Since 1987 we have designed, developed, and implemented dozens of social marketing campaigns to educate and change the behavior of multi-ethnic and low income groups, and to promote public policies dealing with health, education, environmental, and social equity issues. Our expertise has been honed on campaigns targeting the segments of the market generally considered to be the hardest to reach, for challenging issues such as smoking, prenatal care, teen pregnancy, HIV/AIDS, pollution, recycling, and waste management.
Mason Tillman’s relevant experience in this area includes:
- Conducting interviews and performing surveys in multiple languages in more than 25 socioeconomically diverse communities
- Conducting focus group sessions
- Designing computer applications capable of manipulating 100,000 records for more than 50 government and not-for-profit organizations
- Preparing statistical and qualitative reports designed for easy reference and use by lay persons and technical personnel
- Creating social marketing and outreach programs related to health, safety education, environment, and equity issues
- Conducting training sessions at more than 100 conferences and seminars and designing curricula to public and corporate staff on an array of subjects
Some of Mason Tillman's past and current social marketing clients include:
- Alameda County
- Alameda County Economic Development Alliance for Business
- California Department of Health Services
- California Endowment
- California Energy Commission
- CalWORKS
Methodology
Social marketing needs to convince people that there is a personal benefit to changing their behavior. Will adopting this new behavior save them money or make them feel good? Successful social marketing encourages behavioral changes because it communicates the personal benefits of the new behavior and also requires that we understand the target audiences and design strategies based on their wants and needs.
Mason Tillman's team of specialists adds academic insight to public relations savvy in designing social marketing campaigns that shape positive behavior. The principal concepts that govern our campaigns are:
- Research: Who is our audience? What do they think, want, and need?
- Strategy: What message will convince people to adopt this value or behavior?
- Hook: What rational, financial, or emotional benefits are there to changing their behavior? What will the target group have to give up?
- Tactics: How and where will we promote our message?
- Measurement: Did we reach our target? Have we promoted change? How can we do it better?
It Starts with Research
Research is at the core of everything we do. It helps us learn about our audiences, understand the landscape, and leverage existing data and resources. Research forms the solid base on which our campaigns are built.
To understand the target audience and get a feel for their beliefs and behavior, we begin with a review of the research that has already been done. If no research has been done, then we conduct our own. Mason Tillman has performed thousands of interviews in multiple languages nationwide as well as compiled thousands of mail surveys with telephone follow-up, along with literature reviews. This research forms the core of our campaign strategy.
Crafting the Message
The social marketing team at Mason Tillman knows that different people react in different ways to the same message. To craft effective messages that reach all of them, we use our knowledge about people's perceptions, attitudes, and practices and take all of these distinctions into account. Mason Tillman has convened more than 50 focus groups in refining concept development and message delivery. The end result is a focused message that will affect everyone within our target audience.
Digesting the Data
While we collect information about our target population, we create systems to store that information, organize it, and recall it for analysis and reporting. Mason Tillman designs user-friendly databases that can produce customized statistical reports and serve as easy references for both laypersons and analysts.
Implementing the Campaign
We ensure successful message delivery by using our research to determine effective methods of reach and appropriate delivery tools. Depending on whom we are trying to reach, we will utilize the most relevant media outlets and ally ourselves with organizations and institutions that are most closely connected to our target audience. Our approach to campaign implementation is pragmatic and rooted in careful project management and diligent quality control.
Evaluating the Results
The post-campaign evaluation uses both quantitative and qualitative methods to assess the impact of the campaign. We find out how successful we were in building awareness and changing behavior around that issue. This knowledge guides our refinement of the message and delivery, resulting in a dynamic campaign that is improved until it reaches maximum performance.
Training Services
Although we have the capacity to launch an entire campaign in-house, Mason Tillman can teach a public agency or corporate staff everything they need to know to implement a social marketing campaign themselves, as well as aid in the continuation of the effort after our work is done.
Selected Projects
“Treasure Them, Don’t Trash Them”- Alameda County Flood Control
The Problem:
When the Alameda County Board of Supervisors learned that Oakland’s creeks played an integral role in flood control management and that the cost of cleaning local creekbeds to maintain stormwater drainage approached $500,000 annually, they were required to be proactive in reducing pollution levels. To make matters worse, the congestion and pollution of these creeks was also identified as a serious health and safety hazard throughout Oakland and Emeryville.
Alameda County Flood Control & Water Conservation District approached Mason Tillman Associates with the following assignment:
- To identify the scope of the problem and identify the major offenders
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To increase public awareness of the problem of dumping trash in creekbeds
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To get civic leaders and the community involved in prevention and clean-up efforts
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To generate community pride and responsibility
Campaign Execution:
Mason Tillman responded by conducting a thorough analysis and assessment of the scope of the problem and primary culprits. Afterwards, we devised an innovative and low-cost public awareness campaign that made strategic use of paid and non-paid media exposure.
The campaign achieved penetration within heavily contaminated and economically depressed communities through the use of local, community-based channels of communication, such as newsletters and community newspapers. We enlisted the cooperation and support of members of affected communities to raise the level of awareness of the problem and to incite them to join in the effort to preserve neighborhood creekbeds.
We developed a video presentations, special collaterals and print advertisements for distribution through schools, churches, community organizations, newspapers, TV and radio, newsletters, and events sponsored by other public agencies. In addition, we organized a project for elementary students to create a mural with 20 six-by-six-foot painted panels spelling out an environmental message. The mural was unveiled at a City Council meeting and displayed in stores, banks, and community centers. Community businesses sponsored mural panels and donated the materials, and teachers incorporated the project into science curriculum, teaching the value of not dumping trash in creekbeds to students.
Results:
- Favorable press exposure in county and regional media
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Youth ambassadors program carried campaign message to schools and communities
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Business recruited as sponsors or for pro bono support
- Over one-and-one-half tons of debris and trash were collected from Seminary Creek during the first neighborhood clean-up day
- Public “What can I do to help?” calls to Alameda County Flood Control District increased
- Signs on AC Transit buses were seen by an estimated 5,000 riders daily
Residential Curbside Recycling Campaign - City of Oakland
The Problem:
During the process of launching the citywide recycling program, the City of Oakland realized that its population’s broad ethnic and socioeconomic diversity posed a challenge to the success of the program’s adoption. Mason Tillman Associates was engaged to develop a campaign to introduce the program and gain participation of residents in four City quadrants. The objectives of the program were:
- To inform people of the new recycling program
- To educate residents about the process of materials separation and collection
- To motivate people to participate
Campaign Execution:
The market research confirmed that two of the four city quadrants had higher ethnic and lower socioeconomic diversity than the others; these two quadrants were the focus of the campaign. In order to target the micro-cultures effectively, Mason Tillman collected information about the dominant language, culture, level of knowledge of recycling, existing recycling activities, and perceptions and value of the environment in these two quadrants.
We created targeted community outreach campaigns based on the market research, including meetings and workshops with neighborhood associations, community groups, and faith-based organizations, as well as outreach at supermarkets. Media outreach was conducted primarily through small, local newspapers.
Results:
- The City gained insight into existing recycling activities of residents
- Targeted populations became aware of the new program and participated
- Oakland’s curbside recycling program was successfully launched
