Michael Siegel and Lynne Doner Lotenberg, Marketing Public Health: Strategies to promote social change, 2nd edn, Jones and Bartlett Publishers, Sudbury, MA, 2007, 608 pp, ISBN-13: 978-0-7637-3891-4; ISBN-10: 0-7637-3891-3 (original) (raw)

2010, The International Journal of Health Planning and Management

The authors of Marketing Public Health: Strategies to Promote Social Change got the razzle dazzle right in the book's title, with public health buzz words that catch our attention like little fish hooks: we certainly need effective strategies to promote social change and market public health. But any good marketer aims to exceed expectations, not disappoint the consumer, and Marketing Public Health, despite (or because of) its 600 page bulk, is a disappointment. The authors, while apparently keen to sell some fresh thinking, have not been adept at framing their product. That critical part-the beginning that should reel readers in-is more like the lead weight of a sinker at the end of the line than a hook baited with something juicy that public health professionals want to chew on. Part I, Marketing Principles for Public Health Practice, is just under 200 pages of longwinded and repetitive prose, with belabored arguments well-buttressed with citations and quotations from those citations. Most of the arguments are a kind of mantra or preaching to the choir (given that those purchasing this book are most apt to be part of the public health professionals choir), as the initial chapters repeat many of the basic tenets of public health (e.g., an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure) as though readers need to be convinced of the importance of public health. Despite the addition of a case study from Rwanda, this first part of the book (more so than the entire book) is very US-centric in perspective, and acknowledges this frequently through writing that is clearly directed to a US audience. The lack of social solidarity (e.g., health as a public good, a shared responsibility, a government mandate, a human right), the lack of trust in the government, antiregulatory views, the influence of industry on public policy formulation (e.g., National Rifle Association) are all characteristics of the US perspective (although certainly not shared by all US citizens), and these characteristics are either absent or much diminished in their influence in other developed Western nations. Even some of the US-centric ideas are now passé. The current health sector reform debate in the US cannot be characterized as being about managed care, which is how Marketing Public Health characterizes it: that was fashionable in an earlier round of health reform debates. Well over 100 pages into the book, Chapter 6 finally begins to discuss ''marketing'' public health. That chapter, Marketing Public Health-An Opportunity for the Public Health Practitioner, has some good (although not fresh) ideas about ''packaging and positioning the [public health] product.'' This is followed by the case study about a radio program in Rwanda, which is the most engaging contribution in Part I of the book. While the Rwanda case study is a bright spot, there are other bits of sparkle here and there, such as a case study on HIV and gay men annexed to Chapter 3, which highlights the importance of formative and qualitative research in developing health campaigns. Another underlying issue with Part I of the text is its grumpy Eeyore-like attitude. Public health is described as under threat, and many forces in the environment are described as hostile. While there is validity in this, it is vastly overblown and does a dismal job ''packaging and positioning'' the potential for marketing public health. The same examples that are used to illustrate threats and hostility could also have been used to describe successful strategies related to marketing public health (e.g., anti-smoking, drinking and driving, use of condoms, etc.). While the title is the right hook to reel readers in, Part I is unlikely to engage and maintain the attention of busy public health practitioners who begin to read the book from the beginning and then find something better to do with their time. With Part II, Using Marketing Principles to Design, Implement and Evaluate Public Heath Interventions, the book moves into practical areas and the style changes. Basic background on commercial and social marketing principles (beginning with the classic article, ''Why can't you sell brotherhood like soap?'') are provided. One chapter spells out the need to conduct formative research on the needs, wants, and values of target audiences, and to build a