Earlier this week, my friend Susannah Fox of the Pew Internet and American Life Project wrote a provocative post focusing on whether it was useless to focus on “Health 2.0” giveuptechnologies like blogs, mobile and social networks when most people are resistant to change. She acknowledged that people may change their health behaviors for the better in the short-term, but when it comes to long-term behavior change, nothing seems to be working.

The post has generated a firestorm of commentary from across the Web and over the past couple of days I’ve taken the time to read a good amount of it. As I thought about how I would respond to this question, I began to wonder if we are asking the right one. I think the frustration Susannah highlighted has very little to do with technology and a lot to do with anger over human nature. Instead of asking: “What’s the point of focusing on all these fancy tech tools?,” the person who left a comment on Susannah’s post might as well have been asking, “What’s the point of doing anything period!” In fact, I think the sub-text of this question is: “People are stubborn and a little lazy. We keep on telling them not to slowly kill themselves, but they ignore our advice. It won’t matter if we use mobile, Facebook or Twitter to reach them, we’ll just get the same result. At some point, you have to wonder if we should just give up.”

Yes, this is the question, health marketers, public health communicators, social marketers, pharma marketers, data mavens (and others). Should we give up?

You see, I’m as tuned in as anyone to the steady march of technology. However, I never believed that the Internet, mobile phones, Twitter or Facebook would save the world – or make it more likely that people would change their behaviors. Instead, I recognized that technology, like anything else is an enabler. Media technologies make it easier to reach people, but it won’t make them change. No, a person has to want to change for change to happen. And, change often happens because the person thinks it will benefit them in some way.

A few years ago, I took a look at an initiative run by the Association of Black Cardiologists designed to decrease the risk of heart attack and stroke in African Americans. The initiative had a simple, but provocative name and message: “Children Should Know Their Grandparents.” ABC urged people to change their ways, not for themselves, but for those they loved. This project was launched before YouTube, Facebook, Twitter and MySpace were on the scene. However, if it were, I think it would have a major impact.

Yes, we don’t do a good job getting people to change their behaviors over the long-term. But, I don’t think we should despair. Instead, we should focus on recognizing what works and ensuring we spread the message of success far and wide.  In the end, we should use whatever gets the job done — whether it be Facebook or a face-to-face meeting.

Susannah, it’s hard as heck to change behaviors, but I’m not ready to give up. I’m glad you aren’t either.

(P.S. anyone interested in how we can change behavior over the short and long term should study the CDC’s VERB Campaign. Click here for a case study on this initiative published on our knowledge community, Living the Path.)

Keep up with the Path of the Blue Eye project by subscribing to our RSS feed and/or downloading our nifty widget. Also, get more insight and information at our knowledge community, Living the Path, by clicking here.

By now, most people involved in digital and social media marketing are aware of the new Federal Trade Commission guidance focusing on blogger transparency. FTC’s guidelines have been hailed by some and blasted as unconstitutional by others. Regardless of one’s stance on the regulations, transparency about the financial links between bloggers and companies is now the name of the game.

However, when it comes to relationships between companies/organizations and the marketing communications agencies that serve them, the issue of transparency becomes even more complex. Are agencies required to disclose their relationships with companies when they post content on clients’ behalf?

The question of transparency becomes even more critical when we enter into the realm of health marketing communications. For example, in recent years medical communications firms working on behalf of drug firms have been criticized for “ghostwriting” articles on behalf of physicians. Should marketing agencies always disclose when they are developing content on behalf of a company, brand or physician in social media? If misleading content is posted by an agency, who is responsible – the client or the agency?

Recently, noted marketing experts John Cass and Toby Bloomberg addressed this issue with an extensive post featuring commentary on transparency from more than 30 marketing experts, including Chris Brogan, Ellen Hoenig and B.L. Ochman. Now, I’ve invited Toby and John to continue the transparency discussion on our next Casual Conversation Webinar. This session will take place on February 12, 2010 at 12:30 p.m. (Eastern). If you care about transparency and social media (in the health sphere and beyond), I urge you to join us for this Webinar. As usual, this session will be limited to 50 people, so register today! Use the widget below to register.

Keep up with the Path of the Blue Eye project by subscribing to our RSS feed and/or downloading our nifty widget. Also, get more insight and information at our knowledge community, Living the Path, by clicking here.

Last week we had our second “Casual Conversation” Webinar focusing on how to build a movement using social media.  The session featured Nedra Weinreich, a prominent social marketer and expert in using social technologies to prompt “change for good.”

Due to technical difficulties I’m not able to post the Webinar audio.  However, the chat transcript and Nedra’s slides are below.  We’ll have the audio issues worked out in time for our next Webinar, which will take place on February 12, 2010 at 12:30 p.m. (EST).

Get the chat transcript (this is not the audio recording) here.

Keep up with the Path of the Blue Eye project by subscribing to our RSS feed and/or downloading our nifty widget. Also, get more insight and information at our knowledge community, Living the Path, by clicking here.

This post is part of a blog series focusing on successful health marketing campaigns using multiple communications disciplines and media channels.  If you have a campaign we should highlight, let us know.

In previous blog posts I’ve highlighted many successful health marketing campaigns spanning various health topics. However, I have yet to discuss campaigns promoting the institution of public health. The reason for this is simple – there just aren’t that many campaigns on the topic.

Increasing the public health workforce is one of the goals of Healthy People 2010 – the government’s health promotion and disease prevention strategic plan. When I began my MPH at Boston University School of Public Health, I lost count of all the people who confused my program with something else. My mom was notorious for confusing public health school with medical school while others thought I was working on a degree in public relations or politics. How are we expected to promote public health when the public does not even know what public health means?

I was thrilled to find the What is Public Health? website developed by the Association of Schools of Public Health and Pfizer Public Health. The website attempts to answer the question through short flash videos highlighting the impacts of public health and careers in public health.

The campaign also includes the “This Is Public Health” sticker campaign to promote awareness of all the things public health encompasses. Public health advocates are encouraged to slap a sticker on everything from public park benches to drinking fountains to condom machines. The campaign features many new media channels including a Facebook page, a YouTube channel, and a Flickr group.

Several state public health departments have recognized the need to communicate the work of public health professionals. The Washington State Public Health Improvement Partnership provides the Department of Health in Washington State with helpful public health communication messages and plans.

As marketing and communications professionals, we can help to promote public health and in turn improve the public’s health. Have you heard of any other successful campaigns promoting the field of public health?

Keep up with the Path of the Blue Eye project by subscribing to our RSS feed and/or downloading our nifty widget. Also, get more insight and information at our knowledge community, Living the Path, by clicking here.

The Bottom Line: The numbers belie our momentum

Earlier this month, I announced we had launched a KnowledgeDriveThe goal: 120 submissions to our NewsHub and Q&A Center in 60 days.  The outcome: 120 books to low-income children and more knowledge for health marketers.

The chart at the right (click to enlarge) illustrates our progress to date.  Currently, the community has raised eight books for low-income kids.  However, over the past KDrive_Progress_3week, I have head a few conversations with people interested in supporting the KnowledgeDrive by sharing what they know.  So, I expect our numbers to dramatically improve over the next couple of weeks.

Join Me for a Quick Conversation Re: the KnowledgeDrive

My conversations with people about the KnowledgeDrive have revealed that some may want to talk about it and be provided with some direction on how to participate.  That’s why I’ve scheduled a 30-minute teleconference/Webinar where you can receive:

  • An overview of the KnowledgeDrive
  • Instructions on how to participate

Members and non-members of the Living the Path, our online knowledge community are welcome. It will take place on Tuesday, February 2 at 12:30 p.m. (Eastern). Register below.

Keep up with the Path of the Blue Eye project by subscribing to our RSS feed and/or downloading our nifty widget. Also, get more insight and information at our knowledge community, Living the Path, by clicking here.

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