Cause Marketing in Africa, Lost In Translation
By Elizabeth McKee UN Foundation | January 30, 2007
"Malaria Kills. Kill Mosquitoes" That is the saying on over a million yellow bracelets that were handed out throughout Nigeria in 2006. Imitating the cause marketing sensation, LiveStrong wristbands, these yellow bracelets are all over the country, namely in rural areas of Nigeria.
A well intentioned funder helped the Ministry of Health in Nigeria create these bracelets to foster awareness of the dangers caused by malaria, which affects 74 percent of Nigerians.
During my travels on this trip and my last visit to Lagos in November 2006, I have seen these bracelets everywhere and I was incredibly impressed by their outreach. I believe we need to do everything we can to educate individuals that malaria is killing over a million people a year, most of which are children. But apparently these bracelets have caused a bit of a back slide of the tireless efforts of the community health workers educating the public on how to prevent malaria. Specifically, the "Kill Mosquitoes," wording on the bracelet and the insistence of those handing them out that everyone needs to wear them, has been problematic.
Yesterday, while in Lekki, Nigeria, Dr. Oruowolo of the State Ministry, someone who I greatly respect, made a speech to the local community about the importance of sleeping under their Insecticide Treated Nets, provided by the Nothing But Nets program, and that their bracelets would NOT protect them. WHAT?
I probed further and learned that the bracelets that I thought were fantastic have actually not been good for the rural population. Dr. Oruowolo told me that many people thought the bracelets actually protected them from mosquitoes because the bracelets have imprinted on them, "Kill Mosquitoes."
The bracelets are still being handed out, but with a focus on urban communities. As a fan of cause marketing in the United States, I believe that U.S.-based cause marketing is the new evolution in corporate philanthropy. Nonetheless, we need to proceed with caution in utilizing this new means of supporting important causes in other countries. It is crucial to respect the cultures of other nations and realize that all marketing initiatives should be led by a country national to ensure the best outcome. Malaria Kills. Kill Mosquitoes!
January 30, 2007 |Tags: Africa, cause marketing, malaria | TrackBack
Posted by: Paul Jones on February 7, 2007 at 12:41 AM
Having one or more locals on the team to point out obvious issues of a marketing campaign is always a good idea. Testing the campaign on focus groups that represent the target population may also be useful before widescale rollout, especially if the folks conceiving of the plan have little experience in the market.
Another example of culturally inappropriate social marketing: (Forgive me as I do not remember the exact country in Asia). It was an ad campaign to warn children of the presence of land mines in the area. The marketers assumed that the skull and crossbones symbol was ubiquitous and always meant "Danger". To the kids in this locale, it looked rather friendly.
Posted by: Cat Laine on February 7, 2007 at 1:22 AM
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When I was at Children's Miracle Network (CMN.org) a colleague and I were tasked with trying to determine in cause-related marketing would work in countries outside the US and Canada + Europe, Japan and Australia. We concluded that it would probably do OK in certain Latin American countries, Korea, Tawain, Singapore and a small handful of other countries. We never even considered Africa. What an interesting perspective you bring here. check my blog: http://causerelatedmarketing.blogspot.com