Checkmate!

Winning a chess game requires unique or perhaps old but tested strategies in playing the game. The objective - winning - must be clear to the player, and he must understand the different pieces on the board; what each represents, and what each can and cannot do. One has to be mindful of not just his own moves, but of the moves of the opponent. It's either you win by reacting to the moves of the opponent, or by making the opponent react to your moves. But whatever you do in a game, you keep in mind your own strategy.

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Just like playing chess (or any other game perhaps) a socmar campaign's success would rely greatly on the strategies used. Thus, formulating the strategy to be used would mean thorough analysis, planning, analysis, planning, analysis and planning. In doing so, all aspects of the campaign would be looked into - purpose, target market, objective and SMART goals, barriers and benefits, 4Ps, budget, monitoring and evaluation. Whew! Long list, huh? But of course! Socmar aims to change the society. It aims to achieve development. So it needs a careful planning and implementation. If well-thought, though, this may beat the social problems (opponents) and finally win the game. Ooops! Checkmate! ;)

Because We're All Different

Know your audience - this is what we, speech comm majors, had always kept in mind whenever we had to deliver a speech or present a performance. Something that I consider parallel with one aspect of socmar planning. If public speaking and performance have the audience, then marketing has the market. The target market would always be important in any marketing strategy. Knowing how to identify and segment them would be very helpful as we try to formulate our goals and objectives, and the entire campaign as well. Knowing who to benefit from the campaign would keep us focused and aligned with all other aspects of the plan.

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But more than just identifying, I believe that a socmar plan also requires understanding of the target market. Just like in speeches, it's not just identify the audience, but KNOW the audience. The market has several characteristics, individual and group behaviors that might affect the entire socmar campaign. For instance, certain age groups may have different reactions towards a certain campaign (teens reacting on anti-smoking campaign negatively). Keeping this in mind would help us know what to expect from our market.

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Our group have by the way come up with a name - THE Press. Makes sense with our DEPRESSION awareness campaign. ;) So far, the group has been working on the background of the campaign, formulating its objectives and goals.

Overwhelmed

We have come to that part where we have to apply what we have been learning so far - in our own social marketing campaign. And as I started reading the materials for module 4, I was overwhelmed on the things that have to be done for a socmar plan. :| 

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I just don't consider myself good in planning. I feel that I do something better when it's impromptu. :D But stuff like this COULD NOT be done in one sitting.; COULD NOT be implemented overnight. A thorough and careful planning should be done before a such campaign gets implemented. And so the task begins..................................................

Sooooo social

Correct me if I'm wrong, but these days, when you say SOCIAL, most probably you would think of these......

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But there's more to SOCIAL than just social MEDIA or social NETWORKING, and that's SOCIAL MARKETING. Yet, only few probably knows about it. Perhaps, some would even think that it's marketing on social networking sites,  like the growing number of products available on Facebook and Multiply. 

This social marketing thing may be a new concept to some, but it has been around for so many years already. DF 3 has made this concept clearer to me. People still remains to be the very core of this concept. Social marketing happens because there are certain issues that we want to address. Issues that involve us, people, the society. Everyday, everywhere we go, anywhere we look at, we see so many issues that we people face. But we remain looking at this issues and have learned to live with them, and by them. Socmar wants to change this; it wants to us to change and be the change we need to achieve a better life. But this is not as simple as it may sound. Socmar requires a framework, a plan carefully thought of before it is implemented. And more than that, it requires a heart for doing so.

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Our group has started working on the topic we have voted for - depression. In our first chat meeting, we shared several articles and studies on depression. We also discussed the different concepts that we would be dealing on, primarily the causes, symptoms, signs of depression, and the different ways to seek help.

Comm for De.... what?

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So we want to be involved. Fine. Actually, we HAVE to be involved. After all, this development thing is for US. So who else should work for it, right? But here's the thing. How many of us actually gets involved with a total knowledge, understanding and awareness of what we are getting involved in? Of what all these are for? Of what we are doing?

Just like the text on the picture, where some parents would want to get involved in the development, and, well, life of their children (of course!), yet, sometimes they don't really understand what they are doing (Oooops! Sorry parents!), community participants in C4D sometimes don't understand what all these are for, and what all these are. Why? Because we Filipinos are fond of this so called mob mentality. Yeah, I may sound too negative, but I just wanna point this one out. We go with where the majority goes. We want what the majority wants. Even if we don't like it, even if we don't understand it. Just look at the rallies and protests happening around. You'll see kids holding placards of protests, which they can't even read. (Well, yeah, they are most probably paid protesters, like claques, but still, the point is, they don't understand what they are in to) You'll see people tweeting R.I.P. Rowan Atkinson just because it's 'trending'. And so on..

Communication for development requires community involvement - it requires people who are directly affected to be part of the problem solving. More than just going with where everyone else goes, it requires these people to understand their situation, look for possible solutions to their problems, have a voice to speak them out, and collaborate with others to be able to help the entire community. Sadly, there are still some people who just say yes to what the majority says yes to. OR they just follow what the higher authorities say. THIS SHOULD NOT BE THE CASE. The people involved should have a total understanding of their situation and the things they can do to change it. Involvement requires individual and collaborative decisions. If not, then C4D would be pointless.

The World in Our Hands

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WE are in a never-ending quest for a better life... for all of US.

What basically sums up my most important learning in Module 1 is the function of we and us in grammar - We and Us are FIRST PERSON, PLURAL pronouns. We DOES the action; Us RECEIVES it. 

1. First Person


Social problems occur because we, humans, see them as problems. We are the FIRST PERSONS to know about it, we are the first ones to see it. Whatever does not satisfy us pushes us to change it. As we strive to change our current situation, it is still us, who first look for the solution, and not anyone else. It is us who knows best what to do about it, because we are part of it. To identify a social problem means to feel that there is something disturbing about it. We don't just listen to others saying that there's something wrong; WE feel that there IS something wrong, so we strive to make it better.


2. PLURAL


A society is not just about one person; it consists of MANY people as its members. Development would not be possible if only one person wants it, or if only one person works for it. One is not enough to move a mountain built by many. A problem would not be solved by only one mind thinking, and one pair of hands working. Change would not happen if we would rely to few people to do the change. 


3. DOES and RECEIVES the action


No one will do the work much better than the people directly involved in the problem. WE are the ones to act about the things that we deem needed to be changed, after all, it's for US. Whatever good or bad that we do, the endpoint would be us.

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In the near future (yes!) I would take part in (and hopefully initiate) a social marketing/ social mobilization program. I am currently in the academe, and any educational issue is really close to my heart. Keeping in mind the importance of the "we", I would have a clear analysis of my audience first, and I would see to it that I get them involved in the program, making them realize that the better life they had always been longing for, lies in their own hands.