Page 294 - Social Marketing for Public Health Global Trends and Success Stories

57977_CH11_final.qxd:Cheng 11/5/09 4:44 PM Page 267

Evolution of Strategy and Tactics 267

problem. Consequently, following launch and 6 to 12 months of data collection,
Red Apple strategy was refocused, and important adjustments made to two com-
ponents of the marketing mix:
• Communications: Messages and dissemination activities were refined to
more specifically address consumer fears of hormonal products in order
to encourage product trial and sustained usage.
• Distribution: Support for core Red Apple participants (distributors,
market service companies, and contraceptive manufacturers) was
expanded to help provide for a reliable and consistent product supply
and eventual project transition to viable, engaged partners.
This adjustment of strategy resulted in the introduction of SOMARC’s most in-
novative efforts, and reproductive health social marketing firsts:
• The Red Apple hotline.
• Pharmacy detailing.
The hotline and detailing efforts were, by design, integrally linked. This linking
allowed for considerable economy in the staffing and training plans for both activ-
ities and made their eventual commercial sustainability a more reasonably achiev-
able goal. Additionally, although separate activities, each reinforced the other in
their dual objectives of reaching both consumers and the medical profession to ul-
timately promote contraceptive sales. The program linkage between the two activi-
ties came in the dual role Red Apple personnel played. The operator-detailers split
their time between staffing the hotline and calling on medical professionals.
The Hotline/Detailing Program was a collaborative effort among SOMARC,
Medservice Plus (the largest of the Red Apple pharmaceutical distributors),
Nursat (the telecommunication company that developed and provided the toll-
free satellite phone network), and the Kazakhstan Medical and Pedagogical
Association (the program technical adviser and trainer of the operator-detailers).
The hotline became operational in early 1998. It was linked to the Red Apple
mass media communications campaign and promoted as a free and anonymous
consumer information source. Designed to offer information and counseling
about modern contraceptives and reproductive health topics and issues to both
women and men, its operator-detailers could also direct callers to the closest
pharmacies that stocked Red Apple products.
The hotline was an immediate “hit.” Within the first 18 months of operation,
hotline operator-detailers received more than 42,000 calls and answered more
than 50,000 questions from callers throughout Kazakhstan. It was estimated that
among Almaty residents alone, 1 in every 35 had used the service. SOMARC
data suggested hotline calls were directly correlated to Red Apple sales (see
Tables 11-2 and 11-3, as well as Figure 11-6).