Upcoming Marketing Workshops and Professional Development Opportunities 2010

IABC Ottawa presents: Social Marketing Workshop for the Public and Not-for-Profit Sectors

Wednesday, March 4, 2010
8:30 am to 4:30 pm
Hampton Inn and Conference Center – 200 Coventry Road

Messages from social marketing programs can affect audiences in unique and profound ways. Putting together a successful plan can feel haphazard, but it doesn’t have to be. IABC’s all-encompassing, interactive one-day workshop will teach participants the most up-to-date techniques and a proven step-by-step process to bring their plans to life.

Led by Jim Mintz, Director of the Centre for Excellence in Public Sector Marketing, this workshop provides the tools to develop a successful, end-to-end social marketing initiative on your own. Mr. Mintz holds diplomas in both Advanced Marketing Management and Advertising and has provided social marketing advice and consultation to a number of countries. As the retired Director of Marketing & Corporate Communications at Health Canada, Jim has held positions in the private sector, federal government and crown corporations. Jim has lectured at many universities across North America sharing his knowledge and experiences as director to numerous social marketing and communications campaigns in health and social issues.

In addition to being privy to Mr. Mintz’s wealth of experience, participants will also receive a comprehensive social marketing workbook to help guide them through the process for creating their own Customized Social Marketing Action Plan. Learn what makes social marketing different from other campaigns and how it can give you a single approach for mobilizing communities, influencing the media, lobbying/advocacy and building strategic alliances with businesses.

Don’t miss your chance to get ahead!

Register Now

Halifax, Nova Scotia, March 22-31, 2010

The Centre for Excellence in Communications (CEC) and The Centre for Excellence in Public Sector Marketing (CEPSM), Ottawa, in association with Catapult Media, Halifax, are offering a series of professional development workshops for the Atlantic Canada public and not-for-profit sectors in the context of the

Atlantic Canada Marketing and Communications Professional Development Program, Halifax, Nova Scotia, March 22-31, 2010.

WHY ATTEND?

The Atlantic Canada Marketing and Communications Professional Development Program is an opportunity for communications and marketing professionals, executives and managers to enjoy focused and tested professional development and training

	Workshop Date	Price	Registration Status
Fundamentals of Public Sector and Non-Profit Marketing ***Workshop will be held at the Four Points by Sheraton Halifax	March 24, 2010	$675
Social Marketing Strategies for the Public and Non-Profit Sectors	March 25, 2010	$675

• FEES
• 1-Day Workshops $675*
  20% Group Rate Discount for 3+ Individuals from the Same Unit*
• For each workshop, groups of 3 or more will receive a 20% discount of the regular workshop fee for all but the first registrant. Registrations need to be coordinated centrally by the relevant unit, with one registration list for each workshop.

MARCOM 2010

The premiere educational forum for public and not-for-profit marketers and communicators

Mark your calendar for MARCOM 2010, happening at the Hilton Lac-Leamy, June 10 & 11, 2010.  Plan now to attend the most important marketing event for public and not-for-profit marketing and communications professionals.  What a destination!  Make the most of your experience by planning ahead.

To Register Go to http://www.marcom.ca/

Pre Conference Workshop

June 9, 2010: Pre-Forum Workshop

09:00 – 16:30 Social Marketing Planning – Implementing an Effective Campaign

Jim Mintz | Director, Centre of Excellence for Public Sector Marketing

One of the biggest challenges in Social Marketing Planning is the Implementation stage. Many organizations develop great plans, but poor execution leaves them wondering why they didn’t achieve the desired results. In previous editions of MARCOM, Jim Mintz has taken participants through a proven process for developing their social marketing strategy and plan.  At MARCOM 2010, you will learn how to transform Strategies into Action!  Jim will briefly review the social marketing plan process and then move into detailed discussions surrounding how to successfully implement your strategy.  In this tough economy it’s important to ensure maximum impact for marketing dollars; especially when you are moving from planning into implementation where the majority of your budget will be allocated.

You will learn 7 key areas for social marketing plan implementation:

1. What questions to ask when working with marketing and communications suppliers;
2. How to develop a creative brief to ensure your communications agencies remain on strategy;
3. The Do’s and Don’ts for smooth supplier relationships;
4. Innovative ideas to fully leverage a limited budget;
5. How to present and “sell” your social marketing strategy to management;
6. How to approach and capitalize on strategic alliances;
7. How to evaluate your campaign progress and success.

Take the next step:  Join Me and move your plan into action

Professional Certificate in Public Sector and
Non-Profit Marketing

There is a rising need for highly-skilled marketing professionals in the public and non-profit sectors to effectively bring their organization’s products, services and messages to the marketplace.

The Professional Certificate in Public Sector and Non-Profit Marketing provides the information, tools and solutions that are critical for marketers in these sectors to excel in their positions. This program engages participants in a rich learning environment that reinforces theory with practical, real-life examples based upon the extensive experience of the instructors.

This years course is booked but come join us in 2011. If you require information please contact me at:  jim.mintz@publicsectormarketing.ca

Strategies before Tactics

If you check out our website you will note that our expertise is developing marketing strategies for public sector and non-profit marketers. Now when we started our organization many people told us we were crazy to set up an organization that only focuses on strategies as most public sector and non-profit organizations are looking for tacticians who do market research, advertising and other forms of communications including on-line products.

Well we are in business for close to 5 years and guess what , we found that a lot of public sector and non-profit organizations who need our services. Now it wasn’t always like that. Most of our clients were like most of you. You work in a government or non profit and your boss or internal client wants to see STUFF . Strategies are not STUFF. Websites. brochures, posters, ads, research studies are STUFF. Anyways why would you want to contract someone to help you with your strategy. Good question! But I would ask why hire an architect or engineer to help you design a building or bridge, why not just hire the construction crew and start building. You save a lot of money and you can get your building or bridge up quickly.

Now can you imagine anyone building a bridge or building with out a plan. Of course not, but in our world of marketing and communications we see organizations spending thousands or should I say millions of dollars producing STUFF and rolling it out with out a proper marketing strategy or plan. If you are one of those people shame on you … you should know better. Frankly the best investment a marketer or communicator can make is working with someone who understands the marketing and communications business and can craft a strategy so that your tactics fit into a plan with measurable objectives, segmentation plan, etc.

If I have learned one thing in my career is tactics with out a strategy is a recipe for disaster. More money is wasted on organizations developing marketing communications programs with out the FOUNDATION of a well thought marketing strategy

A good example is the recent phenomena of social media where now everyone is now trying to get involved in social media but as Mike Kujawski our social media expert points out in an article which will be published in a government newsletter next month:

“Clearly we are seeing major changes in the world of marketing and communications, however before government organizations start developing social media tactics it is important for them to ask some fundamental questions such as: What are the key issues that we are trying to address by engaging in social media? Which channels make the most sense based on our target audience? What are the relevant existing conversations already taking place? How are we going to measure performance? What is our employee social media engagement policy?

Too often we see government departments launch into social media without first having a strategy developed addressing the above (among other things). An effective social media strategy follows a very similar process to a well developed marketing strategy. The problem is most organizations within government departments don’t even have the latter.

Many people who work in the communications function of the public sector do not fully understand the marketing concept and how it can help them achieve their goals and objectives. They need to realize that marketing is first and foremost a process that helps organizations attain their objectives as effectively and efficiently as possible.  It follows a specific process and various frameworks (such as the 4P’s) that have been developed over many decades.

Marketing is one of the most misunderstood words in the public sector, often confused with “promotion”, “marketing communications” and in some cases “public relations”.

So this is resolution time being early in the year. This years resolution is you won’t develop any STUFF without a fully developed marketing strategy.

IABC Ottawa presents: Social Marketing Workshop for the Public and Not-for-Profit Sectors

IABC Ottawa presents: Social Marketing Workshop for the Public and Not-for-Profit Sectors

Wednesday, March 4, 2010
8:30 am to 4:30 pm
Hampton Inn and Conference Center – 200 Coventry Road

Messages from social marketing programs can affect audiences in unique and profound ways. Putting together a successful plan can feel haphazard, but it doesn’t have to be. IABC’s all-encompassing, interactive one-day workshop will teach participants the most up-to-date techniques and a proven step-by-step process to bring their plans to life.

Led by Jim Mintz, Director of the Centre for Excellence in Public Sector Marketing, this workshop provides the tools to develop a successful, end-to-end social marketing initiative on your own. Mr. Mintz holds diplomas in both Advanced Marketing Management and Advertising and has provided social marketing advice and consultation to a number of countries. As the retired Director of Marketing & Corporate Communications at Health Canada, Jim has held positions in the private sector, federal government and crown corporations. Jim has lectured at many universities across North America sharing his knowledge and experiences as director to numerous social marketing and communications campaigns in health and social issues.

In addition to being privy to Mr. Mintz’s wealth of experience, participants will also receive a comprehensive social marketing workbook to help guide them through the process for creating their own Customized Social Marketing Action Plan. Learn what makes social marketing different from other campaigns and how it can give you a single approach for mobilizing communities, influencing the media, lobbying/advocacy and building strategic alliances with businesses.

Don’t miss your chance to get ahead!

Register Now

MARCOM Professional Development Forum 2010

MARCOM 2010, June 10-11 at Hilton Lac-Leamy in Gatineau, Quebec. http://www.marcom.ca/

Atlantic Canada Marketing AND Communications Professional Development Program

Posted on December 16, 2009 by jimmintz | Edit

Halifax, Nova Scotia, March 22-31, 2010

Atlantic Canada Marketing AND Communications Professional Development Program

Halifax, Nova Scotia, March 22-31, 2010

The Centre for Excellence in Communications (CEC) and The Centre for Excellence in Public Sector Marketing (CEPSM), Ottawa, in association with Catapult Media, Halifax, are offering a series of professional development workshops for the Atlantic Canada public and not-for-profit sectors in the context of the

Atlantic Canada Marketing and Communications Professional Development Program, Halifax, Nova Scotia, March 22-31, 2010.

WHY ATTEND?

The Atlantic Canada Marketing and Communications Professional Development Program is an opportunity for communications and marketing professionals, executives and managers to enjoy focused and tested professional development and training. The eight courses available have been successfully delivered to thousands of public, not-for-profit sector and other participants. They provide learning that is conceptually rigorous and practical, and that can be applied immediately. And course content is specifically relevant to the challenges faced by Atlantic Canada marketers, communicators and anyone working in related areas.

The Atlantic Canada Marketing and Communications Professional Development Program:

• Provides learning for individual career development and for building organizations’ leadership capacity;
• Offers tools, techniques and strategies to enable managers and their marketing and communications professionals to better serve the needs of their internal and external partners and effectively reach key audiences and markets;
• Helps strengthen organizations’ communications and marketing capabilities;
• Offers access to professional development opportunities while saving costs and time and maximizing training budgets;
• Provides excellent networking opportunities and the chance to see what others in the same professional areas are doing.

WORKSHOP SCHEDULE (Click on each workshop for description)

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Strategic Communications	Workshop Date	Price	Registration Status
Strategic Communications Planning: Critical Steps and Techniques	March 22, 2010	$675
Measuring Communications Performance and Success through a Performance Measurement Framework and Strategy	March 23, 2010	$675
Fundamentals of Public Sector and Non-Profit Marketing	March 24, 2010	$675
Social Marketing Strategies for the Public and Non-Profit Sectors	March 25, 2010	$675
Partnership Marketing and Corporate Engagement Techniques	March 26, 2010	$675
Strategies for Social Media: Developing a Social Media Marketing Plan	March 29, 2010	$675
Effective Messaging: Strategies and Techniques	March 3, 2010	$675
Competencies for Communications Professionals	March 30, 2010	$675
Partnering with the Federal Government: The Communications Dimension	March 31, 2010	$675

FEES

1-Day Workshops $675*
20% Group Rate Discount for 3+ Individuals from the Same Unit*

For each workshop, groups of 3 or more will receive a 20% discount of the regular workshop fee for all but the first registrant. Registrations need to be coordinated centrally by the relevant unit, with one registration list for each workshop.

We will issue one invoice for each workshop, based on the number of participants registered. Subsequent additions to the registration list will be included in the group discount rate, with separate invoices issued.

*NOTE: Organizational unit is defined as a Branch, Bureau, Division or Sector.

Regular Workshop Fee	$675.00*
Group Rates
1st registrant	$675.00*
2nd, 3rd, 4th registrants	$540.00* each
Saving for 3 registrants	-$270.00*
Saving for 4 registrants	-$405.00*

Past Participant Discount

Any workshop registrant who previously participated in a CEC open workshop or registers for more than one workshop will automatically receive a 10% discount for each workshop beyond their initial registration.

In-House Workshops for up to 20 Participants from One Organizational Unit

Well suited for organizations with potential groups of communications, policy or program staff working on the same issues and programs.

Workshop duration	1/2 day	1 day	2 days
In-House session (Off-the-shelf)	$3,000.00*	$5,500.00*	$8,750.00*
Customization cost	$1,250.00/day*

* Prices do not include HST

Beware of Sponsorships with Celebrities if you work in the Public or Non-profit Sector

The most recent fiasco with Tiger Woods reminds me of some of my experiences with celebrity endorsers when I ran the marketing and corporate communications operation at Health Canada.

First a bit about Tiger. As Ken Gray points out in his recent piece in the Ottawa Citizen.

“Tiger Woods is probably the greatest athlete of our time. He even bridges ethnicity i.e. a black man with Asian roots who dominates the white middle-aged realm of the fairway. He is the Martin Luther King of the country club, that exclusive enclave of the white and wealthy.

Now corporations must be wringing their hands about picking celebrities to endorse products. The Tiger was about as squeaky clean as anyone, though the occasional f-word was picked up on TV mikes when he sliced a drive. That’s about it.

Now every celebrity endorsement will undergo the sniff test. Any little stink in a background will rule out the multi-million-dollar contracts. And who among us, even the fundamentalist TV preachers, doesn’t have a bit of a skeleton rattling around in the closet?” (Ottawa Citizen)

As mentioned, I have had my own experiences with celebrities and TV talent myself. One example was running an anti-drug campaign (marijuana) and finding out that the young lady we featured in the  ad was reportedly a “pot user”. Fortunately we were able to get the ad off the airwaves before any serious damage to the reputation to the national health department. After that experience we made sure to draw up a legal waiver which we used to negotiate with talent we used for our social marketing campaigns on the broadcast and print media.   This is clearly not a “fool proof” solution but at least it gave us some assurance that the talent we used for our advertising did not abuse alcohol, use drugs or smoke etc.

On the celebrity front we had an incident that kept me up for many nights. It was a campaign we ran with Wayne Gretzky, when he was in his prime in the late eighties and early nineties, for an impaired driving campaign on radio and the poster media. We also had produced brochures and other educational material featuring the famous 99.  At the time Gretzky was to Canada what Tiger Woods is to the USA  (before the Thanksgiving Massacre). He was loved by all Canadians both English and French and other cultures (believe it or not we actually used Gretzky in our French ads using his high school French and coaching from one of my staff). The campaign was going quite well until a few weeks into the campaign I am standing at the local convenience store in my neighborhood and I see Gretzky on the cover of a  Cigar magazine smoking a big fat “stoogie” . Yes, our poster boy for Health Canada is featured on the cover of Cigar Aficionado.

Now, to many of you, this may not be a big deal but trust me our anti- smoking group at Health Canada were not pleased. Fortunately the campaign ended a few weeks later but we certainly were much more cautious when we used celebrities in subsequent campaigns .

So if you think using celebrities have risks for commercial marketers, public sector marketers have additional risks as there is an expectation from  the public  that not only does the celebrity have to be squeaky clean but they expect the same from the organization who is using the celebrity. Health Canada is not Nike or Gatorade, but  I would argue we in the public sector have much more at stake. Is there a solution? Not sure. Who would have believed that Tiger Woods would be a risk? But here we are. Maybe Taco Bell had it right using the Chihuahua-without-a-past for its commercials, Next time a tiger endorses something, it will be Tony the Tiger.

Sean Smith in his article 10 worst celebrity endorsements reminds us that you never know when you  celebrity choice can backfire.

• “When WalMart asked Kathie Lee Gifford, a  talk-show host in 1990s who was considered a role model for working mothers, to put her name to a range of clothing, they probably had no idea how the move would change the face of retailing in America.In 1996, the US National Labor Committee found that Gifford’s clothing line was being produced at a sweatshop in Honduras by 13- to 15-year-old girls, working up to 75 hours a week for 31 cents an hour. One of the workers, Wendy Diaz, captured the nation when she came to the United States to testify about the conditions under which she worked.”
• “Kmart was hoping that Martha Stewart’s “Everyday” line would salvage the one-time retail giant from the depths of bankruptcy. Instead, soon after the line was released, the Feds charged Stewart with insider trading. Although Stewart and her brand (which is now being run by Macy’s) were able to recover, Kmart never did.”
• “Pepsi made a similarly controversial step in appointing Britney Spears as the voice of a new generation of pop idols, long before her “breakdown” in 2007.”

So you just never know when a celebrity can suddenly “go off the rails” .  I guess it is Sponsor beware.

If you have not signed up for our Professional Certificate for Public and Nonprofit Marketing time is running out. REGISTER NOW

http://www.comcec.com/atlantic/index.html

CEPSM offers 3-Step Social Marketing Consultation for under $5,000.

During these tough economic times for public and non profit sector organizations  the Centre of Excellence for Public Sector Marketing (CEPSM) has decided to offer a special consulting opportunity for those who require social marketing expertise but  can not afford the prices of high priced consultants. We do this because our Centre is committed  “To advance the marketing discipline in the public sector”.

We are offering our 3-Step Social Marketing Consultation for under $5,000.

We are  now offering  both nonprofit and government organizations an easy and affordable way to acquire expertise from senior marketing strategists to help develop a successful social marketing strategy. The entire process can be completed in less than 3 days!

How does the 3-Step Social Marketing Consultation work?

1. Orientation

First, we familiarize ourselves with your organization, objectives, issues, target audience (s), marketing communications activities, existing research and other information that helps us understand your environment.

2. Strategy Development

Once the initial orientation has been completed, experts from the CEPSM will conduct a strategy session with the team responsible for developing and implementing the marketing initiative. CEPSM facilitates the planning session with the support of its exclusive strategic social marketing workbook used to speed up the process.

3. Fine-tuning

At the end of the facilitated session the organization will have formulated a framework for a social marketing plan from which details such as specific time lines and costs can be completed at a later date. Following the session, our consultants will work with the project leader to fine-tune the plan. In addition CEPSM experts are available via e-mail or telephone to discuss any questions.

Why should you consider a consultant to assist you in preparing a plan?

• You will receive help with the complex planning work

The problem facing most public sector and non-profit project managers in trying to develop a social marketing plan is that there is a lot of information that needs to be absorbed and analyzed. We will help you select the pertinent information required for the plan.

• Your strategy will be ready by the set deadline

Many times, managers are under pressure to have the plan “done yesterday”. Hiring an outside expert will keep your efforts focused on completing the plan by the specified date.

• Your strategy will be developed using a proven planning process

Often members of the team that are developing the plan (i.e. communications managers, marketing managers, program managers and marketing suppliers) have different ideas about what should be done and have a tendency to focus on tactics before the research and analysis has been completed. The facilitated session takes you through a proven planning process to ensure you come out with a strategic, cross-functional, integrated social marketing plan.

Why CEPSM?

• We are affordable

We have a great deal of experience developing many plans on numerous issues and topics, the learning curve on our part is minimal, which means that you don’t need to pay for “ramp-up” expenses. At the end of this process, you will have a strategic social marketing plan from which you can start implementation.

• Our process is a proven winner

The process we use to develop the social marketing plan has been used to launch many successful campaigns and we continually refine our approach to achieve more efficient results.

• Our process includes a comprehensive workbook

Our social marketing workbook provides a step-by-step structured approach which speeds up the entire planning process and provides a documented structure for you to refer to throughout the planning and implementation process.

What types of issues do we address in the Planning Session?

• What does the primary or secondary research tell us?

• What is the focus and purpose of the campaign?

• What are the best practices and lessons learned?

• What are the social norms?

• What is the best way to segment the market?

• What are the target audience barriers for adopting the desired behaviour?

• Would upstream efforts be appropriate for this campaign?

• What are the measurable knowledge, belief and behaviour objectives?

• What is the overall positioning and message?

• What are the 4P’s (product, price, place, promotion)?

• What strategies and tactics will we use to deliver the campaign?

• Who should we develop strategic alliances with?

• How will we measure the actual outcomes of the campaign?

Where would the planning session be held?

The Planning Session is usually held at a mutually convenient time at your place of business; however if you do not have access to facilities, alternative arrangements can be made.

Who should attend?

The team responsible for the social marketing strategy should participate in the session, including representatives from your communications and research staff or suppliers, (if appropriate). We suggest no more than 10 participants to ensure a productive session.

How long is the strategy session?

Normally the session ranges from 1.5 to 2 days depending on the complexity of the project.

How much does this consultation cost?

A full strategy session (1.5 to 2 days) plus preparation by the CEPSM consultant prior to the session as well as feedback from us after the session costs $4,500 plus GST. Travel and accommodations are extra.

What follow-up services does CEPSM offer?

• We offer a professional coaching service, designed to assist organizations in implementing their social marketing plan. This includes attending meetings, providing on-going advice on any aspect of the plan, reviewing statements of work for suppliers and reviewing strategies, tactics and results.

• We also conduct social marketing workshops . We can conduct in-house training sessions tailored to the specific needs of your organization (e.g. “train the trainer” sessions);

• Follow-up services are very reasonably priced . CEPSM’s experienced consultants have saved clients hundreds of thousands of dollars over the years by ensuring that strategies and tactics are implemented in the most cost effective and efficient manner.

Does CEPSM also provide other consulting services?

Yes, CEPSM provides a full suite of consulting services in the field of public sector and nonprofit marketing. Our prices are very reasonable. Please visit www.publicsectormarketing.ca to find out more.

What are the Next Steps?

Contact us today to learn more about this 3-Step Social Marketing Consultation or any of our other public sector or non-profit marketing services.

Jim Mintz

Director

Centre of Excellence for Public Sector Marketing

Ottawa-Toronto-Regina- Calgary

T: 613.731.9851 ext.18

F:613.731.2407

E-mail: jim.mintz@publicsectormarketing.ca

CEPSM Website: www.publicsectormarketing.ca

Twitter: www.twitter.com/jimmintz

Subscribe to my blog: www.jimmintz.ca

Spaces are still available for the Professional Certificate in Public Sector and Non-Profit Marketing

Program Starts January 20, 2010! Register Today!

• Do you work in the government, a crown corporation/agency, a non-profit organization or an association?
• Are you responsible for marketing products or services, social marketing, generating revenue, community outreach, strategic communications or web/digital marketing?
• Are you frustrated that most programs offered in marketing or communications are not designed for the public or non-profit sectors?
• Do you feel that you are falling behind because you are not up-to-date on the latest marketing communications technologies and strategies such as web 2.0?
• Do you want to gain value-added skills to improve your expertise in marketing and communications?

The Professional Certificate in Public Sector and Non-Profit Marketing offers in-depth, advanced-level training in core areas that are critical for marketers in these sectors to excel in their positions. The program provides intensive training of two days per month over a six-month period.

We still have spots open for this very popular program! Be sure to reserve your spot for this cutting-edge learning experience!

“The Lifeblood of Tourism is Marketing.”

In my blog on municipal marketing I discussed the importance of marketing as an important function for governments , particularly cities.   Clearly in an  era in which governments need to be more responsive and accountable to the needs of the public, marketing can help governments accomplish this goal. With governments spending significant dollars delivering programs and services, especially in the area of tourism promotion there is a need for increased efficiency, accountability and transparency . With the managerial shift of the public sector to mirror a business-like approach, the adoption of marketing and related managerial practices can serve as a key component in strengthening accountability in public sector operations

I also pointed out that in recent years many cities and regions have chosen to market themselves in one fashion or another.  Such marketing initiatives characteristically suffer from a lack of creativity and innovation and tend to be out of the box campaigns , and therefore fail to benefit from the lessons that decades of marketing experience in the private sector have taught managers in business. Such difficulties can be minimized, however, with overall expert marketing oversight and approach.

One area where cities spend lots of money is in the tourism area. Tourism marketing is a challenging  area of marketing and requires a strong  marketing and branding strategy. Let’s take Ottawa for example.  Ottawa is a superb tourism destination. It must  be, because visitors still continue to show up even though this city traditionally does a terrible job of selling itself.

Noel Buckley, the president of Ottawa Tourism,  states that “The lifeblood of tourism is marketing.” So you would think that the city would have a great marketing strategy!

I recently noted in an Editorial in my local newspaper (The Ottawa Citizen November 14, 2009) that my home town actually had a branding strategy. I was impressed until I actually read  the key elements of the  strategy .

Ottawa Tourism’s branding strategy is based on   “four pillars” :

• Ottawa as a capital city (Parliament Hill and environs);
• Ottawa as a cultural centre (our museums and galleries);
• Ottawa as a place to enjoy nature (the Gatineau Hills and green space);
• Ottawa as an urban experience (restaurants and shopping).

This is it … the branding of the capital of Canada.  How did they come up with these “four pillars”. Is it based on marketing research?   Are the messages in the tourism marketing being picked up by recipients of these messages.  I actually checked a few web sites to see how Ottawa is described. For brevity I will just describe the Yahoo site. ( many of the other sites were not much different)

This is how Yahoo describes Ottawa

The capital of the second biggest country on the planet, OTTAWA struggles with its reputation as a bureaucratic labyrinth of little charm and character. The problem is that many Canadians who aren’t federal employees – and even some who are – blame the city for all the country’s woes. All too aware of this, the Canadian government have spent lashings of dollars to turn Ottawa into “a city of urban grace in which all Canadians can take pride” – so goes the promotional literature, but predictably this very investment is often resented. Furthermore, the hostility is deeply rooted, dating back as far as 1857 when Queen Victoria, inspired by some genteel watercolours, declared Ottawa the capital, leaving Montréal and Toronto smarting at their rebuff.

In truth, Ottawa is neither grandiose nor tedious, but a lively cosmopolitan city with a clutch of outstanding national museums, a pleasant riverside setting and superb cultural facilities like the National Arts Centre, plus acres of parks and gardens and miles of bicycle and jogging paths. It also possesses lots of good hotels and B&Bs and a busy café-bar and restaurant scene – enough to keep the most diligent sightseer going for a day or three, maybe more. Here too, for once in English-speaking Ontario, Canada’s bilingual laws make sense: Québec’ is just across the river and on the streets of Ottawa you’ll hear as much French as English.

I guess you will find the “four pillars” in this description but is this how the folks responsible for tourism in Ottawa want their city to be described?

The editorial in the Citizen goes on to say:

In many ways, the national capital ( which is what Ottawa is sometimes called when it  includes the Quebec side.) is not a very visitor-friendly place. The signage is weak. Visitors staying downtown will often have no clue how to find the ByWard Market.

“We need to direct people better, and that means big signs pointing to the major sites. Instead, we opt for subtlety. We’re so subtle that some sites are almost impossible to find. It’s amazing that we all aren’t stumbling across people driving Edsels still trying to locate the west end of the Ottawa River Parkway.

Our main tourism information bureau is located across the street from Parliament Hill. That’s nice, but most other cities — even ones with a much smaller tourism industry than Ottawa’s — know that tourism information booths need also to be on the edge of town to catch motorists. This is especially important for the capital region because most of our visitors arrive by car.

Tourism has a central role to play in the economic future of this city — a city whacked by the decline in high tech. It’s fortunate that Ottawa has a good product to offer, but as the folks at Ottawa Tourism are trying to convince anyone who will listen, even the best products need to be vigorously marketed.’

Well  maybe  the folks at Ottawa Tourism should consider a strategy and messages that will generate some excitement about this wonderful city. The “four pillars”  reinforces the perception that Ottawa is a tired, old bureaucratic city with “little charm and character”. Maybe the good folks in Ottawa Tourism should  take a trip to Montreal to see how you market a city .(yes I am originally from Montreal)

Perhaps we need a fresh approach on how we market this city. Ditch the pillars and start thinking like a marketer rather than a bureaucrat.  Only bureaucrats would come up with “four pillars” .

On another note I am pleased to be included in the new edition of ‘Effectively Engaging People’. The original version, produced to celebrate the first World Social Marketing Conference in September 2008, showcased a diverse range of social marketing opinion. But while many of the world’s top social marketers took part in the conference, there were some notable absences. This edition showcases opinions for top social marketers from around the globe.

Professional Certificate in Public Sector and Non-Profit Marketing: 2110

Professional Certificate in Public Sector and Non-Profit Marketing

Program Starts January 20, 2010! Register Today!

• Do you work in the government, a crown corporation/agency, a non-profit organization or an association?
• Are you responsible for marketing products or services, social marketing, generating revenue, community outreach, strategic communications or web/digital marketing?
• Are you frustrated that most programs offered in marketing or communications are not designed for the public or non-profit sectors?
• Do you feel that you are falling behind because you are not up-to-date on the latest marketing communications technologies and strategies such as web 2.0?
• Do you want to gain value-added skills to improve your expertise in marketing and communications?

The Professional Certificate in Public Sector and Non-Profit Marketing offers in-depth, advanced-level training in core areas that are critical for marketers in these sectors to excel in their positions. The program provides intensive training of two days per month over a six-month period.
Special Announcement: We have added a new module and seminar leader this year which should be very exciting. Mike Kujawski from the Centre of Excellence for Public Sector Marketing will introduce you to the new world of social media, web 2.0 and digital marketing !!!!

We still have spots open for this very popular program! Be sure to reserve your spot for this cutting-edge learning experience!

5 reasons you should register:

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Are Health Communicators getting a “Bad Rap” on H1N1

Sometimes I wonder if public sector health marketers are being made to look like a bunch of incompetents ( “keystone cops “). H1N1 communications, at least in Canada, has been an unmitigated disaster and the big question mark is why is this happening? Many of the public health communicators I have had the opportunity to work with over 25 years are the best communicators you will ever meet. They are extremely professional, very experienced and are excellent communicators. Add to this that public health departments across Canada at all levels of government have been planning for this pandemic for close to three years. How with all this experience and planning can we have one of the worst communication screw-ups in the history of the public sector?

Was it a coordination problem? Do we have too many levels of government involved in public health who speak a different language… is this our “Tower of Babel’?  Did the public health administrators responsible for H1N1 overrule communication advice from their communications people.  Did the political folks at all levels of government get involved in and refuse to take advice from their communication experts in public health? This will not be the first time this has happened. Did the media overplay the H1N1 story and panic Canadians unnecessarily? Did the original pandemic communications  plans and strategies get overtaken by panicked officials who over reacted to the situation?

Did the local public health administrators underestimate the potential for a larger population wanting the vaccine , even if they were not in the priority group? ( I won’t go into hockey players and people with money jumping the queue.).

 

 

Understandably a mass vaccination of this type has never happened in anyone’s lifetime. The closest comparator is the polio epidemic in the 1950s where schools were the chief locations for inoculation. The target groups were school-age children not the general population. This  was a relatively easy task compared to H1N1.  However, there’s a lesson to be learned from polio inoculation… implementation was highly decentralized. Today, people are being funneled into too few spots as in a traffic jam when the on-ramps feed into a narrower highway. Where were the computer-modelers and experts  when we needed them?

 

Some people suggested that the military should have taken over this operation as they are renown for handling crisis with precision and more important they have a chain of command. Yes a “chain of command” is that what’s missing in public health? Did it occur to us that maybe Canada with its layers of bureaucracy  is  not set up for managing crisis and emergencies.

Our Auditor General states in her most recent report that the federal government  has not moved quickly enough to get ready for pandemics, natural disasters and terrorist attacks that can cause major damage to the country.  She states that  the government still reacts to matters such as the H1N1 pandemic or major blackouts on a “case-by-case basis,” eight years after the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks in the United States highlighted the need to prepare for emergencies. She states the Department of Public Safety, created in 2003 to co-ordinate how different branches of the federal government work together in emergencies, has not carved out the appropriate leadership role.”Canada needs to have a planned and coordinated approach in place so that federal, provincial and municipal agencies know what part they will play in managing a crisis. AMEN!!!

A report of the National Advisory Committee on SARS and Public Health October 2003 in response to  the circumstances surrounding the outbreak of Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome [SARS] provided a “third party assessment of current public health efforts and lessons learned for ongoing and future infectious disease control.”

Here is what the report  said 6 years ago:

“The Committee sees an urgent requirement for multijurisdictional planning to create integrated protocols for outbreak management, followed by training exercises to test the protocols and assure a high degree of preparedness to manage outbreaks ( That’s a mouthful). The SARS experience highlights the need to mobilize selected groups of skilled personnel into epidemic response teams . Last, the Committee determined that neither Health Canada nor most jurisdictions and institutions have developed sophisticated frameworks for risk communication during a public health crisis. The CDC has a comprehensive crisis communications training program that, in our view, bears close study and early adaptation by Canadian governments and institutions.

A key requirement for dealing successfully with future public health crises is a truly collaborative framework and ethos among different levels of government. The rules and norms for a seamless public health system must be sorted out with a shared commitment to protecting and promoting the health of Canadians. Systems-based thinking and coordination of activity in a carefully planned infrastructure are integral in public health because of its population-wide and preventive focus. They are also essential if we are to be effective in managing public health emergencies. Indeed, Canada’s ability to contain an outbreak is only as strong as the weakest jurisdiction in the chain of P/T public health systems. Infectious diseases are an essential piece of the public health puzzle, but cannot be addressed in isolation, particularly since in local health units, the same personnel tend to respond to both infectious and non-infectious threats to community health. The Committee has accordingly recommended strategies that will reinforce all levels of the public health system as well as integrate the components more fully with each other.

So after the SARS epidemic and a significant  report with many recommendations, did we learn anything? Keep in mind that this report was responsible for the creating of the Public Health Agency of Canada.

As usual I would love to hear from readers of this blog.

H1N1… an example of how not to do effective health communications

As someone who spent a quarter century in the health communications and social marketing field, I am flabbergasted on how ineffective the communications coming out of health authorities is on H1N1 /Swine flu.

One thing seems clear and that is the compelling need for reliable information, to understand the risks this virus presents, what to do about it and who to go to for help and advice.

Yes there is the WHO, many levels of government and others who are providing news and information via many channels: television, radio, toll-free phone numbers, the web, printed material, etc. Much of that information, though, is contradictory, inconsistent, and hard to understand and, in some cases unreliable. There are so many sources you don’t know who to believe. For example today I heard a news clip that many health professionals will not be taking the vaccine. What message does this send to the public? If health workers won’t take the vaccine … why should I?

Marguerite Wente in her article yesterday in the Globe and Mail states “swine flu overkill (SFO) is a serious illness caused by saturation media coverage and repetition of the word “pandemic.” I’m not one to minimize the horrors of the H1N1 virus, which can be unpleasant and even fatal. But please, people. Can’t we get a grip? The CBC has been covering swine flu as if it were the biggest natural disaster since Hurricane Katrina. The newspapers have been full of drama about whether there will be enough vaccine, whether it’s arriving fast enough, and if not, who’s to blame. Ordinary citizens are feverishly researching the ins and outs of adjuvants, and wondering if they should drive to the next town so their kids can be vaccinated right away. Meantime, a lot of people have said the hell with it. It’s hard to blame them. Ever since the spring, when the World Health Organization declared swine flu to be a “pandemic” – after just 144 deaths – SFO has been running rampant. Ordinary pandemics kill at least a million people worldwide. Swine flu has killed around 5,000 people, including 86 in Canada. Worldwide, ordinary seasonal flu kills 700 to 1,400 people a day.”(According to the World Health Organization, fewer than 5,000 people have died around the globe from this variant of swine flu. In any normal year, influenza causes between 250,000 and 500,000 deaths worldwide.)

In the Southern Hemisphere, the winter flu season is now over. In spite of dire predictions, only 185 people died from swine flu in Australia – considerably fewer than the roughly 3,000 who succumb to seasonal influenza in that country each year. And no, it wasn’t because the population was immunized. Australia’s vaccination campaign against swine flu took off last month. Last week, U.S. President Barack Obama declared swine flu a national emergency after about 1,000 Americans died. Yet according to the Centers for Disease Control, roughly 50,000 Americans die every year from seasonal flu – without any politician paying much attention.

So, is this an example of overkill? Is it a case of “the boy crying wolf”. When a  real pandemic hits, which could happen, will people listen? Is the SFO responsible for half of our population saying they won’t take the vaccine? Sometimes “over-communications” can work against the health communicators who day after day are “hammering out” the message. And the more they hammer the less confidence people have towards the vaccine. Is this effective “crisis or risk communications?

As Wente states “everybody loves a good health scare. Remember BSE? Infected cows were going to turn our brains to mush. Then came SARS. In 2003, one widely quoted British expert predicted that it could turn out to be more lethal than AIDS. The final death toll from SARS was 774 – about one day’s worth of flu victims. Then came deadly birds. In 2006, David Nabarro, a top WHO official, warned that avian flu could kill 150 million people. The White House’s avian flu response plan projected that as many as two million Americans might die and one leading influenza researcher warned that a pandemic might kill half the human population. To date, the worldwide death toll from avian flu is 262 ( Wente dd not mention West Nile Virus and the Ebola-virus.)

Are we blowing the H1N1 out of proportion? I also wonder if the health authorities have a Marketing and Communications plan that comprehends the need not to over communicate and ensure that everyone in the health field is on the same page and that we get consistent messages that don’t contradict each other. Where is the coordination between federal province/state and municipal/regional governments not to mention others in the health field? Ironically, the more the public hears about how important it is to get the shot, the more skeptical it gets. According to sources, in the U.S., only half the population plans to get it, according to surveys, and a third oppose it for their kids. In Canada, 51 per cent of us are saying we won’t bother – up from 38 per cent in July.

Wente points out that “all these health crisis  have a lot in common: a legitimate concern that’s blown wildly out of proportion by various interest groups, including scientists and public-health agencies, whose warnings are then amplified by the media. Politicians have no choice but to respond in kind, just in case. This outbreak has followed the usual course. The President’s Council of Advisors on Science and Technology recently predicted that there might be 30,000 to 90,000 U.S. deaths from swine flu, peaking in mid-October. (That would be a week ago.) To date the U.S. death toll has barely reached a thousand, but the President has declared a national emergency anyway.”

Our organization is presently involved in working on an Immunization program where we are trying to convince parents to immunize their children. You wouldn’t believe, all the anti-vaccinationists, including a former Playboy bunny, who are trying to convince parents not to immunize their children.   – People who believe that vaccines cause autism or brain poisoning. The H1N1 epidemic of coverage also feeds a growing sense that the risks are overblown and these anti-vaccinationists are coming out of the woodwork and spouting their nonsense to a gullible audience who does not know who to believe.

Also have you tried going to a website from a health authority to download credible information on H1N1 flu. Good Luck.

As Wente states in her article: “As for me, despite my SFO, I’m definitely going to get the shot. Although I’m in a low-risk group, the last thing I want to do is wind up in hospital, where MSRA, C. difficile, and other hospital-acquired infections kill around 8,000 Canadians a year. My advice is that whatever you do, stay out of the hospital – or you might get really sick.”

If you are a health communicator or marketer, I would love to hear from you. Oh yes I will get the flu shot, something I have done for the past 5 years.

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The Public Sector … Differences between Americans and Canadians

As a Canadian who is in the public sector marketing business , I have paid close attention to what is happening in the USA recently. I am quite concerned by the perception of many Americans about their government and its capability of delivering programs and services to the American public.

As Andrew Cohen points out in yesterday’s Ottawa Citizen

“The political atmosphere in Washington has become unhinged. Just look at the hysteria unleashed by the president’s health care reform. Like citizens of every other industrialized nation with public health care, Canadians do not know what the fuss is about. It is sad to hear the falsehoods about Canadian health care. Lord knows, our system is flawed, which is why we discuss it ad nauseam. But we’re comfortable with interventionist government. American conservatives — who loathed the regulation that gave us the banking collapse — are not, and they are apoplectic about an expansion of the state. Hell, these folks would have opposed the Tennessee Valley Authority in the 1930s.”

Cohen also raises concerns about the way Government and politicians are being portrayed in the USA. He states “In a polarized politics with a shrinking centre, Americans are no longer able to have a civilized conversation. We see this in the undercurrent of violence directed at Obama during those infamous town hall meetings this past summer. ( e.g bringing a gun to a political town hall meeting).  The anger at Republicans rallies were appalling. They speak of Obama’s “legitimacy,” as if he has no mandate to champion health care reform. To his critics, Obama is everything from a Marxist to a Muslim. They say he wasn’t born in the United States. They carry banners crying “Don’t Tread on Me,” as if this were 1776. Inflamed by right-wing talk-show hosts, playing to a society that has gone to the extremes, abetted by a culture of rudeness, a congressman can call the president “a liar” during a speech and his constituents applaud him. So hostile to Obama’s success that they  cheered when Chicago lost its bid for the Olympics last week.”

The reason we are concerned in Canada is, as Cohen puts it ” there are no more similar peoples in the world than Canadians and Americans”.  We share more than we admit. It is why we can only admire the excellence and ambition of America, and the epochal ascent of its new president.”

The discussion between the differences between Americans and Canadians is not a new one.

In the late eighties in the book Continental Divide Seymour Martin Lipset returned to a topic which had fascinated him since early in his long and distinguished career as a political scientist: the similarities and the differences between the United States and Canada. Lipset’s main thesis was that the differences between the United States and Canada can be traced to their founding. The United States, the revolutionary nation, was founded on the principles of  “life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.” In contrast, the “Fathers of the Canadian Confederation” were seeking  “peace, order, and good government.” Lipset focused on the values of the two societies–the United States prizes individualism; Canada, collectivism.

Michael Adams in his book Fire and Ice also wanted his readers to know that there are some very fundamental differences that have developed between Canada and the USA. For example, he refers to the ‘revolutionary tradition’ in the U.S.A as opposed to the ‘counter-revolutionary tradition’ in Canada, the contrasting attitudes Americans and Canadians have towards the roles of government, and the quite different beliefs they have about the role of religion in their daily lives.

With respect to the public sector  in the USA, we hear critics of government stating that we don’t want government to take over our health system. A question nobody seems to ask is: what is wrong with  having government taking over health care. This is how it is done in every other industrialized country. Is the private sector sacrosanct? Most of the health insurance has been managed and run by the private sector for the past few decades. Now if they were doing such a splendid job I might understand the reluctance to have government involved in the health care system but the opposite is true. As stated in previous blogs:

The U.S. has the most bureaucratic health care system in the world. More than 31 percent of every dollar spent on health care in the U.S. goes to paperwork, overhead, CEO salaries, profits, etc. The provincial single-payer system in Canada operates with just a 1 percent overhead. 10% of Canada’s GDP is spent on health care for 100 percent of the population. The U.S. spends 17 % of its GDP but 15 percent of its population has no coverage whatsoever and millions of others have inadequate coverage. Is this a record to be proud of ???

Part of the reason for this is uninsured and underinsured people in the U.S. still get sick and eventually seek care. People who cannot afford care wait until advanced stages of an illness to see a doctor and then do so through emergency rooms, which cost considerably more than primary care services. What the American taxpayer may not realize is that such care costs about $45 billion per year, and someone has to pay it. This is why insurance premiums increase every year for insured patients while co-pays and deductibles also rise rapidly. Also the spending gap between the two nations is almost entirely because of higher overhead. Canadians don’t need thousands of actuaries to set premiums or thousands of lawyers to deny care. Even the U.S. Medicare program run by the government has 80% to 90% lower administrative costs than private Medicare Advantage policies. And providers and suppliers can’t charge as much when they have to deal with a single payer.

Philip Kotler and Nancy Lee clearly demonstrated in their book Marketing in the Public Sector that there are many government programs run quite well. They offer dozens of marketing success stories from agencies of all types–from around the world.

Yes, there are many government programs poorly run but the view that the government is not to be trusted to run any program is quite doctrinaire. Was it not the financial companies in the private sector in the USA responsible for the financial mess we have worldwide? These were not government run operations. What about General Motors, Chrysler which have received large bailouts in the USA and Canada . Were these companies run by the government?

I can go on but you get my point.

As usual I would love to hear from any of the readers of the blog to provide me with their comments.