South Africa’s oldest and largest marketing and communications agency, Draftfcb, launched its new social marketing division in Johannesburg on 15 November.
Social marketing is the systematic application of marketing to achieve specific behavior goals for a social good, as opposed to commercial marketing where the aim is primarily financial. Examples of social marketing campaigns in South Africa are the Constitutional Assembly’s Public Participation Programme, the government’s Working for Water campaign, HIV/Aids prevention campaigns and the SARS campaign to build a tax compliant culture.
Draftfcb believes its Social Marketing division will offer a unique service to South Africa and the rest of the continent. Said Group Marketing Director Selomane Maitisa: “We deliberately decided that social marketing needed to be part of Draftfcb’s integrated marketing offering. In our world of today we have all manner of issues to contend with like HIV/Aids, crime, global warming, civic morality, etc. Such serious issues need a different marketing approach to generate campaigns that will change peoples’ behavior and attitudes.
“By launching Draftfcb Social Marketing we’re rising to the challenge of the Presidency’s Macro-Social Report of 2005. In this document, the Presidency outlines the challenge we face in our country in our struggle to build a compassionate and caring society. The report makes a direct call to the creative industry to ensure that the critical role we play in molding social behavior is harnessed to promote the values of the new order sphere.
“We look forward to working with clients, partners, stakeholders, business, government and the broader community to change lives and to shape a better life for all in South Africa.’
Draftfcb Social Marketing was born in 2007 through the acquisition of Red Chilli. MD of the division Pat Govender is joined by Strategic Director Marion Sparg and Programme Director Mariaan van Kaam.
