New social marketing association being developed

By Susan Dann

Susan Dann is a former Queensland President and National Deputy of President of the AMI and has been teaching, consulting and writing in the field of social marketing for more than 15 years.

Ever since Wiebe posed the question “why can’t you sell brotherhood like soap” back in 1952, governments and non-profit agencies have turned to the marketing discipline to help them achieve their social objectives. Today, most social and non-profit sector organisations openly seek marketing expertise to help boost their profile and achieve their outcomes.

Despite the sustained growth of social and non-profit marketing, there has been relatively little in the way of specialist support for marketers who are working in these often demanding non-commercial areas. Although most non-profit and government organisations now employ marketers, they are often the only marketer in the organisation or section. Consequently, many find that they do not have support networks when it comes to dealing with specific marketing issues.

A small group of volunteers is working in conjunction with the Australian Marketing Institute to develop the Australian Association of Social Marketing. It will aim to represent the specialist interests of social marketers and offer a central point of support and resources. The association is in the development phase and is seeking input from any social marketers who are interested in joining.

To make sure that we are developing an organisation that meets the needs of social marketers, we are asking social marketers to fill in a short survey at http://www.surveymonkey.com/s/aasm_survey

The planning group is developing the association’s framework and infrastructure and the first AGM and elections are anticipated to coincide with the 2010 International Nonprofit and Social Marketing Conference, to be held in Brisbane on 15-16 July.

This conference will be an ideal opportunity for social marketers and marketers in the not-for-profit sector to network and contribute to the development of the social marketing agenda. A key feature will be a concluding round table session designed to canvass the main issues facing social marketing in Australia. The outcome of the session will be a formal position paper on the state of play of social marketing.

Already confirmed as keynote speakers are three international experts: Gerard Hastings from the Institute of Social Marketing in the UK, Craig Lefebvre from the US, who is an expert in the use of social media in social marketing, and Walter Wymer, an internationally renowned expert in non-profit marketing.

To learn more about the conference and to respond to the call for papers, go to www.insmconference.org.

For further information on the association, conference and how you can be involved, contact Susan Dann (interim president) on susan.dann@bigpond.com

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