Competition: a social marketer's friend or foe?
In public health social marketing, is there such a thing as "healthy competition," or is the term an oxymoron? The primary focus of this article is on a type of competition that may not often be considered by public health social marketers--competition from other marketing activities that exist in the marketplace in which your intervention is operating. This could also be termed "promotion" competition. The purpose of this article is to briefly review promotion competition and then review competitive factors that can impact a social marketing initiative's success, examine how to conduct a useful competitive analysis, and offer strategies for maximizing the benefits and minimizing the negative implications of competition on your efforts.
Wayman
Jennifer J Clay
JJ
Ogilvy Public Relations Worldwide, Washington, DC, USA.
Beall
Tom
T
Thackeray
Rosemary
R
Brown
Kelli R McCormack
KR
D003163:Competitive Behavior / Q000145:classification; D003299:Cooperative Behavior; D015438:Health Behavior; D019981:Health Care Sector / Q000639:trends; D006293:Health Promotion / Q000379:methods*; D006801:Humans; D015279:Organizational Culture; D009936:Organizational Innovation; D010565:Persuasive Communication; D011634:Public Health / Q000379:methods*; D012925:Social Conformity; D040241:Social Marketing; D012944:Social Support; D014481:United States