Tag Archives: science

The World Bank Vietnam Five Clean Fingers – an international perspective on communicating public health messages

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Client: The World Bank
Campaign: 360/Synchronised campaign for handwashing with soap
Agency: Grey Vietnam

Background

Grey Vietnam created a unique social marketing public awareness campaign in Vietnam. The driving idea behind the campaign was: Five Clean Fingers. The campaign is part of a global public health initiative stemming from research indicating that handwashing with soap at critical times is one of the most effective ways to prevent common viral and bacterial diseases. The project initiator, the World Bank’s Water and Sanitation Program, the leader of the National Handwashing Initiative, selected Grey Vietnam as its communications partner in the campaign, which is part of international efforts toward millennium development goals.

The objective was to reach rural mothers with children under five years of age with key messages for behavior change. Grey’s annual consumer study on Asians, Eye on Asia revealed a key insight about rural Vietnamese women: Being a mother = Stress. Their biggest source of stress is when their children get sick. The challenge was to overcome myths about cleanliness believed by the target audience, uncovered by research conducted by Nielsen. Among people’s beliefs were that water alone is enough and that clean looking and smelling hands are clean enough.

Objective

The research findings were used in a communication workshop where campaign objectives were developed with public and private partners, stakeholders, including Vietnamese Ministry of Health and other government agencies. Grey Vietnam applied its brand acceleration model to develop the campaign, Driving Idea steeped in local culture and having the ‘magic’ ingredient needed to talk to and convince mothers – children themselves. For generations, Vietnamese use proverbs and songs to teach and train children in the Vietnamese traditions. Mothers and kids sing the songs to reinforce values. One such song’s lyrics are: One plus one is two. Two plus two is four. Four plus one is five. All five clean fingers.

Strategy & Execution

The driving idea, Five Clean Fingers is the foundation for a combination of tactics, including an above-the-line television commercial in both Northern and Southern Vietnamese dialects, a poster series, and a bold campaign logo used throughout the campaign. These materials were used in conjunction with the following below-the-line, direct activation programs: a national launch event for invited government officials and media to encourage campaign momentum; direct-to-target audience regional road shows that bring the mass-media materials deep into rural hamlets; and regional, educational-entertainment fairs, featuring ultra-violet light handwashing demonstrations, local key opinion leader speeches, and a dramatic play production created by Grey Vietnam to deliver key messages to mothers with children under five years of age in a entertaining, yet highly memorable and educational format.

Public Relations was also an integral part of this integrated behavior change communications campaign. Publicity helped reach policy advocacy goals and forge stronger, long-term public/ private partnership alliances. The result was strong, early campaign momentum and on-going media coverage in print, broadcast, and internet mass-media channels.

Results

In addition to overall increased awareness and exposure to messages about the importance of handwashing with soap amongst the target audience, the campaign helped with the commencement of public/private-sector alliance activities and better coordination and collaboration between all relevant parties for next stage of the Vietnam National Handwashing with Soap program, scheduled for launching in 2009.

The media results include two radio reports, eleven TV news reports, 35 web news links, and 24 local, regional and national print publications, resulting in millions of exposures to key messages. Meanwhile through the below-the-line activities, over 30,000 people in pilot regions were reached via direct activations. Grey Vietnam is now assisting Vietnam’s National Handwashing Initiative in organizing the celebration of the 1st Global Handwashing Day in Vietnam. Grey Vietnam also has received a request from the Initiative to roll-out this campaign nationwide, 2012 in 64 provinces and 616 communes, starting now until the year 2012.

Going direct: digital as a communication channel

by ON
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I know what you’re thinking – another article on how digital is going to gobble up all other marketing channels, destroy your business model and hand over marketing control to bloggers. Now that may all be true, but that’s not what I wanted to talk about. I reckon there’s a more fundamental issue facing the direct marketing industry: is digital a channel or a discipline?

Now in my mind I’ve always simply thought of digital as a channel through which you conduct the disciplines of advertising and direct marketing: ‘online brand management’ and ‘online customer management’ if you like. Very simple, and clearly positioning digital as a growing part of the direct marketing industry.

But what if digital marketing is a discipline in its own right – that in fact direct marketing is a small part of the digital marketing industry? Yikes!
Is there any evidence of this? I was recently in the US on a business trip, and there’s clearly a fair amount of work being done over there where the online experience is the core focus, and all the other media are simply ‘signposts’ to the digital main game.

Probably the best example is the latest instalment of the ongoing ‘Got Milk’ campaign by Goodby Silverstein (www.gettheglass.com). Not only does the website have better production values than a Pixar movie, more interesting is the fact that the TV spots are simply pointers to get people to visit the site – effectively trailers for the main movie (which happens to be online). A far cry from the token eight-point web address on most TV spots.

It’s a great campaign, brilliantly executed, because it recognises the fact that online is increasingly the place where consumers make decisions about brands and products. And that’s the rub – even though consumers may still physically purchase products and services (like milk) offline, they’re increasingly making their decisions online.

Just think about it:

  • What’s the quickest and easiest way to get a competitive quote for car insurance?
  • How would you go about finding the best price for a domestic flight?
  • When was the last time you actually used your dog-eared copy of the Yellow Pages?
  • How would you find a good restaurant in Bathurst (assuming there is one)?
  • How could you compare the functions and benefits of two different credit cards?

Given this, you could argue that understanding the online world and how consumers interact with it and navigate through it becomes the discipline, with direct marketing simply being one tactic at the digital marketer’s disposal.

Now even if this is the case – and I don’t think anyone really knows how things will play out – it’s still good news for direct marketers. Why? Because as direct marketers we’re best equipped to prosper in this new world.

We understand the customer journey and how customers buy, we understand multi-stage selling, and we understand tailoring, personalisation and relevance. All critical planks of successful online thinking.

This is important because the only real certainty about the digital boom is that there simply won’t be enough skilled digital people around to service it. In fact, talking to our Proximity London office recently, they’re in the envious situation where “the only constraint on our business growth in digital is finding enough people to do the work”. Now, that’s not a bad problem to have!

So rather than being a threat to the direct marketing industry, the digital boom is a massive opportunity for direct marketers. But that doesn’t mean it’s easy. I reckon every agency in the world right now is grappling with how to ‘digitise’ their business. I’m sure clients are too. How do you skill-up in this area when you’re already working silly hours on your day job? There’s no easy answer – you have to overcome inertia and scepticism, spend time and money on training for the future, and run the risk of skilling up your staff just so that they can be poached by your competitors in the chase for talent.

But one thing’s for sure. Doing this and disrupting your own business is far better than someone else disrupting it!

So, channel or discipline? Who cares, I prefer to see it as opportunity!