Commercial advertising is a lever of commerce. However, companies aren't always interested in promoting specific products or services . Social marketing is becoming increasingly popular, drawing attention to social issues by leveraging the methods and techniques of dynamic marketers.
The first social campaigns and advertising in their modern form appeared in the West around World War II. Social campaigns were also a part of communist propaganda – in response to the problem of alcoholism, the authorities responded with, among other things, the famous posters "Moonshine Causes Blindness" and "Stop Drinking! Join Us in Building a Happy Tomorrow!" In today's information age, social advertising serves an important educational function, sparking public debate on controversial issues, and raising public awareness of certain topics.
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What is social advertising and what are its goals?
Definitions of social advertising vary, making it a very broad term encompassing various initiatives. It is typically associated with non-commercial campaigns intended to induce positive behavioral change in society. Another form of social advertising is the frequently encountered cause-related marketing (CRM), which is a commercial activity that, in addition to generating profits and improving a brand's PR, also carries a certain social value. CRM can be classified as an element of CSR (corporate social responsibility).
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Social advertising can be divided into:
- informative – social campaigns aimed at drawing attention to a specific social, ethical or environmental problem and publicising it,
- Persuasive – social advertising that imposes an organization's narrative on the recipient. Its goal is to change existing attitudes,
- Engaging audiences – are intended to encourage pro-social action.
Commercial and social advertising – differences
The main differences are primarily the purpose and... the budget ! Social advertising is meant to draw attention to a given issue, encourage pro-social action, provide help, or change unfavorable habits. The budget is rather low, and the return on investment is spread over a very long period. It's also difficult to precisely estimate its amount – it's not about money, after all. Unlike commercial advertising ! It's meant to be appealing and sell a benefit that's attractive to the consumer. The result is sales, meaning profit. And since we're fighting for profit, costs (almost) don't matter! Therefore, we can talk about a large budget.
Social advertising – examples
- Campaigns promoting reading ("All of Poland Reads to Children", "National Reading"),
- Campaigns against drunk driving (“If you’ve been drinking – don’t drive!”, “Alcohol – no access for minors!”),
- Anti-smoking campaigns ("Cigarettes suck", "#Niespalsienastrac");
- Pro-ecological campaigns ("High five for segregation", "We create the atmosphere"),
- Campaigns supporting healthy eating (“Don’t serve yourself illness!”, “5 servings of vegetables, fruit or juice”),
- Campaigns promoting responsible parenting (“Family is for children”, “I have time”),
- Anti-violence campaigns (“The soup was too salty”, “I love you. I don’t hit you”),
- Anti-discrimination campaigns (“Music Against Racism”, “Let's Kick Racism Out of Football”),
- Campaigns for people with disabilities (“STOP barriers”, “Poland is all ears”).
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Social advertising and cause-related marketing and CSR
Although social ads are often associated with ministerial campaigns and non-profit organizations, they sometimes naturally connect with business. An example is the "Drink Milk – You'll Be Great" campaign. This large-scale campaign (promoted by Agnieszka Radwańska, Bogusław Linda, Marcin Gortat, and even Shrek, among others) ran for nearly a decade. The social ads were intended to increase milk consumption among children, but many argue that the real goal of the campaign was to improve the condition of Polish dairies. Regardless of the actual motivations of those commissioning the campaign, it was an unquestionable success, generating a very wide reach.
The best social campaigns? A good example of a campaign that straddles social advertising and cause-related marketing is undoubtedly the OLX campaign implemented in 2019. The platform had long struggled with behavioral issues among a significant portion of its users – lack of courtesy, unreliability, and widespread fraud. In response to the resulting PR losses, the brand decided to run a campaign featuring actor Janusz Chabior, who directly, yet gently, emphasized the importance of polite behavior when shopping and selling on OLX. Thanks to the universality of the message, such best practices apply not only to a single platform but can also be applied to customer-seller relationships on virtually any similar trading platform.
Also worth noting is the recent initiative by Kompania Piwowarska, producer of Żubr beer. The company purchased some of the Biebrza National Park's land, which was previously owned by other private owners, and ultimately intends to return it to the park, thus supporting nature conservation. The brand's identity emphasizes closeness to nature, so the campaign is consistent with its message. While not strictly a social campaign, it does draw attention to environmental protection and indirectly aligns with the principles of social advertising – it can be classified as an example of cause-related marketing.
When it comes to foreign CSR/CRM campaigns, a prime example is the "Stand Up Speak Up" campaign implemented in 2005-2009 , with marketing leadership from Nike.
Photo https://twitter.com/classicshirts
The initiative aimed to raise awareness of racism in football and eliminate it from stadiums. The campaign's symbol was a Nike-designed wristband, made from a combination of black and white silicone. Sales of the wristbands alone generated nearly €6 million in profit, which Nike says was entirely donated to other social/CSR campaigns addressing the same topic. The PR gain is difficult to estimate, but it likely far exceeds the financial benefits for the brand itself, positioning it as a company promoting tolerance and combating violence.
A strong message and a delicate topic
For social advertising to be effective, it must resonate with the viewer and evoke a specific thought. This typically requires a powerful message that captures the imagination—breaking social taboos and taking the viewer out of their comfort zone. An example of such a campaign is the "Cigarettes Are Sucky" campaign from 1994, whose main poster, designed by Andrzej Pągowski, sparked considerable controversy. The ad was criticized for crossing the broad boundaries of good taste and for being overly vulgar in both graphic and linguistic terms.
Returning to more recent times, the 19th AMS Poster Gallery competition entitled "Eat Carefully" also evoked mixed reactions, although on a much smaller scale.
Photo https://ams.com.pl/o-nas/aktualnosci/rekordowa-liczba-prac-w-19-konkursie-galerii-plakatu-ams-w-edycji-pod-haslem-jedz-ostroznie-zwyciezyl-michal-lacki
Posters by various authors highlighted the problem of poor nutrition and obesity, which was met with the reaction of some foundations accusing the organizers of a shallow approach to the topic and perpetuating social stereotypes.
A good example of creatively balancing on the verge of vulgarity is the campaign conducted in Sweden in 2021 by the cybersecurity organization SSF.
Photo https://www.adsoftheworld.com/campaigns/passwords
The posters featured simple words used by many people as passwords to log in to various online platforms in various contexts. Some of these included words considered obscene. Given the risk of account compromise due to easily cracked passwords, the ad drew attention to a significant issue facing the modern world.
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Why are social advertising often controversial?
An obvious ethical issue arises in the case of social campaigns and advertisements created by various organizations – the term "positive change in society" can be interpreted differently depending on individual views. A prime example is the campaign launched by the "Our Children – Education, Health, Faith" foundation at the turn of 2020 and 2021. Anti-abortion posters appeared on billboards and bus stops in many Polish cities, sparking opposition from many who disagreed with the message presented in the advertisements or even felt offended by them. The campaign by the "Pro-Right to Life" Foundation sparked even more heated debate – the advertisements featured graphic images and photomontages related to the topic of abortion, which sparked negative opinions, including the risk of exposing children to such content.
Another example of a social campaign that sparked widespread debate—though criticism was significantly more numerous—is another, several-month-long campaign by the aforementioned "Our Children" Foundation in Kornice. In 2022, large cities were "flooded" with several thousand billboards with pro-religious, pro-family messages, intended to promote a broadly understood conservative approach to fertility. Putting aside the controversial content of the graphics themselves, the campaign's scale was particularly striking—calculations published by the Wirtualne Media website suggest that the foundation spent over PLN 26 million on outdoor advertising in June and July 2022 alone.
It's also worth mentioning that the above campaign has provoked responses from other organizations—some openly linked to trolling. When asked "Where are THESE children?" the Feeders agency and Pomagam.pl website respond, "I'm HERE."
Similar discussions arise when campaigns are carried out by explicitly politically oriented organizations that "target" specific social groups. Negative ads circulate primarily around election periods and are intended to devalue political rivals—such activities are, of course, not classified as social advertising. However, by carefully juggling definitions and campaign organizers, and with sufficient agility, they can be considered social advertising. This is especially true when ads attack or even dehumanize specific groups, emphasizing the perceived independence of political organizations.
The key is proper verification of social advertising, analysis of its message and potential impact. Properly designed and executed social campaigns and CRM initiatives can deliver significant value – the recipient's task is to separate the wheat from the chaff.
Summary
The above article covers the following topics:
- Social advertising is non-commercial campaigns that change social behavior with a low budget and long-term return.
- The differences are the goal (drawing attention to a problem vs. selling), the budget (low vs. large), and the form (strong message vs. pleasant content).
- Examples of campaigns: "All of Poland Reads to Children", "You've Been Drinking - Don't Drive", anti-smoking, pro-ecological and anti-discrimination campaigns.
- Cause-related marketing is commercial activities with social value, such as the OLX campaign with Chabior, "Drink milk – you will be great" or Nike against racism.
- Controversy is caused by campaigns with drastic content (“Cigarettes suck”) and those carried out by political organizations attacking specific groups.
