Social Marketing for a Stronger Society
Some loving curiosity for Mother Earth and some geeking out on Málaga's marketing campaigns.
Tangerine-tinted winters
How pretty it was to see so many oranges sprawled across the street. There were several city workers out in green onesies, picking the round sweets from the trees with a long invasive gardening tool. The street was dotted in a delicious tangerine, the sun falling so perfectly on the crop, accentuating its curves via the contrast of the charcoal shadow on the gray pavement. The citrus saturated the dull cement street with warm intensity.
The trees know how to wow a crowd in the winter as well. Walking home from the bus stop, between the sky and I, there’d be neon ornaments scattered across the tree branches next to and above me. The humble trees aren’t much taller than me. Their smooth dark-forest-green leaves that glimmer in the sun also run into my umbrella and drench me in the rain. My fault for looking at my phone instead of in front of me. Nature was telling me something; I accepted her message.
The first time I saw people in uniform picking the oranges off the city trees was about a week ago, in mid-January. Each orange tree (naranjo) in Málaga produces about 100 kg (about 220 lbs) of oranges. There are 7,000 naranjos in the coastal city. If you do the math, you’ll find that these humble yet hedonistic bundles of timber nurture quite a few tons of treasure.
So what does the city do with all this god-given fruit? I asked one of the harvesting gardeners for more information, but he wasn’t sure himself. He said he thinks a truck comes to pick them all up to make marmalade. Makes sense, I thought, to make tons of yummy jam that can last a while with few preservatives. But why haven’t I seen anybody pick one up to peel and savor? Everyone’s sick these days— we could use the Vitamin C.
On the outside, the fruit is provoking; the vivid hue expressing the desire for someone to devour their sweet and juicy insides. Thanks to somebody else for learning it the hard way, these beauties aren’t for consumption; they’re extremely bitter when eaten and can be toxic to humans because their skin absorbs the gases and pollution of the city. In my own research, I found that in addition to bitter marmalade, their anti-inflammatory, antiseptic and bactericidal properties are taken advantage of to create cosmetics, teas, perfumes, essential oils, compost, and fertilizer for feeding livestock.
“At least they’re being used for something, I’d hate for them to be thrown away,” I said in Spanish to the gardener. “Sí, claro,” he replied. I thank him and continue my walk home, mentally satisfied knowing that the tons of complimentary oranges aren’t being taken for granted just for aesthetic pleasure. The fallen fruit are being redistributed into a new cycle of life.
I’ll get back to that. Time to geek.
Social marketing, recycling, and society’s profit
One of my favorite classes in my undergrad at DePaul University was Promoting Sustainable Practices, where we learned about and discussed the behavioral psychology and best practices of social marketing. When I say social marketing— and I don’t mean social media marketing — I mean marketing who’s profit is the benefit of individuals and society as a whole. Rather than convincing you to buy their product, social marketing convinces you to change or maintain your behavior.
Sooo what does a random college course of mine have to do with oranges or anything? Well, the first time I noticed social marketing being actively used and taken advantage of abroad has been in recycling campaigns in Málaga, Spain. I’m impressed by the sustainability initiatives I’ve seen and the use of social marketing techniques to maintain and forge recycling habits, which is vital for the future of our planet.
The thought-provoking class gave me a soft spot for ‘selling’. While many marketing practices within capitalism promote the compensation of insecurity by consumption, the ‘profit’ from social marketing is a better, safer, and stronger society. Who doesn’t want that?!
Tossing trash
In December, Spanish nonprofit Ecovidrio posted up a huge glass (vidrio) container right in front of Malaga’s touristic port promenade, Muelle Uno. This social marketing ad collaborated with the Davis Cup tennis tournament to promote recycling glass. The international attendees just might’ve taken a walk over to the restaurant-lined promenade along the Mediterranean Sea, inevitably passing the colossal container that’s usually only seen at arm’s-height on Spanish streets. These patriotic tennis matches brought tons of tourism and business to the city, perhaps inspiring part of the ad’s target audience, with the Davis Cup benefitting from the eco-friendly partnership. The play on words by the campaign is therefore fitting: “Make a spectacular drop shot, recycle glass.”
People know that words aren’t enough to make a lasting impression. How many times have we heard that meditation is good for us and will improve our mental health, and how many times have we actually tried meditating? Of course, there’s a small population that takes this action, but we know society would be a whole lot different if it was the majority.
Whether it’s daily life or social marketing, multiple strategies need to be used to pique the interest of an audience to adopt a new behavior. To add more excitement around recycling glass and, of course, the Davis Cup, Ecovidrio hosted a five-hour event the weekend before the tournament where they incentivized separating glass. There were authorized drop-off points where the organization was giving free tickets to everyone who brought three glass containers. According to the NGO, the purpose of the incentive is to reward the locals who already recycle glass and to encourage those who don’t to adapt this practice and promote a more sustainable Spain. Remember what I said about maintaining and changing behaviors?
Although Ecovidrio’s incentive is an important addition to the glass recycling promotion, I wonder if that one-time-free-ticket enticement is going to sustain people’s motivation to continue recycling when there aren’t freebies, especially people who don’t already separate their trash. Maybe people will gather three glass bottles for a ticket to the Davis Cup, but how do we get that same person to rinse and toss their glass in the green containers on a random cloudy Tuesday?
“Suma tus residuos y suma beneficios”
Recently, there’s been a new recycling campaign promoted on Málaga’s street pole banners and bus stops. The promotion is for the new brown recycling containers, the neighborhood trash can for compost and organic materials. Earlier this month, I saw people from the campaign promoting them on my block with informational flyers, brochures, fridge magnets, and even free brown mini trash cans!
Acknowledging my curiosity, I stopped to chat with them. It was exciting to have more information about the ads and witness the changing system before my eyes. They have incorporated many methods of distributing information on the topic, using simple visuals and designs that are attractive and light on the eyes. My favorite part of the imagery is the doodled and personified pieces of organic waste. Waving around their stick-people body parts tells us these scraps are actually alive, extending their lifespan through the variety of ways they can be reused. This visual choice may be strategic in the way it plays with our perception. By using the organic containers, we give another life to the very things that support our own survival.
The apple core, fish bones, used napkin, half-eaten drumstick, eggshell, teabag, fallen herb, and expired Bibb lettuce may be a small child’s new friend, teaching them compassion for the planet, and it may turn into an adult’s new compassion project building a brighter future for that child. The campaign extends its audience across generations; they even created a guide on recycling correctly both for adults and young children.
According to the campaign, separating and throwing away organic materials in the brown container has a boatload of benefits, including:
transforming waste into natural fertilizer
gaining a renewable energy source from the methane released during decomposition
increasing air quality by reducing greenhouse effect carbon emissions
extending landfill life by reducing landfill storage
creating new jobs in the recycling sector
meeting Europe’s environmental objective of recycling at least 55% of waste by 2025
I mean… that all sounds GREAT to me, and at a low cost, too. But does everyone think that way? Although the movement offers lots of valuable information and resources, I wonder if there’s a way it can attract and incentivize people who don’t already separate their trash, to start by separating their browns first. I thought of an idea and I’m going to share it, for fun.
Imagine a limited-time collaboration with community grocery stores where in exchange for a bag full of compost, you get a 5% discount off your next purchase. This incentive isn’t a quick, one-time fix, but longer-term benefit for locals. Since it takes 21 days to form a habit, and 90 to engrain it into our lifestyles, this grocery-collab could last three to four months, allowing people to hop on the bandwagon mid-way and still have the potential of changing behavior permanently. Doubling the feel-good of choosing an environmentally-friendly lifestyle with a discount may even motivate the late majority to hop on the bandwagon, considering the several-month span of money-saving involved. Not only will people get support from their local market, but they’ll feel good about themselves and purposeful with their new environmentally-friendly lifestyle.
Maybe grocery stores aren’t willing to take 5% off their purchases. What’s in it for them? If paying less than a buck for bags at the supermarket already motivates people to bring their own totes, a discount off such a necessary weekly expenditure wouldn’t go unappreciated. This small discount is enough incentive to increase the stores’ customers and the frequency of locals shopping there, which inevitably makes up the small percentage of profit they’re giving back. Not only would increased shopping and shoppers be the benefit for convenience stores, but promoting this discount can also be a great public relations opportunity. The collaboration shows the company supports a planet-friendly future, something that up and coming generations consider more and more when making spending decisions. However, there’s a fine line between showing support for a sustainable future and the store falsely claiming itself as a sustainable and eco-conscious entity: this would be greenwashing! No good!
“Think Before You Throw!” But really, if you litter with access to public garbage cans… are you thinking at all? Is that harsh? I don’t think I’m being harsh.
In front of the church near my house, there’s almost always juice boxes and chip bags and plastic bottles and soiled napkins sticking around. I’m surprised at how often I find trash on streets wherever I am, whether it be the United States, Serbia, or Spain, and I can’t for the life of me understand why. Seeing litter in Málaga surprises me considering the many trash cans carefully placed on almost every block, screaming “USE ME,” literally (lol no pun intended).
Chicago and Málaga have similar littering fines, reaching up to 1,500 euros and dollars depending on the situation. Who the hell wants to possibly pay a grand and a half when you can just wait until you get to Point B and use an actual trash can? Sometimes Point B is far away, and other times it’s right in front of you and it makes no difference. What it comes down to is an attitude shift; people need to feel emotionally connected to the change they’re making for it to stick at all.
Last year while walking to work, I saw a high schooler throw his face mask in a bush. I tapped him on the shoulder and asked him why he did it. His answer was *shrug* and so I took the mask out of the bush and threw it in the trash can a meter away from him in the direction he was walking. I pointed the bin out to him, and let him go on his merry way, hoping it was enough confrontation for him to think before he does it again.
(DISCLAIMER: These are observations I’ve made about personal experiences. Generally speaking, neither Málaga or Santander are unclean cities. They’re both well taken care of compared to other cities I’ve been to. There are lots of people dedicated to city cleaning and maintenance in Spain, which is great! )
I’m not saying we need to be telling off every person we see doing something wrong, but we just can’t let the lack of basic behavior standards slide— TRASH goes in the TRASH can! How can we get people emotionally attached to the environment? How do we convince people that littering isn’t in their favor? Sounds like a social marketing opportunity.
Conclusion
Understanding and observing the different techniques that are used to promote sustainability across borders is such an eye-opening experience to what’s possible. Every culture, every region, every country has their own way of perceiving and handling problems. I’m eternally grateful to experience these interactions firsthand, and therefore expand my own perception of what’s possible. (The answer is: anything.)
Although I’m in no way an expert on the topic of social marketing or environmentally-friendly behaviors or sustainability, these are topics I love brainstorming, learning about, and critically thinking about. I have a long way to go in terms of forging my own sustainable habits and am in no way ideal, but I’d like to build a lifestyle that’s in harmony with the planet rather than clashing with it. Taking care of the life that surrounds us is not only important to me, but to the soil that grows our food, to the bodies of water that hydrate us, to my neighbor, to the local dogs and birds, to the future of up and coming generations, and to the city’s oranges longing to fuel us with their vitamins and nutrients. The Earth’s resources provide us with so much comfort and support that respecting it is the least we can do.
Maintaining the cycle of life is in our hands.
With peace, love, and compassion,
Tea