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262 CHAPTER 11 ■ Socialism Meets Social Marketing

critical marketing disciplines. Individuals and groups with experience in public
opinion research, film/video production, and journalism were sought out and, if
not formally incorporated as commercial businesses, were encouraged and as-
sisted in doing so. SOMARC then began the job of working with them to trans-
form their Soviet talent into Western marketing skills and to then use those new
skills in the creation of a comprehensive consumer/target-directed communica-
tions campaign.
Because the SOMARC place strategy and tactics were focused almost exclu-
sively on suppliers, promotion strategy and tactics were directed principally to-
ward consumers, with suppliers benefiting from those efforts through sales of
the Red Apple products they stocked.

Promotion
Messages

There were three initial goals, and messages were developed to:
• Launch the new brand and build awareness and acceptance of the
program and its logo—and what they stand for.
• Begin to dispel Soviet medical practice myths about the safety and
efficacy of modern hormonal contraceptives.
• Encourage purchase and trial of program contraceptives.

Message Development Protocol

1. Research and analysis
a. Formative research: Focus groups were conducted among women in the
target groups. The primary purpose of this research was to begin to un-
derstand the reasons women who said they did not want to become preg-
nant were not using reliable contraceptive methods. The groups were also
used to add richness to some of the Soviet-era secondary data to test what
arguments might be persuasive and to determine what specific language/
words/terms would be acceptable in convincing women in the target
groups to try Red Apple products (BRIF, 1997a, 1997b; Futures Group
International, 1994).
Additionally, the focus groups were used to better understand the
background and nature of both the perceived costs and personal bene-
fits associated with modern contraceptive use for women in the target
audiences (BRIF, 1997a, 1997b; Futures Group International, 1994).