Anna Gunnell, Head of Planning NZ at global creative company VML, reports from the North American Social Marketing Conference in Florida, where she presented two campaigns.
Florida is Trump country – not exactly where you’d expect to discover a dose of hope. Yet, at the North American Social Marketing Conference in May, I found just that.
The conference is a yearly hub where social marketers converge to share insights, network and fuel each other’s efforts to drive meaningful change. Representing VML New Zealand, I presented two of our campaigns: ‘Stick it to Hep C’ and ‘Tatau Tātou: All of Us Count’ alongside our Health New Zealand client, Brooke Cheeseright. The experience was a treasure trove of insights for social marketers in Aotearoa. Here, I share some of them with you.
Collaboration is key to tackling the world’s big issues
Amid the chaos of today’s societal challenges, unity emerged as a key theme. We need to harness diverse thinking – uniting academics with social marketers, the private with public sector, and those with lived experiences with tech experts. The ultimate takeaway? Collaboration is essential. Always ask: “Who can I collaborate with?”
A vision beyond our lifetimes
Transgenerational psychologist Raquel Schlosser offered a profound statement: “Pain is silent. It doesn’t talk and when you express it, it becomes a pattern. But hope lies in the fact that what I do today will last for the next four generations.” She encouraged us to have a multi-generational vision for behaviour change, seeding impacts today that will ripple through time.
Where are the tribes?
Tosheena Nez, a multicultural communications specialist, led a powerful session called ‘Improving Lives: Determinants of Health for Native People and Cultural Competency’, where she told stories of health disparities familiar to those in Aotearoa. She challenged us to ask: “Where are the tribes?” This held huge power because it made the lack of representation in the room glaringly obvious. It made me think of our own iwi here in Aotearoa, and how they’re often missing from conversations about them. Nez offered a way to address that: “Cultural competency is important, but cultural humility will take you further.”
Cultural competency says we can create campaigns for audiences without them so long as we have cultural experts. Cultural humility admits there is only so much we can learn – lived experience trumps learned expertise every time.
AI – a tool for good?
The importance of including those with lived experience in social marketing programmes was also championed by other speakers and delegates. But the power of lived experiences was juxtaposed by exploring artificial intelligence as a ‘tool for good’. Yes, AI contributes to misinformation, but it could also provide more personalised health conversations, for example. Despite its divisive use today, AI could help us connect more effectively in the future.
Holding our own on the world stage
Listening to world-leading academics and social marketing practitioners, I found their strategies resonated with our approach here in Aotearoa. We’re big on people-centred solutions, we practice diversity and collaboration daily, we’re not afraid to test new thinking or technology and, though we’re small, we punch well above our weight when it comes to global action. In fact, the campaigns I presented felt like they stacked up on a world stage. Our campaigns not only hold their own regionally, but they also shine on a global level.
That’s why I have hope, especially for Aotearoa. Although we’re faced with some tough societal issues right now, I believe we, as social marketers, can and will do our part to tackle them. We’re ready for the challenge.
This was first published in the 2024 June-July NZ Marketing Magazine issue. Subscribe here.
