As marketers we are used to marketing products or services to create sales (i.e. profit-making) Public Sector Marketing is about Social Marketing and public engagement (i.e.non-profit), bringing about specific behavioural goals relevant to the public good and, as such, needs a different and more longer term approach and way of measuring. The Department of Health’s Change for Life campaign is a good example of this.

Public Sector marketing started life during the Second World War and helped get important messages out to the masses. While that objective hasn’t changed essentially; we probably all remember the flyers that went out to every single household in the country after the July 7^th bombings telling us all to be vigilant and how to spot a terrorist; or the recent national swine flu campaign; the type of messages and the ways they are delivered have changed substantially as channels have proliferated and audiences fragmented over the years, to a lot of campaigns now being delivered via digital and social media methods.

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Have Pixar ever made a bad movie? I don’t think so. Couple of average ones (Cars, A Bug’s Life) perhaps, but no real duffers. In fact, I reckon pretty much all of their output is undeniably outstanding. And 22 Academy Awards, 4 Golden Globes, and 3 Grammys says I’m not the only one. Needles to say I was well up for Up.

What I love about Pixar flicks is the way they transcend generations. On the surface they’re kids films, movies full of wonder, colour and laughter. Yet just below the surface lurk some quite (and sometimes heavy), adult themes. Sibling rivalry in Toy Story; separation and parenthood in Finding Nemo; family dynamics and depression in The Incredibles; abandonment in Toy Story 2. I could go on. Up is no different.

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Believe it or not, Mahatma Gandhi is a bit of a hero of mine. I forget how many times I’ve said to people “Be the change you want to see in the world”… which I always confess is stolen from the great man himself.

One of the lovely things about Social Networking is how it has galvanised people into creating interest groups with the aim of creating change in the world. A quick search on Facebook under Darfur reveals one kind fellow promising to give $1 to every 1,0000 people who join his Facebook group.

Although such campaigns have the best intentions, you never really get to see whether they have worked or not, mainly because these groups have such lofty ambitions. There are, however, Social Networking sites out there that have a better plan… a plan that involves changing the world one small piece at a time.

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I have to confess, I don’t get Twitter. I’ve signed up for it. Attached it to this Blog. I’ve even got it on my iPhone. Yet I still find myself completely at a loss at what I should do with it. Maybe if I led the life of Stephen Fry (whose Tweets make me smile on a regular basis), then maybe I’d get it… but I don’t.

Still, it doesn’t stop me from looking at this latest web-fad and seeing how it can be used to make brands money. So, if like me, you’re at a loss as to what this Twitter business is all about, and why lots of people are becoming Twits… read on!

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