What Works in Youth Development: Social Marketing
24 August 2010
The Ministry of Youth Development, co-funding with the Partnership Programme of the Health Research Council of New Zealand has web-published a systematic review entitled What Works in Social Marketing to Young People? The review was undertaken by Louise Thornley and Kate Marsh (Quigley and Watts, Wellington, July 2010).
The review provides systematic evidence of success factors in social marketing interventions which have improved outcomes for youth, as well as evidence of any unintended consequences of social marketing interventions.
By highlighting what works in the literature on effective youth focused social marketing interventions, the review will contribute to improving the health and social outcomes of young people in New Zealand.
This review found effective youth social marketing campaigns incorporated the following key features.
| A youth-centred approach to social marketing |
| ‘By youth for youth' where young people were included in all aspects of the campaign and their guidance was taken on board and used to shape and refine the campaign |
| Use of methods and channels that were accessible and appealing to youth |
| Social marketing informed by research and theory |
| Use of theory and formative research to inform the campaign and comprehension evaluation from the beginning |
| A comprehensive and multi-faceted approach |
| Long-term campaigns of at least 1-2 years that were well resourced/funded |
| Multi-faceted campaigns including policy changes and focus on ‘upstream' factors |
| Complement other initiatives such as school-based programmes, advocacy or policy changes |
| Ethnic and age specific approaches in social marketing |
| Ethnic-specific approaches, especially for Māori and Pacific youthTargeting to subgroups such as adolescents e.g. 9-14 years and high-risk adolescents |
| Application of commercial marketing success factors to social marketing |
| Use of branding and counter-marketing has been effective in the US in particular |
| Aim for high exposure to a variety of different marketing activities |
| Follow industry guidelines for reach, frequency and duration of advertisements |
| Use of appropriate messages that empower youth |
| Messages that empower youth and appeal to their need for independence and rebellion |
| Strong and intense emotional messages (both positive and negative), use of social threat and personal testimony |
| Work across sectors and organisations |
| Pooling of resources across organisations for future social marketing campaigns to maximise funding |
| Consider the need for a specific national framework or steering group (including youth, youth sector, researchers, university, and policy) for youth social marketing. |
What Works in Youth Development: Social Marketing: Summary Table of Findings: What Works in Social Marketing to Young People. (Louise Thornley and Kate Marsh, Quigley and Watts, Wellington, July 2010).
