1)  Use statistics: The media like numbers. It’s validating and scientific. It also gives credence to your issues. If your data is new or unique in some way, you are likely to get mentioned. Quick stats are great for sound bites and easy to plop into news articles. So if you are developing a press release, or pitching the media, provide a little hard data, it’ll help your chances of being covered dramatically.

2)  Be exclusive: If you have a big story you’d like to drop, and are looking to garner attention, reach out to a news source that caters to your target demographic and offer them an exclusive. Not only will this allow you to build a relationship with this media outlet, others will also likely pick up your news piece as well. And once your news item is covered, don’t be afraid to use it to spread the word through press releases and other media materials. The more reputable the source the better the chance of your news going viral!

If your media outreach efforts effectively master these two important tips, chances are very good that you’ll be recognized and garner substantial news attention. For more ideas that will help improve your media outreach, check out this short article by Econsultancy.

Photo: HowStuffWorks.com

It is PR 101, but it’s important stuff: knowing how your demographic thinks is vital to any successful campaign.

Watch this interesting video below about why it’s important to think like your target audience as well as how to do it.

You could be that bunny! When we think of games we may think of glazed eyed couch potatoes, but new innovations are intent on turning this notion on its head. In fact, some of these companies want us to get off the couch (with gadget in hand) and get in shape. In short, they aim to change our behaviors.

It’s probably safe to say that video games are more addictive than exercising. Okay, maybe not for those crazy dudes that bike the Tour de France, but for the average American we spend a whole lot of time watching TV and surfing the Internet – more than we do exercising at least.

So what if we could take that addictive quality of games or TV and turn that into exercise? What if those games actually motivated us to change our behaviors and get that heart rate going? A new tech device called Striiv is currently attempting to do just such a thing.

And if a computer gadget like Striiv can change our exercise routine, what other behaviors can they impact? Can they help us eat healthier or read more books? Well, if you have a smartphone at certain super markets you can now learn about the fruit you purchase, what tree it grew on and where it came from. This information alone can change one’s buying habits.

Have any devices changed your everyday lives? Perhaps they’ve altered the route you drive to work or the restaurants you eat at? Maybe you take more family photos or bank differently? If so, we’d love for you to share your experiences in the comments section below.

Big marketing campaigns, which dominate efforts to change behavior, are good at spreading a message and generally educating the public. But where these and CBSM campaigns differ is that CBSM involves connecting with people in a direct, one-on-one level.

Here are the four basic steps to a successful CBSM campaign:

1. Identify the barriers and benefits to a behavior,
2. Develop a strategy that utilizes “tools” that have been shown to be effective in changing behavior,
3. Pilot a campaign strategy, and
4. Evaluate the strategy after implementation.

Every step is crucial and certainly a bit of creativity is required in the planning and implementation stages. Check out this fun video to learn more about CBSM. Keep in mind, unlike most traditional marketing, CBSM is utilized to change behaviors and not to just sell an idea!

We all seem to have one or the other, or more than one in most cases. Electronics are all around us. We use them daily, hourly or even by the minute. We carry them with us and rely on them to stay connected to the world around us.

With all of these advances in technology, our lives have changed dramatically. Some would argue for the better, others would argue for the worse. Nonetheless, all of these electronic devices have a very real impact on our environment – an impact that is very real.

To date, humans have produced a whopping 25 millions tons of electronic waste, or e-waste as it is called. It is a very energy intensive process to make and dispose of these mostly plastic products, but there is much we can do to reduce their cumulative impact on the environment. While most of these things end up in landfills in far away places, they don’t have to. Look for a local e-waste recycling center near you.

In the meantime, watch this educational video about the Story of Electronics below, and also take a gander at Greenpeace’s environmental report card to see how your favorite companies rate.

Here’s an example. Take the issue of litter. If it is seen as okay to litter in your neighborhood, than littering is the social norm in your area. As such, while the number of trash bins may have an impact, an increase in trash bins alone will not completely alter the norm of littering.

That’s why a change in behavior, in this case littering, must be addressed by challenging the social norm that it is acceptable to litter. It can certainly be a challenging endeavor, but once the norm of “not-littering” takes hold, than littering becomes far less common.

Not really convinced? Well, get this. Behavioral Psychologist Wesley Schultz of California State University, San Marcos asked 300 residents of his city to allow him to monitor their energy consumption. He measured their energy use in different intervals over time. At every stage he gave them information about their actual energy use and how it compared to the average energy use of people in the town.

Here’s the twist. For some of the residents Prof. Schultz attached an “emoticon” (think smiley face) to the info he gave them. If the people were below average in energy use they got a smiley face, if not they were above average they received a frown. Pretty slick, right? What Prof. Schultz was trying to see was if social approval of disapproval of their actions in the form of smiles or frowns altered their behavior in one way or another.

Here are the results, which were printed in a 2007 issue of Psychological Science: People who only received info about their behavior in relation to their neighbors did change their behavior. The over-user started using less and the frugal energy consumer kept it up. However, when a smiley face was added, the frugal energy user went even further. Those that received a frown for over-using did not alter their behavior any more than those that received info on their usage levels.

What’s all of this tell us? It shows that rewards work, but not necessarily shame. It also shows that social norms are very important when it comes to ones behavior, in this case energy consumption. People want to do what they perceive as normal, i.e. average. So, in a very direct way, these people want to do what their neighbors do. And for a little added bonus, those that are doing something good also like to be recognized for it!

So next time you see someone pick up a piece of litter, tell them thank you! Then go out and pick up some yourself. When people see you collecting trash, they’ll take notice, especially if it isn’t the normal thing to do. Yet the more they see you and others pick up trash, the less likely they will litter themselves.

Change the social norm and you change the behavior. Try and it out and see what happens!

1 – Get your message in front of a crowd: This may seem like a no-brainer, but when you speak in front of a crowd, people are reached in a very direct way. They will listen (if you are good, with visuals and maybe dancing! Kidding about the dancing.). Allow for a give and take, involve the audience and answer questions. Be nice to your audience, you want them to get on board.

2 – Stay positive: It can’t be overstated, but negativity (like shaming someone’s bad actions, such as the negatives of smoking) simply does not work very well. Instead, promote positive behavior (like the benefits of not smoking).

3 – Collect email addresses: Once you reach out to people, it is vital to keep in touch. How soon we all forget what we just learned. One effective way to do so is to put together an e-newsletter. It’s an easy way to track interaction with people and it is a non-invasive means to keep them in the loop. But remember, in order to send a mass email you must first have permission from those receiving it!

4 – Tap into social networking and new media: There are a whole bunch of people on Facebook and Twitter. A whole bunch of those people also get a lot of information through these social networking sites. Having a Facebook or Twitter account is a great way to reach new people with your (positive) message as well as a great way to stay in touch with people in your camp.

What else have you found to work? We’d love to hear from you about your own experiences and public outreach tips.

First, the good news. The survey found that more Americans now believe in climate change. Currently 62% of Americans believe this, while only 26% do not (the rest unsure). This is up from a low of just 50% in 2010; about halfway back to the original high of around 75% in 2008.

Now for the bad news, a little deeper analysis finds that this increase is tenuous.It seems to be driven mainly by the latest seasonal weather events and not a change in core beliefs or knowledge. For example, in areas of the country that had recent droughts or other unusually warm weather, respondents were much more likely to agree that climate change is happening versus other areas where changes were more subtle. And the number of people who cite scientific data as the reason they see climate change as caused by humans is still very low.

Should we be surprised by these findings? Well, no, climate change is a complex issue and the fact is people make most complex decisions based on a gut feel not careful analysis of facts.

There has been much written about this rational decision making versus emotional decision making in recent years especially in the growing field of behavioral economics (the cross-pollination of psychology and economics). The “godfather” of this field is Daniel Kahneman, a Nobel laureate in economics (the only psychologist to win this prize) and he addresses this issue in his latest book Thinking, Fast and Slow. He describes this dichotomy in terms of the fact that our “rational” brain (slow thinking) has limited bandwidth to consciously think through most issues. This necessitates that most decisions be made at a gut, emotional level (fast thinking), which handles most decisions made in daily life.

So what are we to do? Well the answer is certainly not to rely on getting out more information on the issue (that is fine for climatologists, but it is not going to sway more people). And we don’t need more environmentally minded messages (the audience that listens to those have been on board for a long time – the +50% crowd). In my mind, we need to connect this wavering 25-30% and get them solidly behind this issue to get the critical mass necessary to move the issue forward. But it is not the message; we need the right messenger, opinion leaders that 25-30% trust. Note, we are not going to get everyone on board nor do we need to, but there are plenty of conservatives and even evangelical Christian leaders that do believe this is something we should address. And we need to get them out in front of the issue, whether they are Republican politicians, CEO’s of businesses, or conservative religious leaders, these are the folks that are going to tip the scales and emotionally connect with that critical audience.

For better or worse, it’s going to come down to individual’s “feel” on the issue and who you believe is going to continue to trump what the studies say. Or until the weather makes the decision obvious for all of us.

What’s your take?  Comment below on the politics, the science or even the marketing of climate change. We want to hear your thoughts.

In a nutshell, creating a successful viral video follows a pretty strict blueprint: a small core audience to begin with, having these core people share it with others, making sure the message of the video is potent and lastly, and most importantly, the faster this all occurs the more viral the video becomes and the greater impact it can ultimately have.

Whether it is increasing sales of a product (think Super Bowl ads) or changing social behavior, viral videos are all the rage in the social marketing world these days. Check out the video below for a brief overview of what it takes to go viral, then check out this informative blog post to read through the best practices in order to make your next video all the rage.

Developed 25 years ago, GIFs are making a BIG comeback with the innovation of the iPhone and blog formats like Tumblr. The old meets the new in a weird and fun way. Here’s a short video history of the oldest digital image formats, put together by PBS. Get in on the action, or at least learn about what this old/new craze is all about.