Page 125 - Social Marketing for Public Health Global Trends and Success Stories

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98 CHAPTER 4 ■ Love, Sex, and HIV/AIDS

than young women to seek health services, making it difficult to reach them
with information and other services, so Program H takes information to them
in the communities where they live. Entertainment venues such as bars, com-
munity dances, and parties proved to be effective ways to reach the target audi-
ence. In addition, the Mexican Ministry of Health adopted Program H, and
10,000 copies were printed with the government’s seal, lending official credibil-
ity to the initiative.
According to Gerardo Ayala, of Salud y Género, healthcare providers have used
Program H’s methodology to reach more than 10,000 young people in six states—
Chiapas, Baja California Sur, Sonora, Distrito Federal, Veracruz, and Querétaro.
“The way in which we spread and implemented Program H in Mexico is very di-
verse and tends to be massive,” Ayala elaborated (quoted in de Botton, 2007).

Promotion Strategies

Unlike many developing countries, where social marketing is used to combat
HIV/AIDS, Mexico has a high average literacy rate: almost 93% for men and
90% for women (U.S. Department of State, 2008).
As might be expected, young people are more likely
to use the Internet, although of Mexico’s 110 million
people, only about 20% have access to the Web
(Internet World Stats, 2007). The Latin culture is
family/relationship oriented, so personal communica-
tion is often more effective—and more credible—than
mediated communication channels. Nevertheless, so-
cial marketers are increasingly incorporating new me-
dia tools to stretch their budgets while expanding their
reach to young computer-savvy audiences. As part of
that outreach, comprehensive information about
Programs H and M is available online and the cartoon
videos can be viewed on YouTube.
In addition to the curriculum, Alliance H—
Promundo and its partner organizations—developed a
“lifestyle social marketing” process to promote gender-
equitable lifestyles among young men and women. (See
FIGURE 4-6 Poster used in Figure 4-6.) For Program H, young men in the target au-
lifestyle social marketing dience identified their preferred sources of information
campaign: “Talk. Respect. Care. and cultural outlets in the community. Messages that it
Attitude makes a difference.” is “cool and hip” to be a more “gender-equitable” man
Photo courtesy of Instituto were presented via radio spots, billboards, posters, post-
Promundo cards, and dances.