Dangers of Smoking Campaign

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Table of Contents

Introduction
Situation Analysis
Internal strengths
Internal weaknesses
External opportunities
External threats
Target market
Competition
Conclusion
Works Cited

Introduction

Smoking is a social ill that the society has had to contend with as time goes by. This means that there should be concerted efforts to ensure that the society is free from this activity. The development of this issue has been as a result of a high number of smokers in the society. As much as there has always been a campaign to sensitize people against smoking, the number of smokers has been increasing thereby reversing gains that have been made.

Smoking needs some energized campaigns that will identify the key targets that are supposed to be reached for long term sustainability. The effects of this activity are there for everybody to see and that is why the society needs to stand up against smoking which can be proved by the resources that are used to treat diseases that are associated and related to smoking (Goldberg 27).

In fact, many people have argued that smoking is a social poison and that is why everybody needs to stand up and participate in this campaign. This marketing campaign is reenergized based on the negative effects that smoking has had on the society when looked at from different perspectives.

Every society has something to speak about when it comes to smoking and that is why this issue can be developed as a good marketing campaign for everybody. Many people are becoming aware of the dangers of smoking which necessitates awareness campaigns (Burns 45). The percentage of smokers has continued to increase because of various reasons and this are aspects that need to be looked at. There are a lot of illnesses that are related to smoking and this extends beyond the known and reported ones.

The purpose of this campaign is to sensitize people on the dangers of smoking and why it should be taken seriously as a social poison that needs to be eradicated. This campaign also seeks to enlighten people with information that is needed as far as smoking is concerned. Lack of information can be blamed on the inefficiencies that have been witnessed in past campaigns that have not been successful.

It should be understood that many people are aware of the dangers of smoking but they have found it hard to quit (Harris 73). These are people who need to be given priority because they are at more risk than others who do not smoke. In fact, the campaign seeks to enlighten people on why this is a societal problem.

All in all, the intended impact and benefit of this social marketing campaign will be to reduce instances of smoking in the society. As far as the final impact on the society is concerned, the campaign will seek to ensure that people understand the social poison of smoking and why it should be approached with vigor. This is mostly about sensitization because there are people who smoke yet they do not know the full impacts of their activities.

There are different categories of smokers and these are issues that need to be put across. With full understanding of such aspects, the impact of this campaign should be reflected on reduced number of deaths that are related with smoking. This will be a good benefit because governments are spending a lot of money on their budgets to treat illnesses that are associated with smoking (Gay 34). Therefore, the impact of this campaign will depend on its execution.

The campaign will focus on ensuring that everybody in the society is reached because smoking is a social poison. In this case, everybody should be reached for long term sustainability of different benefits that will be accrued. It should be known that the campaign will focus on the negative effects of smoking because there has been no positive thing that has come out of smoking in our society.

This is based on the fact that there is nobody who has ever come out strongly to say that he/she has seen the positive effects of smoking in the society. In the long run, the social marketing campaign will focus on basic facts that have been overlooked when conducting such campaigns. This is because we cannot say that there have been no campaigns but rather the impact has not been felt (Leslie 31). The social influences of smoking are there for everybody to see and this is what the campaign will focus on for long term sustainability.

Situation Analysis

It should be understood that health campaigns have always told people to quit smoking by using shocking images and warnings yet the impact has not been felt. In this case, a situation analysis will help in the execution of the social marketing campaign which has a bearing on its success.

Internal strengths

As far as internal strengths are concerned, there is a strong strategy that will be used in executing the campaign. On the other hand, the strong will to deal with this social poison will be strength in its own making. The truly collaborative nature of this campaign will help in its execution because everybody should be involved in what is happening and going on (Hilton 44).

A strong policy and program upon which this campaign will be conducted will ensure that everything is successful. There is proper identification and articulation of contributing factors that make such campaigns successful which is strength. It should be understood that there is a strong communication tool that will help in putting the message across.

Internal weaknesses

As much as we have a strong communication tool that can be used to deliver the message to recipients, funding is a big problem. This is based on the fact that there have been previous campaigns before with nothing to show for. In fact, we have not been involved in previous campaigns before and this will be a major test. Developing an effective communication campaign will be costly from different perspectives.

This is an internal weakness because the social marketing campaign is supposed to be generated internally. Internally, the social marketing campaign does not have a big team to execute the program and this can be blamed on limited funding. There is need for a strong team for efficiency and this is supposed to be sorted out for long term sustainability. Tools that can be used to measure the impact of this marketing campaign might not be developed well which becomes a big challenge and weakness.

External opportunities

There is need for such forms of social marketing campaigns based on the fact that the public understands the effects of smoking on the society (Milo 50). The effects of this social poison will make people to appreciate the marketing campaign based on what they are seeing. This means that it will be a good opportunity to reach out to everybody thereby reducing the negative effects of smoking.

The effectiveness of such marketing campaigns is a good opportunity to execute this campaign because people will relate with what they have seen before. There are many interested groups that can team up with this marketing campaign to make it successful because of the common goal is to reduce smoking in the society. Different agencies will always come up to help with such initiatives because of practical negative effects of smoking.

External threats

It should be understood that there are a lot of social marketing campaigns that have been initiated which might be seen as duplication yet it is different. Lack of funds is a big external threat because the society should be coming together to help in such a cause yet there are cases where different people might frustrate such activities (Berridge 19).

Conflict of interest might also derail the pace and efficacy of this campaign because there are people who benefit on the other side of the coin. For instance, we have cigarette manufacturers who have always posed a big challenge because they rely on sales for profitability.

Target market

This marketing campaign will mostly target youths because they have been identified as the most vulnerable. As much as the whole society is affected by smoking, it will be better if the right target group is identified. This is because it has been argued that various people start smoking in their youthful stages.

As a matter of fact, this target group can be intervened upon to change their behavior because they are not fully into smoking. Good intervention strategies’ will ensure that the right message is communicated at the right time (Roberts 77). Teen smokers can be identified early enough and rehabilitated to quit smoking unlike adults who will require a lot of resources and time.

There are a lot of barriers that the target group might have in adopting the desired behavior change. Relating with the message that is being conveyed is a big challenge because they might think that they are not in the same group. In this case, connecting with what is being campaigned against will be a big problem because the target group is hard to deal with. Peer pressure is another barrier because as much as the message could be well communicated, such an aspect can erase the gains made.

The key benefit that the target group will be motivated by is the ability to forego many diseases that cause death. When one quits smoking, it occurs that they will not be vulnerable to many diseases that have been associated with smoking (Cooper 42). Another benefit is the ability to save on money and therefore undergo their studies because many youths have ended up engaging in criminal activities due to the urge to continue smoking.

The main objective of this social marketing campaign is to reduce the prevalence of smoking among adolescents who are vulnerable. Another objective will be to examine the level of awareness among youths on the negative effects of smoking. The campaign will also seek to encourage people to spread the message on the need to reduce instances of smoking in the society. In the long run, the campaign will seek to de-market the sale of cigarettes by involving all stakeholders who have a role to play in such an initiative.

Competition

There are other alternative competing behaviors that need to be looked at for this social marketing campaign to be successful. Drinking is one of the competing alternative behaviors that the youths can turn to from smoking. Drugs can also become an alternative to smoking depending on the environment and the prevailing situation on the ground. The youths associate a lot of benefits to drinking and drugs which always varies depending on the individuals in question.

For instance, they see this as a way of socializing yet there are other positive avenues. In fact, they say that these alternative behaviors play an important role in friendships. Youths think that by drinking and taking drugs, they will be able to suit amongst their peers and this is wrong. Another benefit is the ability of these competing behaviors to offer youths solace and consolation that they might be lacking somewhere else (Shiffman 109).

These audience associates a lot of costs on these negative behavior. For instance, they associate taking drugs with death yet they find it hard to stop using them. It should also be known that youths understand that drinking can lead to various illnesses. The target audience also knows that it costs a lot to support their drinking activities.

In fact, drugs are very expensive and this is something that many youths and adolescents appreciate. It costs the society a lot when youths engage in drinking and taking of drugs. This issue can be explained from their relationship with other members of the society (Berridge 29). The social costs of this alternative social poisons is there for everybody to see and that is why there should be concerted efforts to fight drinking and taking of drugs.

Conclusion

As far as my positioning statement is concerned, smoking is a serious social poison that needs to be fought by everybody who cares about the wellbeing of the society. In this case, smoking has a lot of social and psychological effects that have continued to emanate and magnify as time goes by (Berger 64). It therefore means that this marketing campaign can go a long way in ensuring that the target group is well taken care of.

Peer pressure has been blamed on the large number of youths who have continued to join smoking and this trend should not be allowed to persist at all costs. Such trends can be reversed through effective and elaborate social marketing campaigns. There are a lot of social and psychological pressures on smokers which therefore hinders their urge and pursuit to try and quit. Effective social marketing campaigns should be encouraged as a way of dealing with the menace of smoking.

Works Cited

Berger, Peter. The Anti-Smoking Movement in Global Perspective. New York: Philip Morris, 1991. Print.

Berridge, Vinyl. Marketing Health: Smoking and the Discourse of Public Health in Britain, 1945-2000. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2007. Print.

Burns, Eric. The Smoke of the Gods: A Social History of Tobacco. Philadelphia: Temple University Press, 2007.Print.

Cooper, William. Liberty and Slavery: Southern Politics to 1860. Carolina: University of South Carolina Press, 2001. Print.

Gay, Peter. Freud: A Life for Our Time. New York: W. W. Norton & Company, 1988. Print.

Goldberg, Ray. Drugs across the Spectrum. New York: Thomson Brooks/Cole, 2005. Print.

Harris, John. The Nurture Assumption: Why children turn out the way they do. New York: Free Press, 1998. Print.

Hilton, Matthew. Smoking in British Popular Culture, 1800-2000: Perfect Pleasures. Manchester: Manchester University Press, 2000, Print.

Leslie, Iverson. Why do we Smoke? The Physiology of Smoking. New York: Harvard Press, 1998. Print.

Milo, Geyelin. Forty-Six States Agree to Accept $206 Billion Tobacco Settlement. New York: Wall Street Journal, 1998. Print.

Roberts, Allen. Smoking in Sub-Saharan Africa. New York: Routledge.

Shiffman, Saul. Fast Facts: Smoking Cessation. Los Angeles: Health Press Ltd, 2007. Print.

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