Social Campaigns Make A Difference

Veronica interviews members of nesma's network to discuss issues they face in achieving their marketing objectives.

This month she chats to Claire Riley, Director of Communications and Corporate Affairs, Northumbria Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust about the challenges the NHS faces in managing social campaigns.

This follows her interview last month with Ashley Lowe from Newcastle United Foundation about raising mental health awareness.

What are the most important aspects the NHS is trying to address? I am assuming still obesity, smoking cessation, alcoholism, drug abuse and mental health?

Where do I start? The fact is all of the above are important and, if behaviours are changed, the health outcomes are transformational for individuals, the health service and society. Professionals know that the biggest killers are linked to smoking, obesity and alcohol – it’s also really important that we support people who are lonely, those with addictions and those with mental health issues but also do much more, including influencing people’s behaviours around sexual health. (See diagram below.)

So, what’s being done?

Public health teams within local authorities across England are working hard to develop social interventions to influence behaviours and within Northumberland and North Tyneside the NHS is working in partnership really effectively; but it’s difficult.

We live in a 24/7 world where information is consumed every second of every day. How to compete? FMCG organisations are paying a premium to target people to choose their product; lifestyle TV programmes are setting the bar for expected behaviours – especially for the younger generation – and social media positions the world that people want you to see as opposed to the real world. Ultimately – it is only society itself who can tackle these challenges and investing £10k in one campaign or a social media intervention will not work.

So, what’s the answer?

We have to work in partnership locally, across education, health, local authority, voluntary sector and, where necessary, private sector – planning and delivering together to really make a change and create the movement that is required to influence longer term health outcomes.

Do you think the NHS and indeed other influential bodies have sufficient digital skills to be effective?

The public sector needs to learn from, and be able to compete with, the big corporates – therefore this is something that should be invested in.

What is the most effective campaign that you have worked on that others should try to emulate?

I am really proud of those where, within the NHS, you can track it back to a health or service benefit. Notably the opening of The Northumbria Specialist Emergency Care Hospital – overnight behavioural change required – no mean feat believe me! Then the infection control campaign ‘Scrub up’ – confirming everyone had a part to play in tackling infections (this was also my first working within the NHS). Recruitment campaign for nursing staff – highly successful. And, NHS Find Your Place – targeting junior doctors to come into the North East and North Cumbria to live and train – we’ve seen a significant increase which delivers real benefits for our regions. Lastly, working with Northumberland County Council, the ‘Discover our Land’ campaign is just brilliant and growing – focusing on what is great about Northumberland past, present and future.

It’s a while since you said to me ‘I want to be a Chartered Marketer by the time I’m 30′ – you achieved it, what advice would you give to others now starting out on their careers?

That’s some time ago! Don’t expect jobs or promotions to fall in your lap – you have to let your work do the talking and sometimes be brave and move on when the time is right. Also – think about the type of leader you want to be – invest in your leadership capacity and capability (being professionally qualified does not mean you can lead a team) and, of course, have fun!