help optimize the
initiative for the future. While behavior change will have a direct impact
(because the intended result is a specific action), you must be prepared
to invest the time and resources necessary to move the needle. That
means looking at interim metrics to gain assurance that you are headed
in the right direction.
Measurement must look beyond process measures (such as reach, number
of media impressions, etc.) and look at impact and outcome. An interim
impact metric might be something like “signing up for a healthy cooking
class” or “taking a workplace safety pledge.” Outcome metrics are the
actual measure of the end behavior sought, like increased market share
of a healthier food product line or reduced worker safety incidents.
Evaluation methods and the timing of those evaluations will need to
be determined in concert with setting your initial objectives.
55. From Cause to Change
When designed well and implemented properly, behavior
change-based corporate social marketing campaigns
can generate meaningful benefits for companies, their
customers, and other stakeholders, as well as society at
large. For companies, this can include:
• Building markets and driving demand
• Strengthening brand positioning by leveraging positive associations
between your commitment and your brand
• Creating brand preference and/or loyalty
• Positioning your company as a leader that supports widespread and
highly desired behavior change to achieve important social goals
• Building strong community relationships by attracting credible
partners, including public sector agencies, non-profit organizations,
foundations, and special interest groups that share a commitment to
influencing public behavior in support of mutual social goals
• Attracting and retaining employees who value the positive social
change the company’s efforts help make possible
• Increasing profitability by influencing behaviors that can reduce
operating costs and expenses
• Improving the long-term operating environment impacting a
business’s current and future success
57. From Cause to Change
Corporations have begun to embrace fully the practice
of socially responsible behavior as a means to sustain
and grow their businesses. But maximizing business
performance and effectiveness requires advancing
beyond actions and practices that companies do on their
own. The next evolution is for companies to enlist their
customers, employees, and other key constituents in those
practices. Corporations are just starting to follow the
lead of companies like Unilever, which today directs its
water conservation efforts not only at its own plants
and manufacturing facilities, but at the farmers and
suppliers who grow crops for its products and the people
who use % of the water associated with Unilever’s
skin cleansing products. After all, when you get right
down to it, Unilever cannot sustain its shampoo or soap
lines for generations to come if there is a shortage of the
water required for their use. Helping customers learn
new behaviors, Unilever has realized, is critical to its
very existence in the years to come.
58. The Red Papers:
Like Unilever, other companies in many industries have recognized the
relationship between their business objectives and social change. CEOs
of grocery chains and food manufacturers, for example, acknowledge that
product lines of foods that are “better for you” will fail without a change
in our approach to healthy eating. Hotel chain executives understand that
they cannot conserve water and reduce laundry costs unless hotel guests
choose to reuse their towels. And so on.
There are meaningful and measureable benefits to be gained from
the private sector adopting behavior change and corporate social
marketing initiatives. For business, it can result in everything from
market expansion and reduced costs to strengthened brand positioning
and an enhanced reputation. For individuals, it can lead to healthier
and more productive lifestyles. And for our society as a whole it means
a more prosperous and enduring world.
Global forces such as food security, the need for sustainable energy,
the prevention of chronic disease, and so much more, are forcing us to
Conclusion reconsider how we live. The issue of who leads us in change is vital. There
is a unique depth of resources, innovation, and sheer resolve waiting in
the wings of the private sector while governments and NGOs are crying
out for help. Adding corporate leadership to the voice of government and
public interest organizations will create a multi-faceted approach with
exponential benefits for individuals, societies, and corporations.
61. From Cause to Change
• Companies can reap meaningful and measurable improvements in
business performance and return on investment from behavior change
programs and social marketing campaigns, ranging from market
expansion opportunities and reduced costs to strengthened brand
positioning and an enhanced reputation and leadership profile.
• Corporate social marketing and behavior change programs allow
companies to advance and evolve their engagement in public good and
help them reinforce many of their corporate responsibility initiatives.
• Corporate social marketing is an emerging opportunity for companies
who want to harness the power of proven behavior change strategies
most traditionally associated with government and nonprofit initiatives.
• Understanding what the behavior is of target audiences is fundamental
to identifying the change that may be needed or desired.
• The Dynamics of Change process can help shape core elements of a
change program by addressing such factors as:
– What is the change that is desired and achievable, among whom?
– What is required to bring about that change?
– How is that change best prompted and supported?
• Behavior change programs must be supported by the C-suite and must
reflect the broad business objectives of a company. If they are to be
effective, they cannot be viewed as discretionary nor can they be pursued
in a vacuum.
• Behavior change strategies can and should build on proven theories and
models grounded in communications, behavioral science, and social
progress.
• Corporate social marketing helps companies strengthen the increasingly
important — and necessary — relationship among a thriving business
enterprise, the well-being of stakeholders, and social progress.
• Global changes to the economy, to our environment, and to our social
welfare are mandating new approaches to how we live. Adding behavior
change leadership from the private sector to that of government and
public interest organizations will create a multi-faceted approach with
exponential benefits.
62. The Red Papers:
Corporate social marketing has relevance and benefits for a large
number of companies operating across many sectors. The following
table illustrates examples of desirable behavior changes that offer
concrete business-building opportunities and benefits for a range of
different types of companies and industries.
Illustrative Examples of Opportunities for Applying
Corporate Social Marketing
Behavior Change Examples of Types of Examples of Opportunities / Benefits
Businesses That Benefit
Benefit to Business:
Market expansion for healthier food
products.
• Consumer Packaged Goods
Key takeaways
Manufacturers Benefit to Individuals:
Eat Healthier • Restaurants and Other Food Improved personal and family health.
Service Companies
• Grocers and Other Retailers Benefit to Society:
Health & Wellness
Healthier individuals, families, and
communities; reduced chronic disease
and associated healthcare costs.
Benefit to Business:
Increased sales and appropriate use of
prescription drugs; decreased insurance
claims; increased individual health and
worker productivity.
Adhere to • Pharmaceutical Companies
Benefit to Individuals:
Medication • Health Insurance Companies
More effective disease management,
Regimes • Employers
improved health, reduced morbidity and
associated long-term healthcare costs.
Benefit to Society:
Healthier individuals, workforces,
and communities.
63. Behavior Change Examples of Types of Examples of Opportunities / Benefits
Businesses That Benefit
Benefit to Business:
Reduced manufacturing/operating costs;
sustainability of vital natural resources.
• Food and Beverage
Conserve Companies Benefit to Individuals:
Water • Utilities Reduced household water utility bills;
• Manufacturers continued access to essential resource.
Benefit to Society:
Sustainable water supplies.
Enviornmental
Benefit to Business:
More efficient, compact packaging that
maximizes shelf space and units per load
shipped; decreased costs; potential tax
benefits.
• Manufacturers
Benefit to Individuals:
Recycle & • Consumer Packaged Goods
Reduced costs; reduced waste; enhanced
Reduce Waste Manufacturers
convenience; potential discounts and tax
• Retailers
benefits.
Benefit to Society:
Reduced environmental impact and
reduced need for landfilling and
incineration.
Benefit to Business:
Larger and less-risky customer base.
Benefit to Individuals:
Increase • Banks & Financial
Increased personal asset building and
Financial Institutions
Personal Finance & Online Security
financial management skills; financial
Responsibility • Credit Card Providers
security
Benefit to Society:
Improved financial management skills;
increased economic security and stability.
Benefit to Business:
Mitigated losses; increased purchase and
use of security products and services;
increased use of e-commerce.
• Protection Services Benefit to Individuals:
Protect Online Companies More secure personal and financial data;
Identity • E-Commerce Retailers increased comfort, ease, convenience,
• Social Networking Sites and peace of mind using electronic
devices and e-commerce.
Benefit to Society:
Safer online interactions; reduced fraud,
abuse, and theft.
65. From Cause to Change
About Re-Energize Better-For-You Foods, It’s Just
www.pse.com (p. ) Good Business
Obesity Solutions Initiative,
Kramer, Mark R., and Porter, Hudson Institute, . (p. )
Michael E.
Creating Shared Value www.campbellsoupcompany.com
Harvard Business Review, . (p. ) (p. )
Bennett, Graceann, and Thaler, Richard, and Sunstein,
Williams, Freya Mainstream Green Cass R.
The Red Papers, Ogilvy & Mather, Nudge, Penguin Books
. (p. ) (updated edition), . (p. )
Jackson, Marianne Prochaska, J.O., and
Wellness Programs — Success DiClemente, C.C.
Depends on a Custom, Holistic Transtheoretical Therapy: Toward a
Design Supported On and more integrative model of change
Off Work Psychotherapy: Theory, Research
Corporate Wellness Magazine, . and Practice ( ): - . .
(p. ) (p. )
Stengel, Richard Bronfenbrenner, U.
For Americans Consumers, a The Ecology of
Responsibility Revolution Human Development
Time, . (p. ) Cambridge, MA: Harvard
University Press. . (p. )
Kotler, Philip, and Zaltman, Gerald
Social Marketing: An Approach to Rogers, Everett M.
Planned Social Change Diffusion of Innovations ( th ed.)
Journal of Marketing, . (p. ) New York Free Press, . (p. )
Kotler, Philip, and Lee, Nancy Mason, David
Best of Breed: When it comes How Do You Persuade a Billion
to gaining a market edge while People to Change Their Lives?
supporting a social cause, www.forumforthefuture.org,
“corporate social marketing” leads . (p. )
the pack
Stanford Social Innovation Review, .
(pp. , , )
66. About the authors
Given their shared commitment to
working with companies dedicated to
advancing social good, the authors are
leading efforts to deploy Ogilvy Public
Relations’ behavior-change driven social
marketing capabilities on behalf of the
business community.
67. From Cause to Change
Bess Bezirgan
Senior Vice President, Lead, Corporate Social Marketing Initiative
Ogilvy Washington
Bess Bezirgan is passionate about the intersection of social good and
behavior change, a passion that is rooted in deep experience in corporate
sustainability and CSR. She partners with clients on campaigns to enhance
reputations, showcase inventive thought leadership, cultivate ally support,
and more. Bess has provided communications counsel on issues ranging
from energy and water to recycling and responsible forestry to such leading
global brands as Tetra Pak, Asia Pulp and Paper, Aveda, and the Dow
Chemical Company. She has worked with client and agency teams in the
U.S., Europe, Asia, and the Middle East.
At Ogilvy Public Relations, Bess helps identify opportunities for private
sector companies to leverage behavior change to impact their business
objectives while improving the well-being of individuals and society. Her
private sector experience is complemented by work in the public sector —
for elected officials in the U.S. Congress, several government agencies,
and for the Government of the Cayman Islands.
She received her bachelor’s degree in History from Tufts University and
earned a master’s degree from Northwestern University’s Medill School
of Journalism. Bess is also a graduate of Stanford University’s Business
Strategies For Environmental Sustainability, a program of the Stanford
Graduate School of Business. She is a native of Austin, Texas but has
called the Washington, DC area home for the past years.
68. The Red Papers:
Tom Beall, MHSA
Managing Director, Global Social Marketing Practice
Ogilvy Public Relations
Tom leads Ogilvy Public Relations’ efforts to help clients apply social
marketing and behavior change communications to address public
health, public safety, and social issues across the globe. He has been
one of the industry’s leading social marketing practitioners since joining
Ogilvy Public Relations in to direct the agency’s work on behalf
of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s (CDC) landmark
America Responds to AIDS public education campaign. He subsequently
led Ogilvy’s expanded support of a comprehensive body of work for
CDC, as well as for the National Institutes of Health, the Centers for
Medicare & Medicaid Services, and other major government clients. Tom’s
expertise in social marketing and change communications also has been
applied to other Ogilvy clients, including the World Bank, Merck, Pfizer,
GlaxoSmithKline, Nestlé, American Hospital Association, and UNICEF.
Tom is credited with leading efforts to build the agency’s preeminence
in social marketing and is now focused on enhancing that capability
worldwide. Before being named head of the agency’s dedicated social
marketing team, he served as co-lead of the agency’s Global Healthcare
About the Practice for nearly a decade.
authors
Tom puts his commitment to causes and social change to work in
other ways, including service on the Boards of the International Social
Marketing Association; the Sewall-Belmont House & Museum/National
Woman’s Party; the National Research Center for Women & Families; and
the American Forest Foundation. Tom also has served on the Boards of
OWL: The Voice of Mid-life and Older Women; the Epilepsy Foundation;
and the National Council on Aging. Tom holds both a bachelor’s degree
and master’s degree in health services administration from The George
Washington University.
69. From Cause to Change
Jennifer Wayman, MHS
Executive Vice President and Director, Social Marketing Practice
Ogilvy Washington
Jennifer leads the Social Marketing Practice of Ogilvy Washington
and has dedicated much of her -year career — all of it with Ogilvy
Public Relations — to establishing the agency as a recognized
industry leader in the discipline of social marketing. An expert in
public health and safety, she has deep expertise in issues ranging
from women’s health and youth marketing to cardiovascular disease,
cancer, vaccines, osteoporosis, and violence prevention.
Jennifer guides strategic planning for national initiatives across a range
of business sectors, and has provided counsel and social marketing
expertise to such clients as Merck, Pfizer, GlaxoSmithKline, the
American Hospital Association, the U.S. Department of Health and
Human Services, the National Institutes of Health, and the Centers
for Disease Control and Prevention. She has worked with the National
Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute on several agenda-setting initiatives
including The Heart Truth®, an award-winning national campaign that
started the national women’s heart health movement with its signature
Red Dress symbol. She has also worked on We Can!, a national
childhood obesity prevention program.
Jennifer is a frequent university lecturer, contributor to the social
marketing literature, and blogger (smexchange.ogilvypr.com), and
speaks regularly on social marketing at international and national
conferences. She holds a master of health science degree in Behavioral
Science and Health Education from Johns Hopkins University’s
Bloomberg School of Public Health and a bachelor’s degree in
Marketing from Lehigh University. Jennifer is a founding member of
the International Social Marketing Association and was named the
Washington PR Woman of the Year by Washington Women
in Public Relations. A born and bred New Yorker, Jennifer currently
lives near Washington, DC.
70. The Red Papers:
Michael Briggs
Executive Vice President, Strategy & Planning/Social Marketing
Ogilvy Public Relations
A senior manager and strategist who works across Ogilvy Public Relations’
Strategy + Planning and Social Marketing groups, Michael has more than
years of experience developing and implementing communications
solutions for diverse issues and industries.
Michael provides counsel for some of the agency’s key clients — government
agencies as well as leading brands, corporations, and nonprofits — and
is called upon to assist teams across the agency. A skilled planner and
facilitator, he brings new insights and ideas to client challenges and trains
both colleagues and clients on brainstorming, business development, and
storytelling. Michael is known for his creativity, strategic thinking, and
expertise in branding, messaging, and behavior change.
Michael has had the privilege of advising clients as diverse as the National
Institutes of Health, GlaxoSmithKline, Nestlé, Merck, U.S. Department
of the Treasury, Kraft, Intel, Lance Armstrong Foundation, DuPont,
Microsoft, Wells Fargo, Marriott, and the Centers for Disease Control
and Prevention. He is a founding member of the International Social
About the Marketing Association. Among his achievements is an HIV program for
authors Washington, DC that was selected as multicultural campaign of the year
by PR Week and replicated by health departments nationwide.
Prior to joining Ogilvy Public Relations in , Michael was
communications manager for InterAction, the nation’s largest association
of global disaster relief, development, and refugee NGOs. Before that,
he managed media relations and national events for Oxfam America, an
international development NGO.
Michael lives in Washington, DC, where he serves on the board of the
United Nations Association of the National Capital Area as chair of
the communications committee. He has a bachelor’s degree in English
Literature and Literary Theory from Clark University.
73. From Cause to Change
While the points of view we’ve articulated, for better or for worse, are
expressly those of the authors, our ideas and our thinking have been
shaped by the input of many within Ogilvy Public Relations. Special
thanks to Robert Mathias for his support and his continued efforts to
champion our social marketing work. Beth Ruoff, Michael Law, and
Jennifer Scott provided enormously valuable input. Stuart Smith,
Jeff Chertack, Sarah Temple, Natalie Adler, and Trish Taylor shared
important feedback and encouragement.
74. The Red Papers:
Colophon
Authors
Bess Bezirgan
Tom Beall
Jennifer Wayman
Michael Briggs
Editor
Jeremy Katz
Creative director
Gabe Usadel
Art directors
Eric Ellis & Alex Fuller
Illustration
Klas Fahlen
Typeface
Ogilvy J Baskerville
Design
Ogilvy , Branding &
Graphic Design