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The NHS in the North West has appointed 19 agencies to handle its all-encompassing social marketing brief for the next three to four years. It is a task that carries a budget of up to £30m and will be fundamentally important in terms of engineering positive social, health and behavioural change across the entire region. Ben O'Brien, who led "the massive procurement process" for the NHS in his role of associate director of social marketing, spoke to How-Do about which agencies have been chosen and how the sprawling framework will operate.
"Yes, it's been a lengthy, massive process," he said of an agency search that began in earnest last October. "But its been completely open, robust and professional and it's left us with an elite group that are absolutely the best agencies for the job." The importance of that job shouldn't be underestimated. Not just Twitter then?  O'Brien: massive task Since the publication of the landmark Public Health White Paper ‘Choosing Health’ in 2004, and the subsequent establishment of the National Social Marketing Centre, the body has been keen to accelerate the development of a channel that is seen to be underdeveloped when compared to other markets, particularly the US. Social marketing in this context means more than the occasional Twitter or Facebook appearance. It means taking an active role in the lives of your customers - in the NHS' case a strategy that manifests itself in understanding consumer behaviour and building relationships through activity that actually works to change, or prevent, various harmful behaviours, while encouraging healthy behaviours. "Given some of the health issues in the region we have one of the greatest needs for effective social marketing practice," O'Brien stressed.  Stubbing out bad behaviour... There's an audience of seven million consumers that are counting on it. How will it work? The new framework has been put in place for more than 50 NHS organisations to take advantage of. It is split into six lots (see below) and garnered interest from over 120 agencies, with 19 firms winning through to cover a range of services from "insight generation though strategy and planning, stakeholder engagement, creative, media buying and PR." Regular How-Do names such as McCann Erickson, The Hub, ICE, BJL, Amaze, Staniforth and Feather Brooksbank all made the grade. It will now be in place for three years, with an option to extend for a further year. The agencies act as a preferred supplier list and will pitch for separate briefs.  ... through positive messages "They know where and who they can ask the questions to, and they know where they can get the help they need." He was keen to state, however, that the roster was not compulsory for the NHS bodies and that, if they had already established social marketing practices, they were free to pursue relationships with the partners that they deemed to be best for the job in hand. So who is on the list? The following agencies made the roster split across the varied lots. Activity will commence shortly, with O'Brien suggesting that by Autumn it will have gathered momentum. 1. Research & insight generation
Secondary and primary consumer research, insight and segmentation Corporate Culture, Dr Foster Intelligence, Experian, Finnamore Management Consultants, Forster, McCann Erickson, McKinsey & Co, The Solutions House 2. Strategy & planning
Development of social marketing strategies and practical programme planning Corporate Culture, Dr Foster Intelligence, ICE, McCann Erickson, McKinsey & Co, The Hub, The Solutions House, Uni Consulting 3. Stakeholder & public engagement
Specialist services in stakeholder engagement, partnership development, public, community and patient engagement Corporate Culture, Dr Foster Intelligence, Finnamore Management Consultants, Forster, McCann Erickson, McKinsey & Co, The Hub, Uni Consulting 4. Design & concept development
The origination and delivery of creative work, concept and proposition development based on clear segmentations and consumer insight BJL Group, Corporate Culture, Dr Foster Intelligence, Forster, McCann Erickson, McKinsey & Co, The Hub, Uni Consulting 5. Media planning / buying
Specialist media planning advice to suit clear target groups and specialist media buying services Barkers Social Marketing, Feather Brooksbank, McCann Erickson 6. Media relations / PR
Specialist media and public relations services Amaze PLC, BJL Group, Finn Communications, Forster, Freshwater UK, McCann Erickson, Staniforth, Triimedia Something to add? Then leave a comment below or email us now.
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