Describe and discuss a number of major social marketing campaigns of Essay

Describe and discuss a number of major social marketing campaigns of your choice, with special reference to their strengths and weaknesses - Essay Example During 1970s social marketing started as a discipline for the first time. Kotler et al. argued that the similar marketing philosophy that was being used to sell products to customers can be used to "sell" behavioural attitudes and ideas. The dissimilarity is that, in commercial marketing the advantage goes to the marketers only, but in social marketing the entire society at large gets the benefit of behavioural changes. The implementation of marketing strategies in the field of politics is a comparatively new concept, argued, O’Shaughnessy (2002). Most of the political actors are not expert in marketing techniques. That is why the help of professional public realtor or marketers are taken. All the political parties need to get votes from public to win the electoral battle. So, a positive image and a favourable opinion have to be created in the mind of public. As it is also a mass opinion building process, the social marketing principle is used to do political marketing campaigns. Wilson and Gilligan (2005, p.189) state ‘The proliferation of Internet sites, for example, has enabled groups of consumers to publicize instantaneous and often highly critical reviews of new products, services or films that can be far more influential than the formal advertising campaigns. However, from the company’s point of view, improving technology and growing consumer sophistication also enable the m to become smarter. New advertising channels, such as Internet sites, video screens at supermarket checkouts and interactive television all enable suppliers to find more willing buyers. Companies are also becoming better at stimulating a street ‘buzz’ about their products by influencing select opinion formers, rather than by focusing largely upon mass advertising hype. Amongst those to have done this are companies such as Disney, Apple, Virgin, and Starbucks, all of which have caught the Zeitgeist and