Here’s what some of our attendees have to say about our workshops.
Social Marketing/Behaviour Change: A Community Approach
The New Zealand AIDS Foundation (NZAF) is New Zealand’s national HIV prevention and healthcare organisation. A core part of our prevention work is grounded in an effective social marketing approach. We partnered with Atlas Communications following one of our team being very impressed by a training events facilitated by Atlas. Our work together was focused on our wider prevention team exploring social marketing in more detail and assessing others’ work and applying learning. Janet worked closely with our management team to develop an applied training event for our team. She immediately understood the special issues that an NGO doing social marketing experience and quickly fitted into our team culture. Janet was a joy to work with and we would definitely approach Atlas Communications again for training work. Simon Harger-Forde, Director HIV Prevention and International, New Zealand AIDS Foundation
Janet kept in touch with us through the planning process and ensured that the [in-house] course would meet our organisation’s needs. The course content was relevant to our specific needs and included the right mix of theory and case studies to reinforce learning. Janet knows her subject well and this is more than apparent in the content and delivery of her workshop. She is personable and able to connect with participants as well as applying theory to specific situations. Local government has a growing need for social marketing and the course was very applicable to our organisation. The knowledge gained will enable us to interact in a more meaningful way with our stakeholders and improve the effectiveness of our community engagement. I would not hesitate to recommend Janet to any organisation or individual involved in behaviour change programmes or social marketing. In-house workshop, Hawkes Bay Regional Council, New Zealand.
“I found this course very useful and interesting. It provided me with a useful framework for examining policy problems. It helped to sharpen my focus on the specific outcomes we want to achieve and who we need to get onboard to make that happen. It also helped me to better understand the barriers and incentives that may impact on successful implementation of the policy.” Anna Carter, Ministry for the Environment.
“The social marketing and behaviour change workshop was fantastic! The content was tailored to the work I undertake, making the content both relveant and interesting. The presenter was both extremely knowledgeable, engaging and funny which made the content even easier to understand and apply.” Lisa Mills Community Relations Ranger, Department of Conservation - Te Papa Atawhai South Westland Weheka Area
“I thought the course was very well presented, and worked through an excellent content on social marketing in a very logical manner. I have had very positive feedback from the team members that attended the course. I believe the material “unlocked” some important principles and understandings of working with communities that will enable my team to achieve more effective engagement and support in community initiatives we undertake.” Wayne Costello, Area Manager — Poumanahere, Franz Josef Waiau Area, Department of Conservation, NZ.
“I thought the course was very well presented, and worked through an excellent content on social marketing in a very logical manner. I have had very positive feedback from the team members that attended the course. I believe the material “unlocked” some important principles and understandings of working with communities that will enable my team to achieve more effective engagement and support in community initiatives we undertake.” Wayne Costello, Area Manager, Department of Conservation – Franz Josef Waiau Area
“I found the course on Behaviour Change: A Community Approach well-structured, good content and ample interaction with the leader and other participants. The content stimulated a better understanding of social marketing, basic process and analysis tools, and the opportunities for its use. Case studies and the presenter’s knowledge provided excellent illustrations of concepts and model application and participant interaction. Presenter, Janet MacDonald, was organised, knowledgeable, personable, enthusiastic and related well with participants. I thoroughly recommend the course as either an introduction to the topic and an opportunity to enhance theory and practice in the rea of social marketing.” Keith Calder, Porirua City Council.
“Very useful. Good mix of theory and presented in a lecturer format which gave us good structure. Good flexible approach to allow discussion and questioning.” Jock Edmonson, Department of Conservation, NZ.
“Janet created a really comfortable and open learning environment. She allowed us to explore topics in greater detail and was very knowledgeable and flexible in her approach. I have come away with more knowledge than when I walked in and lots of things to think about.” Lynda Murray, Families Commission.
“Great workshop. Some very useful case studies on how to grow community buy-in and ownership of social marketing programmes.” Daemon Coyle, New Zealand Aids Foundation.
“I found the workshop really thought-provoking. It was great to understand the key approaches to changing behaviour and looking beyond the information or education approaches. The workshop provided plenty of opportunities to test the theories out on real-life situations. Thanks Janet for a very enjoyable and worthwhile day.” Natasha Carswell, Napier City Council.
“It was great to be involved in a well-facilitated group forum to discuss behaviour change issues. It was valuable to be able to place issues in a framework – in fact in a variety of frameworks – and I came away with a number of ideas for moving forward from where I am now.” Karyn Burgess, Enviroschools Regional Coordinator Wellington Region
“Thanks for a really effective seminar with lots of relevant things to apply to what we’re doing.” Public Sector Marketing Manager
Other feedback from Social Marketing/Behaviour Change: A Community Approach:
- Content was practical and easy to understand.
- Enjoyed the 5Ps activity and the community based prevention marketing content. Thanks for a good day.
- Interesting, very interactive and great food!
- Well paced. Good participation style. Good examples and excellent audience participation.
- Enjoyed hearing other examples from members. Gained a better understanding about social marketing and involving the community.
Introduction to Social Marketing
“Thank you so much for the wonderful workshop. I thoroughly enjoyed the workshop and learned a lot of new tools that I hope to practice in my work. The small size of the group really enhanced the learning process, both allowing for individual instruction, and learning from the questions of other participants. The one-on-one session was greatly detailed, tailored and practical. It was a wonderful learning experience.” Kai Hong Tan, Public Health Nutritionist, The National Health Foundation of New Zealand.
“I found the explanation of the difference between social advertising and social marketing quite enlightening. We’ll be concentrating more on behavioural change in future with our campaigns. I also found it really helpful to be able to discuss one-on-one with Janet our proposed campaign plans; to flesh out ideas and keep strategies and tactics on focus. To have such individual attention was great value for money.” Frances Harrison, Public Affairs Advisor – Environment, Waitakere City Council, NZ.
“Thank you Janet for the fantastic workshop, it was great how you organised the presentation to cater for our varying levels of experience with social marketing tools as well as demonstrating how we could apply these methods to our specific areas of interest. As a team of social researchers with a focus on community, economy and environment, we really appreciated the range of topics covered, from theory to design frameworks and practical case studies. The content of the workshop included some valuable and innovative techniques which helped us reflect and consolidate our choice of methods and research frameworks. We also enjoyed the interactive nature of the workshop which made for a fun and informative.” Keri Brown , Community, Economy & Environment Social Researcher, Environment Waikato, NZ.
“I just wanted to say thank you for all the time you put into making our social marketing workshop such a success. I thought it was pitched just at the right level for our organisation and those who attended have gained a good understanding of what social marketing is (and isnt!), and how it can be applied to their work. Following an evaluation of the workshop we have received some great feedback, staff have said overall they found it very useful, informative, well organised and used relevant reference material.” Kylie Ruegg, Social Marketing Advisor , Toi Te Ora – Public Health. Bay of Plenty, NZ.
” I found the course really useful and stimulating. It has challenged my thought processes for future marketing campaigns and encouraged me to think about how we want people to get involved, and how to encourage them to get involved, with our organisation and its aims.” Fiona Morrison, Marketing and Promotions Manager , Central Scotland Forest Trust, UK.
“The course was a great introduction to social marketing. The balance between theory and practical sessions meant it was constantly engaging, and the case studies provided a useful insight into how social marketing can work in the real world and were a great resource to take away with me.” Lucy Gallagher, Marketing and Research Officer, County Durham Sport, UK.
“A great package for anyone with an interest in the concepts of social marketing and who wishes to apply the process in their own line of work. The workshops generated stimulating discussions and I found all the hand-out materials very useful. A really worthwhile and informative day.” Lynn Marshall , School Travel Project Officer, Sustrans, UK.
“I can’t recommend the “introduction to social marketing” enough for anyone new to the field who wants to get ain-depth introduction to the topic. The workshop had a good balance between presentation and exploring case study examples from diverse sources. The workshop covers both the theory and practice of social marketing and gave me enough of a grounding in the subject to directly apply to our school sustainable travel champion training programme. It would be useful for anyone in any field who wants to find out how they can use a social marketing approach in their particular area.” Dr Cecilia Oram, School Travel Project Assistant, Sustrans, UK.
“Coming into a not-for-profit environment, focused on securing behaviour change, after spending many years in private sector marketing, I found the Atlas course invaluable. A very clear and pragmatic exploration of the principles of social marketing – and the opportunity to learn ways to put these principles to use as soon as I was back in the office. The opportunity to hear others’ experiences was also extremely useful, because of the range of backgrounds which delegates represented.” Fiona Cameron, Marketing Manager, Energy Efficiency Charity, UK.
“Coming from a social enterprise group I had been looking for marketing training that was appropriate to the co-ops aims and objectives. The Framework of Social Marketing is ideal for the marketing needs of a not-for-profit group. Social Marketing has allowed me to address the wider social and pro-environmental behaviours that as a co-op we seek to address, whilst also addressing financial issues. Attending both days allowed me to gain a full insight into Social Marketing and its applied use. With day two being a small group, Janet was able to provide me with real one-one time. This meant that not only did I leave the course fully understanding the ‘tool’ of Social Marketing but also with a plan of action.” Anna Batchelor , Communications Coordinator, True Food Cooperative. Newcastle, UK.
“Janet was an excellent presenter – delivered clear, structured sessions which built on each other to give a complete picture overall. I though Janet McDonald’s style of delivery was excellent, the mix of presentations and ‘workbook’. Good mix of input/practical sessions. Lots of useful examples and anecdotes to help make sense of the theory. Great variety of knowledge and experience displaying the theory of social marketing on a variety of levels.” Kirstin Guthrie, Communications Officer Scottish Natural Heritage, Perth, UK.
“The social marketing workshop was well structured and excellently presented. It gave me many useful insights into the subject, which I am sure will prove beneficial in the planning and implementation of our own communications campaigns. Clifford Burden, Communications Manager, NHS Lothian, Edinburgh, UK.