Social marketing is the application of commercial marketing tools and principles to the design, implementation and evaluation of health and social behavior change programs. It focuses on target groups within the population, tailoring campaigns and awareness with the aim of achieving specific behavioral goals relevant to the public good. It is increasingly recognized as a valuable tool within public health, where it can improve health and reduce health inequalities. It is particular important for influencing voluntary lifestyle behaviors such as smoking, drug use, drinking, and diet.

Social Marketing and Public Health: Theory and Practice gives an international focus on social marketing. It covers both theory and practice, frames social marketing within its political and policy context, and takes an ecological view of health improvement. The book includes case examples to allow the reader to understand some of the benefits and challenges of this approach, and provides a step-by-step guide to developing, implementing and evaluating social marketing. It will appeal to a broad academic and practitioner readership from both a medical and business background, including those working in public health, health promotion, public sector management, nursing, medicine, allied health, communications, and marketing.
About the Author:
Jeff French has extensive experience as a senior policy analyst strategist and advisor. He has an extensive CV that encompasses the development and leadership of public sector projects, social marketing programmes and communication strategy at international, national, regional and local levels. With 29 years experience at the interface between the government, private and NGO sectors Jeff French has a broad practical and theoretical understanding of national and international social development issues.
He is a Fellow at Kings College, University London and teaches a four other universities. He is a member of a number of national policy and programme committees and regularly contributes to senior level policy roundtables and seminars. He was the Director of marketing and policy at the Health Development Agency for five years. Since March 2005 he has been the Director of the National Social Marketing Centre. Clive Blair-Stevens is co-founder of the National Social Marketing Centre based in London, England, where he is Director of Strategy and Operations.
He has an extensive multi-sector background having worked at national, regional and local levels, including 10 years with local authorities, as well as with local and national NHS bodies. He has direct experience in running national Government commissioned programmes and campaigns and in the 80's lead and contributed to the first national sexual health and HIV/Aids campaigns undertaken by the Health Education Authority (HEA). He has also worked to help establish wide engagement between the public, third and business sectors. Dominic McVey has extensive experience of developing, leading and managing public health projects, social marketing programmes and health communication strategies at national, regional and local level. As Head of Research for the Health Education Authority and later the Health Development Agency he initiated and managed programmes of research on health interventions; social capital and social exclusion; large scale health and lifestyle surveys including surveys of ethnic minority populations and managed the development and evaluation of numerous public education campaigns including the National AIDS Campaigns and The National Anti -Smoking Campaigns. He has also instigated pan-European research projects and advised the EU and the WHO.
Dominic currently runs his own research consultancy working across the public sector with statutory and voluntary organisations. Since April 2005 he has been Research Director at the National Social Marketing Centre. Rowena Merritt is Programme Manager at the National Social Marketing Centre leading development of the Local Practitioner development and support programme. She leads on developing training and skills and related resources and has overseen the establishment of a number of collaborative demonstration initiatives with local organisations. She is also the convenor for the National Social Marketing Academic Advisory Group which is helping expand academic sector capacity in social marketing.
Rowena graduated in 2001 from Imperial College with a first in Business Studies. She spent the third year of the course working with Depression Alliance, a mental health charity, co-ordinating their marketing and publications. Rowena commenced a D.Phil with the University of Oxford in 2002. Her doctoral thesis, completed January 2006, explores the use of social marketing techniques to improve clinical outcomes for depressed patients.