Introduction

This work presents a social marketing campaign plan to address mental health in young men. It starts defining the problem to solve and justification of the severity. Most Men do not report or share stressing issues which later turns into deep mental problems. Some of them turn to activities which lead to harm or death. The will study provide a detailed plan which contains the best interventions, resources, and timeframe to help such men deal with stress and also avoid the negative behaviors when stressed.

Stage1: Scoping

Problem Statement

Mental health in men is increasing and leading to more problems like self-harm, Alcohol, and other drug abuse. Most men do not report cases of depression, stress among other mental difficulties leading to too much accumulation. They only available choice to relieve the stress is self-harm or taking drugs to forget about it. According to Marsh (2017, par. 2); Kaess, Brunner & Chanen (2014, 7), some of the men are going to the extent of harming their bodies in the process of trying to attain size and shape which the society described as excellent.  The reason why they keep silent on the problem is partly because of cultural teaching s on masculinity and somewhat because they do not get access to mental health services (Wang et al., 2013, 42; Seidler, 2016, 107). There is, therefore, need to have a campaign that helps the men to understand where they can get mental health services, change their behaviors of keeping silent when they are depressed, and change the act of self-harm.

Target Audience

The effective and efficient target audiences for the campaign are the young men between the age of 20 and 35 years. Men in the age group have more life issues to deal with which can lead to mental illness (Morriss, Kapur, & Byng, 2013, 4573). Also, most of the genetic and birth-related mental illnesses are likely to reveal or affect this age group. Taking an example of the genetic mental illness, ADHD, it affects men when they are in search of job and family connections. Most people do not help men at this stage because they believe that after finishing school they should look for a job and provide for themselves. The many responsibility and life issues which young men at the age come across makes them prone to more frequent mental disorders (Morriss et al., 2013, 4580). The campaign, therefore, will be effective to handle this group because there is a great need for mental help.

The seriousness of the Problem

The rate of mental disorder in the United Kingdom is high standing at 16 million people. About 25 percent of all citizens in the UK experiences mental illness in their life (McManus, Bebbington, Jenkins &Brugha 2016, 4). Out of the whole population with mental illness, the largest share affects young people. In the UK, suicide is among the leading causes of death in people below 35 years (Marsh, 2017, par 3). An approximate 1660 people below 35 years committed suicide in 2015, which was an increase from 1557 in 2014. According to the Office National Health Statistics England (2018, par. 5), 12 percent of all young people between the age of 5 and 19 years were depressed in 2017. Also, the number of males who commit suicide is three times more than that of women.  Blumberg, Clarke & Blackwell (2016, 7), notes men between the age of 18 and 35 years are facing more life challenges and therefore likely to develop stress. In 2013, there were 78 percent of men committing suicide while that of women was 22 percent (Marsh, 2017, par 3).

Blumberg, S.J., Clarke, T.C. and Blackwell, D.L., 2016

Ability to Intervene

Men at the age of 20 to 35 years are easy to handle in a social campaign because they are at a state when they need the help of different ways. The social campaign focuses on doing good to people and the community as a bait although the target is to change behavior or life of persons to the better. Those men are looking for a job, career, relationship and the best place to leave among other needs. The needs provide a lead for the social marketing campaign to get attention from the young men (Corcoran, 2015, 975).

Task 2: Situation Analysis

SWOT

Strengths

The strength of the campaign is the product it is offering, helping people to change an undesired behavior (Edgar, Huhma & Miller, 2017, 94). Most people need service. Also, the team which is carrying out the campaign is influential to the young men and skilled to handle such issues. The campaign does not require a lot of physical assets and therefore will be easy to handle.

Weaknesses

There is much money needed to finance the campaign. Also, the team requires skilled personnel like psychologists who are not readily available and are expensive to contract.

Opportunities

Young men are available in centers, and therefore, it will be easy to get them at low cost and within a short time. The community is also willing to help such men. They will assist the campaign team which will also lower the cost and increases effectiveness.

Threats  

Other campaigns are going on in the media encouraging men to drink. Also, there is the culture which teaches men to keep secrets and solve their problems alone. The two are likely to challenge the campaign and make it ineffective.

Competition/Force Field Analysis

One of the competing factors is the companies which are selling alcohol and drugs which young men take when they have stress. There will be a lot of posters and advertisements describing the dangers of those alcohols and workshops on the same to reduce the influence of the alcohol campaigns. Another force is an addiction to drugs. The team will carry out drug replacement therapy like the use of bupropion and Varenicline for those who are smoking (Walker et al., 2018, 2).

Literature review and Field Experience on Interventions

Most people tend to copy behavior on television and other advertisement platforms. They think that the advertised behavior is the best and therefore work towards attaining it. The experience guides the campaign to use posters and other advertisement platforms to shift men from the other advertisement on alcohol and substance abuse. Also, the Fogg Behavior Model informs on the components of behavior change which includes ability, motivation, and trigger (Mogles et al., 2018, 5). The three elements inform that the campaign needs to ensure that the target can change behavior, come up with triggers to change and motivating factors.

Asset Mapping

The campaign will require the following assets;

• Tents, chairs and portable tables
• Advertisement vehicles
• Services of Psychologists and counselors
• Help from the ministry of health, youth, and gender, men organizations as well as church leaders
• Finances to support the services
• Information about the severity of the problem in the target area and a map of the location

Task 3: Target Audience Profile

Size

• Primary audience- Around 10, 000 young men between the age of 20 and 35 years
• Secondary audience – 50, 000 family members and friends to the young men. Those are five people everywhere the primary target comes from
• Tertiary audience – 2000 business people with drug and alcohol shops as well as government and organization officials who deal with behaviors of young people

Summary of the Available Key Data

Most of the young men do not go for mental health and counseling services compared to women. However, they are risk takers in new ideas and life strategies which benefit them. Young girls at the mentioned age are more than the target men. Also, most of the young men do not have a stable income and have an average education level of secondary school. Around 60 percent of the targets are not in marriage and 80 percent to do not go to church.

Target Audience Insight

Primary audience

The audience believes that men are not supposed to express their fears like stress and other life challenges. However, they have a positive attitude towards change from the self-harm, drinking and silence behavior. They are also aware that their behaviors are not good and can lead to more severe problems.

Secondary audience

Families and friends believe that men should share their issues with other people to avoid accumulating stress. They have a positive attitude towards the campaign that it will be effective in changing the behavior of the target audience.  They are aware of what causes stress in men and also leads to self-harm behaviors.

Tertiary audience     

Organizations which deal with drug abuse, health, and community welfare believe that it is easy to change most of the negative behaviors of the society members. They have a positive attitude towards the campaign and are willing to support. Also, they are aware of the existing problem and its depth.

Task 4: Intervention Proposition

The positioning of the exchange with the target audience

To exchange the behaviors of silence, self-harm and drug abuse, The team will offer seminars which will show the target group how harmful their practices are and how they will benefit once they change to exchange the behaviors of silence, self-harm and drug abuse. Also, the campaign will expose the location of mental health services and resources. Showing the negative side of their behaviors and positive side of the desired behaviors will motivate them to change. The campaign will provide the target with therapies to reduce addiction and print outs with details of the mental health service location and resources to maximize the benefits. The team will lower the cost of their time by ensuring proper planning and handouts to reduce the duration of the workshop.

Non-rational choosing

There will be a policy introduction to ensure that the men do not get access to alcohol and drugs and they attend a mental health workshop regularly. The team with the help of the government and other organizations will collaborate to ensure such measures.

Task 5: Initial Marketing Objectives   

 Cognitive objectives

• To expose the target to the services of mental health and counseling
• To make the target audience aware of the harmful effects of their behaviors

Affective objectives

• To make the target adopt a culture of sharing challenges with other people
• To teach men how and the advantages of having a positive attitude towards life

Psychomotor Objectives 

• To teach the target other alternative behaviors when stressed other than self-harm

 

Task 6: Marketing Intervention Mix Strategies 

 

Intervention types and forms

Inform

The campaign will aim at informing the target about the availability of mental health services, counseling and resources to support and where they can find them. The form of intervention will be Hug like monetary rewards for those who visit mental health facilities. Another form to use is Shovel through advertisements on the location of mental health and counseling facilities.  

Support

There will be support of those already in addiction or deep stress to recover quickly. Also, those with issues like domestic violence leading to depression and anxiety will get assistance. The campaign will use form combination of Hug to reward those who are taking alcohol and drugs and also Smack to prosecute those taking illegal drugs or harming themselves.

Marketing mix to change behavior

Product for the campaign

One of the products for the campaign is a medical examination. The people identified will go through a medical exam to find out the depth of their problem in case it is genetical or acquired during birth. The examination will help to know the primary need of the participants. Another product is psychologist and psychotherapist’s services and process to the target. The team will teach men how to control their wishes within their abilities and care for their life and body. When people do everything they wish, their lives get out of hands, and they can do anything including to harm their bodies (Mens, 2016, 3). The product will also help to identify the cause of mental illness. Also, it will help the young people to solve their disorder as they proceed to the next stage of understanding how to deal with stress.  The other product is counselor or therapist services, which will teach the target groups alternative ways to deal with stress other than self-harm or abusing alcohol and other drugs.

Price/time 

One of the prices, which the target group has to pay, is time. The campaign will take only 20-minute maximum for onsite exposition, 10 seconds for those reading billboards and posters, 30 seconds for television adverts and 25 seconds for radio adverts. The time will be small to ensure that the participant afford. Another price to pay is an embarrassment from the peer. Some groups of people from society will not agree with the idea of men sharing their problems (Gordon, 2013, 1528). However, the benefit of changed behaviors outweighs the embarrassment price, and therefore, the target group will afford.

Place

One of the areas which the campaign will take place is in shopping centers where the young men go to pass the time. The team will set a tent in such regions and serve them from there. Another place is on the road where the group meets the young men. The campaign takes 20 minutes maximum and therefore, it is easy to serve the target while standing on the way. There will also be the use of social media messages targeting facebook in specific, television, radio and billboards.

Promotion

Promotion of the campaign itself will go on through media advertising and newspapers. Also, there will be entertaining vehicles going around with the announcement of the next place the group will visit. The adverts will carry messages of the existence of the social marketing group and the primary function (Tapp, & Spotswood, 2013, 207).

Stage 2: Testing and Development

Task 7: Pretesting and Piloting

The team will carry out a pilot program with a sample of 20 primary and 10 secondary targets to test the interventions. Piloting will take a maximum of 6 months. The methods to examine the intervention is includes observation of behavior to see whether there will be any change on the target audience. Also, the audience will go through a mental check up to find out whether their stress has reduced. Another measure will be an interview on the participants to find out their opinion on the issue.

Task 8: Report on the Impact of the Pilot Program

The pilot will help to increase the positive outcome of the campaign through adjustments of the areas which it will find having a deficit. Also, the return on investment in the whole campaign will be high with proper strategies and interventions adjusted from the pilot study. The pilot program will help to cut off any unnecessary strategy, asset or finances to ensure that there is proper utilization of available resources and therefore increase the efficacy.

Task 9: Full Social Marketing Implementation Plan

Final SMART objectives

Adjust the suggested goals after piloting

Recommended Intervention and marketing mix

Adjust the proposed 4Ps elements of marketing mix after testing

Anticipated impact over the designated time frame

Also to predict from the piloting results

Resources required from the main sponsors, partners, and stakeholders

• Security from the government when visiting risky centers to locate the target
• Roadshow vehicles
• Chairs, Tents, and tables
• Finances to develop campaign posters, handouts, adverts, and pay for other services
• Halls and fields to hold the workshops

Application of the budget

Note: All the interventions to run concurrently

Intervention	Time frame	Budget
Advertisement of the social campaign and venue to hold workshops	2 weeks	$ 10000
Therapy for those addicted, self-harmed, depressed	4 months	$ 15,000
Counseling for the secondary audience	2 months	$ 10,000
Counseling for the primary audience	4months	$ 20,000

 

How stakeholders and partners will be engaged

Partners from other organizations which deal with behavior change will help in planning the meetings and workshops as well as creating advertisement messages. Those from the health department will help in coordinating therapy services for the target audiences. The ministries from the government will assist in transporting and maintain order in workshops as well as linking the team with international sponsors.

Program Management and governance

There will be the CEO who will coordinate the various departments within the team. There will also be a financial controller to keep records and track of the finances received and used.  Each intervention will have a manager with a team to carry out the activities to be effective. All planning and management will be at a central point where the CEO can track the progress.

Stage 3: Enact

Task 10: Plan for the Implementation of the Program

Program time frame and critical milestones

The program will take 16 months. In the first four months, the team will carry out piloting and adjustment of the interventions. The remaining time will be the actual launch of the interventions. Other stages of the programs include:

• Education for the secondary audience on how to support the primary audience –by the 8^th week
• Education for the primary audience on mental health and where to get services – by the 10^th week
• Therapy for the affected – by 13 week
• Counseling on how to deal with stress and other psychiatric disorders – by the 15^th week

Final intervention mix and marketing mix

Intervention mix

Information – Hug and Shovel

Support – Hug, and Smack

Marketing Mix (more to come from the pilot program

• Product – therapy and education services
• Price- Time and psychological from lack of alcohol and other drugs, social from friends and other company
• Place-shopping centers, public halls, homes, social media, Availability when the target wants to make decisions resulting from stress, clubs where the audience drinks or goes for the gym
• Promotion –advertisements on social media, television, radio, billboards, fliers branding colleges, businesses, homes

Resource allocation to elements of the intervention and marketing mix

 

Element	Resource
Product	Psychotherapist, counselors
Price	Time 16 months, commitment
Place	Halls and transport vehicles
Promotion	Roadshow vehicles, posters
Information	Counselors and finances
Support	Psychotherapist counselors  and financial resources

 

Stakeholder and partner management plan

There will be a department within the team to coordinate the support from stakeholders and partners. Most of the supporters will be incorporated within the program.

Conclusion

This work aimed at coming up with a plan of a social marketing campaign to address the issue of mental health and related behaviors. It started by identifying the target as young men between the age of 20 and 35.  The approach to address mental health in young men will impact because of its persuasive element. The plan constitutes a therapy counseling, education, and intervention for the target audience. The primary objective of the campaign is to change the behavior of failure to seek mental health services and self-harm in young men.

 

Reference List

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