THE HEALTHY LIFESTYLE CAMPAIGN : FROM A SOCIAL MARKETING PERSPECTIVE

Abstract

As the title describes, this report is a case study of the Healthy Lifestyle campaign in Singapore, using a social marketing framework. Social marketing refers to the design, implementation, and control of programs seeking, to increase the acceptability of a social idea or practice in a target group(s). In recent years, social marketing has evolved as a more sophisticated approach for effecting social change. The social marketer is different from a propagandist (as in social advertising or social communication), as he takes the product, price, channels, and promotion as variables rather than fixed. This mentality enhances campaign effectiveness. The study of the Healthy Lifestyle campaign aims to illustrate how social marketing theories can be used as a framework for planning and implementing a social change campaign. It is hoped that the report will provide useful ideas and insights for social change planners, particularly healthcare providers. The Ministry of Health is responsible for overseeing the rational campaign. It has accumulated a host of experience and knowledge in health education and promotion, thus, the job of promoting a healthy lifestyle to Singaporeans is just a mere extension of its past efforts, with a new focus. The Ministry has taken a very extensive approach involving many parties and it has made efforts to facilitate the target groups' adoption of the social product. Convenient and attractive response channels have been designed. There is also use of incentives to increase the consumers' level of motivation to enhance maintenance of efforts, while specific activities have been planned for different target groups. All in all, the Ministry has proven itself to be a social marketer, with its manipulation of the marketing mix for effective social change. However, more improvements can be made to enhance its customer orientation. Additionally, as the campaign is in its early stage of operation, some of the good strategies have not been fully developed and exploited, and this calls for more effort and persistence. In conclusion, I would like to maintain that there are many things to be learnt from the Healthy Lifestyle campaign and I hope the reader will agree to this.