Course Development Team

Head of Programme : Dr Brian Lee

Course Developer(s) : Chervin Lam
Technical Writer : Wong Ling Ming, ETP
Video Production : Samuel Goh, ETP
Instructional Designer : Chow Siew Hoong, ETP

© 2019 Singapore University of Social Sciences. All rights reserved.

No part of this material may be reproduced in any form or by any means without
permission in writing from the Educational Technology & Production, Singapore
University of Social Sciences.

ISBN 978-981-47-8754-3

Educational Technology & Production

Singapore University of Social Sciences
463 Clementi Road
Singapore 599494

How to cite this Study Guide (APA):

Lam, C. (2019). COM388 Communication campaign planning [Study guide]. Singapore:

Singapore University of Social Sciences.

Release V1.2

Build S1.0.12, T1.5.22

 Table of Contents

Table of Contents

Course Guide
1. Welcome.................................................................................................................. CG-2

2. Course Description and Aims............................................................................ CG-3

3. Learning Outcomes.............................................................................................. CG-5

4. Learning Materials................................................................................................ CG-6

5. Assessment Overview.......................................................................................... CG-7

6. Course Schedule.................................................................................................. CG-10

7. Learning Mode.................................................................................................... CG-11

Study Unit 1: Introduction & Planning a Campaign

Learning Outcomes................................................................................................. SU1-2

Overview................................................................................................................... SU1-3

Chapter 1: Assessing Situation, Resources, and Challenges............................. SU1-4

Chapter 2: Tapping into the Community........................................................... SU1-38

Summary................................................................................................................. SU1-52

Formative Assessment.......................................................................................... SU1-53

References............................................................................................................... SU1-66

Study Unit 2: Developing Messages for a Campaign

Learning Outcomes................................................................................................. SU2-2

Overview................................................................................................................... SU2-3

i
Table of Contents

Chapter 1: Designing Campaign Messages......................................................... SU2-4

Chapter 2: Marketing Mix and Considerations................................................ SU2-32

Summary................................................................................................................. SU2-49

Formative Assessment.......................................................................................... SU2-50

References............................................................................................................... SU2-63

Study Unit 3: Executing a Campaign

Learning Outcomes................................................................................................. SU3-2

Overview................................................................................................................... SU3-3

Chapter 1: Choice of Media: Traditional Versus New Media in

Campaigns................................................................................................................ SU3-4

Chapter 2: Launching and Monitoring the Campaign..................................... SU3-33

Summary................................................................................................................. SU3-42

Formative Assessment.......................................................................................... SU3-43

References............................................................................................................... SU3-53

ii
 List of Tables

List of Tables

Table 1.1 Definition...................................................................................................... SU1-7

Table 1.2 List of some strengths and weaknesses.................................................. SU1-29

Table 1.3 List of some opportunities and threats.................................................. SU1-30

Table 2.1 Pros & cons of pretesting......................................................................... SU2-48

Table 3.1 The advantages and disadvantages in using traditional media in

campaigns..................................................................................................................... SU3-20

Table 3.2 The advantages and disadvantages in using traditional media in

campaigns..................................................................................................................... SU3-29

iii
List of Tables

iv
 List of Figures

List of Figures

Figure 1.1 People rallying in protest......................................................................... SU1-6

Figure 1.2 Delivering a persuasive message............................................................ SU1-8

Figure 1.3 Nonprofit organizations such as Transient Workers Count Too

advocate for migrant workers.................................................................................... SU1-9

Figure 1.4 Image of amputees protesting............................................................... SU1-11

Figure 1.5 Hillary Clinton campaigning................................................................. SU1-13

Figure 1.6 Health Communication Advocacy Model........................................... SU1-14

Figure 1.7 Conducting formative research............................................................. SU1-16

Figure 1.8 SWOT analysis table................................................................................ SU1-28

Figure 1.9 Conducting an interview........................................................................ SU1-38

Figure 1.10 A focus group session........................................................................... SU1-41

Figure 1.11 Example of a survey.............................................................................. SU1-45

Figure 1.12 Example of a community asset map................................................... SU1-48

Figure 1.13 Example of locating strategic locations.............................................. SU1-50

Figure 2.1 The 5 key aspects to developing campaign messages.......................... SU2-5

Figure 2.2 The four scenarios of the EPPM.............................................................. SU2-8

Figure 2.3 Cigarette boxes in Singapore................................................................... SU2-9

v
List of Figures

Figure 2.4 Videos of the vulnerable being treated badly always draw angry
reactions. For example, this incident in which a couple confronted an elderly
man in Toa Payoh....................................................................................................... SU2-11

Figure 2.5 A drink-driving campaign message...................................................... SU2-15

Figure 2.6 Prague, though scenic, can be a distraction if irrelevant to the theme
of the message............................................................................................................. SU2-16

Figure 2.7 The Golden Village short clip................................................................ SU2-18

Figure 2.8 Martin Luther King’s “I have a dream” speech.................................. SU2-19

Figure 2.9 Governor Mike Pence invites Donald Trump on stage...................... SU2-21

Figure 2.10 Uncertainty can sometimes cause people to be apprehensive about

supporting a campaign.............................................................................................. SU2-23

Figure 2.11 Phua Chu Kang and the SARS rap video........................................... SU2-27

Figure 2.12 Free Templates........................................................................................ SU2-30

Figure 2.13 Gov.sg’s campaign used festive foods to draw connections with the
audience........................................................................................................................ SU2-34

Figure 2.14 A tracking device watch....................................................................... SU2-40

Figure 2.15 A Singapore reproduction campaign.................................................. SU2-44

Figure 3.1 The radio..................................................................................................... SU3-5

Figure 3.2 TV remains a popular household item................................................... SU3-7

Figure 3.3 The Straits Times, one of the most popular newspapers in
Singapore........................................................................................................................ SU3-9

Figure 3.4 Magazines under Singapore Press Holdings (SPH)............................ SU3-11

Figure 3.5 A printing hotspot at Queenstown....................................................... SU3-13

vi
 List of Figures

Figure 3.6 If you use pamphlets, be ready to fight with a lot of competing
messages....................................................................................................................... SU3-15

Figure 3.7 Interesting ways to promote messages................................................. SU3-16

Figure 3.8 Mobile phones are getting increasingly sophisticated........................ SU3-21

Figure 3.9 QR codes are almost everywhere these days....................................... SU3-27

Figure 3.10 Timing scenarios.................................................................................... SU3-31

vii
List of Figures

viii
 List of Lesson Recordings

List of Lesson Recordings

Introduction to Communication Campaigns: Who, What, and How?............... SU1-15

Formative Research and Assembling a Team........................................................ SU1-26

SWOT Analysis........................................................................................................... SU1-31

Tapping into the Community................................................................................... SU1-51

Developing Persuasive Messages (Part One)......................................................... SU2-31

Developing Persuasive Messages (Part Two)......................................................... SU2-31

The Marketing Mix..................................................................................................... SU2-42

Efficacy, Ethics, and Pre-testing................................................................................ SU2-48

Traditional Media in Campaigns.............................................................................. SU3-20

New Media in Campaigns........................................................................................ SU3-29

Timing & Legalities, and System Theory................................................................ SU3-41

Possible Responses (What to Do)............................................................................. SU3-41

ix
List of Lesson Recordings

x
 Course
Guide

Communication Campaign
Planning
COM388 Course Guide

1. Welcome

Presenter: Chervin Lam

This streaming video requires Internet connection. Access it via Wi-Fi to

avoid incurring data charges on your personal mobile plan.

Click here to watch the video. i

Welcome to the course COM388 Communication Campaign Planning, a 5 credit unit (CU)
course.

This Study Guide will be your personal learning resource to take you through the course
learning journey. The guide is divided into two main sections – the Course Guide and
Study Units.

The Course Guide describes the structure for the entire course and provides you with an
overview of the Study Units. It serves as a roadmap of the different learning components
within the course. This Course Guide contains important information regarding the
course learning outcomes, learning materials and resources, assessment breakdown and
additional course information.

i
https://d2jifwt31jjehd.cloudfront.net/COM388/IntroVideo/COM388_Intro_Video.mp4

CG-2
COM388 Course Guide

2. Course Description and Aims

Communication campaigns include strategies and action plans that produce effects on
the knowledge, attitudes and behavior of large populations across a variety of domains,
including political, pro-social, and environmental and health sectors.

Planning a communications campaign needs careful consideration of objectives, audience,

research, messaging, communication channels, implementation, timing, resources
and evaluation. This course is designed to strengthen students' understanding of
communication campaign principles and sharpen their professionalism in employing
those principles to health, public relations, and corporate communication issues.

The course guides students in planning, designing, and executing a communication

campaign.

Course Structure
This course is a 5-credit unit course presented over 6 weeks.

There are three Study Units in this course. The following provides an overview of each
Study Unit.

Study Unit 1 – Introduction & Planning a Campaign

This unit helps you understand what a communication campaign is, who are the people
involved in a campaign, and how a campaign process should unfold. This unit will also
explain the processes in planning a campaign, including formative research, assembling
a team, conducting SWOT analysis, assessing target audiences, and tapping into the
community.

Study Unit 2 – Developing Messages for a Campaign

This unit will focus on the theories and praxis in designing campaign messages. This unit
will also explore marketing, efficacy, and ethical considerations.

CG-3
COM388 Course Guide

Study Unit 3 – Executing a Campaign

This unit looks at the aspects of executing a campaign, including choice of media channels,
timing and legality issues, tracking and monitoring campaign progress, and revising/
reporting/repeating a campaign effort.

CG-4
COM388 Course Guide

3. Learning Outcomes

Knowledge & Understanding (Theory Component)

By the end of this course, you should be able to:

• Examine a communication campaign as well as public communication campaign.

• Identify target audience and communication campaign opportunities.
• Prepare situational research proposals and action plans for a feasible
communication campaign.
• Formulate campaign strategies to meet communication objectives.
• Develop communication materials to meet the desired communication objectives.
• Evaluate communication effectiveness, and managing issues that can impact an
organization or its stakeholders.

Key Skills (Practical Component)

By the end of this course, you should be able to:

• Propose feasible plans for communication campaign.

• Plan a campaign through formative research.
• Analyse audience attitudes and perspectives on a campaign issue.
• Appraise the campaign team’s strengths and weakness through the SWOT
approach.
• Design stimulating and persuasive messages for campaigns.
• Assess which media is most suitable for a particular campaign.

CG-5
COM388 Course Guide

4. Learning Materials

The following is a list of the required learning materials to complete this course.

Required Textbook(s)
No textbook

CG-6
COM388 Course Guide

5. Assessment Overview

The overall assessment weighting for this course is as follows:

Assessment Description Weight Allocation

Assignment 1 Pre-Class Quiz 01 4%

Assignment 2 Pre-Class Quiz 02 3%

Assignment 3 Pre-Class Quiz 03 3%

Assignment 4 Tutor-marked Assignments 1 – 20%

SWOT analysis specific to team’s
campaign

Assignment 5 Tutor-marked Assignments 2 20%

– Review of feedback from
interviews/focus groups/surveys
and community asset mapping

Examination End of Course Assignment Six page 50%

campaign proposal and presentation
of campaign idea

TOTAL 100%

CG-7
COM388 Course Guide

The following section provides important information regarding Assessments.

Continuous Assessment:

There will be continuous assessment in the form of two online pre-class quizzes and three
tutor-marked assignments (TMAs). In total, this continuous assessment will constitute 40
percent of overall student assessment for this course. The two assignments are compulsory
and are non-substitutable. These assignments will test conceptual understanding of both
the fundamental and more advanced concepts and applications that underlie campaigns.
It is imperative that you read through your Assignment questions and submission
instructions before embarking on your Assignment.

Examination:

The End of Course Assignment (ECA) will constitute the other 50 percent of overall
student assessment and will assess the student’s proficiency in the strategies and praxis
of communication campaign planning. Students will need to write a 6 page campaign
proposal and submit a video of the campaign idea.

Passing Mark:

To successfully pass the course, you must obtain a minimum passing mark of 40 percent
for each of the two TMA components. That is, students must obtain at least a mark of
40 percent for the combined assessments and also at least a mark of 40 percent for the
ECA. For detailed information on the Course grading policy, please refer to The Student
Handbook (‘Award of Grades’ section under Assessment and Examination Regulations).
The Student Handbook is available from the Student Portal.

CG-8
COM388 Course Guide

Non-graded Learning Activities:

Activities for the purpose of self-learning are present in each study unit. These learning
activities are meant to enable you to assess your understanding and achievement of the
learning outcomes. The type of activities can be in the form of Quiz, Review Questions,
Application-Based Questions or similar. You are expected to complete the suggested
activities either independently and/or in groups.

CG-9
COM388 Course Guide

6. Course Schedule

To help monitor your study progress, you should pay special attention to your
Course Schedule. It contains Study Unit-related activities including Assignments, Self-
assessments and Examinations. Please refer to the Course Timetable in the Student Portal
for the updated Course Schedule.

Note: You should always make it a point to check the Student Portal for any
announcements and latest updates.

CG-10
COM388 Course Guide

7. Learning Mode

The learning process for this course is structured along the following lines of learning:

a. Self-study guided by the study guide units. Independent study will require at
least 3 hours per week.
b. Working on assignments, either individually or in groups.
c. Classroom Seminar sessions (3 hours each session, 3 sessions in total).

iStudyGuide

You may be viewing the iStudyGuide version, which is the mobile version of the
Study Guide. The iStudyGuide is developed to enhance your learning experience with
interactive learning activities and engaging multimedia. Depending on the reader you are
using to view the iStudyGuide, you will be able to personalise your learning with digital
bookmarks, note-taking and highlight sections of the guide.

Interaction with Instructor and Fellow Students

Although flexible learning – learning at your own pace, space and time – is a hallmark
at SUSS, you are encouraged to engage your instructor and fellow students in online
discussion forums. Sharing of ideas through meaningful debates will help broaden your
learning and crystallise your thinking.

Academic Integrity

As a student of SUSS, it is expected that you adhere to the academic standards stipulated
in The Student Handbook, which contains important information regarding academic
policies, academic integrity and course administration. It is necessary that you read and
understand the information stipulated in the Student Handbook, prior to embarking on
the course.

CG-11
COM388 Course Guide

CG-12
 1
Study
Unit

Introduction & Planning a

Campaign
COM388 Introduction & Planning a Campaign

Learning Outcomes

By the end of this unit, you will be able to:

1. Explain the need for communication campaigns

2. Define communication and campaigns
3. Explain the communication/messages approach and emphasis to campaigns
4. Identify who are the benefactors of interventions, what issues are addressed
during campaigns, and explain how a campaign would unfold
5. Conduct formative research
6. Assess the intricacies in assembling a campaign team
7. Conduct SWOT analysis
8. Assess target audiences
9. Conduct focus groups, interviews, surveys, and community asset mapping

SU1-2
COM388 Introduction & Planning a Campaign

Overview

T here are two chapters in this unit. The first chapter introduces the preliminary
aspects of a campaign. The second chapter discusses how a campaign team
can tap into a community, which is useful for understanding audiences and for planning
an effective campaign.

SU1-3
COM388 Introduction & Planning a Campaign

Chapter 1: Assessing Situation, Resources, and

Challenges

This chapter introduces the basics of communication campaign planning, including the
preliminary processes that need to be conducted prior to the execution of a campaign: i.e.,
formative research, assembling a team, SWOT analysis, and assessing target audiences.
But before we delve into those processes, let us first explore what communication
campaign planning is.

1.1 Introduction to Communication Campaigns: Who, What, and

How?
Communication campaigns can mean many things – from spreading awareness via
Facebook regarding a local volunteering effort, to taking to the streets in protest
against tax hikes. Before delving into this course on communication campaign planning,
it is imperative to first explore the basics. First, we will look at the definitions
of communication and campaigns. Second, we will explore the communication/
messages approach to campaigns. Third, the need for communication campaigns will
be expounded. Lastly, we will look at who are involved in a campaign, what issues are
addressed, and how a campaign would unfold.

1.1.1 Definitions of Communication & Campaigns

Over the many decades of communication scholarship, there have been many
contestations over definitions and interpretations of what “communication” is. It is
beyond the scope of this study guide to explicate these contestations in detail; nonetheless,
it is necessary to outline what the study guide considers as “communication”. According
to Pearson and Nelson (2000), communication is the “process of understanding and
sharing meaning” (p. 3). This definition thus suggests that communication is an everyday
activity prevalent in many shapes and form, such as our everyday conversations,
newspapers, television shows, social media sites, and so on. Messages embedded in

SU1-4
COM388 Introduction & Planning a Campaign

communication can be verbal (e.g., “hi, how are you?”), or nonverbal (e.g., waving
the hand and giving a nod) (see Knapp, 2012). Mattson and Lam (2016) contend that
communication should involve a sender and receiver of a message. Taking these into
account, this study guide defines communication as a transaction of messages between
the sender and receiver of the messages.

What, then, is the definition of campaigns? The term “campaigns” has been tossed
around, particularly in non-academic contexts, to refer to events that have little to do
with interventions. For example, one may have heard of the term “marketing campaign”,
which most often describes corporate efforts to promote their brand or product. However,
this study guide defines “campaigns” as strictly efforts that are interventions, that aim to
advance a particular cause. For example, advocacy efforts that aim to, say, further limit the
areas for smoking are the “campaigns” that this study guide is interested in. Campaigns do
not necessarily have to involve health-related changes; they must, however, involve efforts
to change something. For example, a campaign may attempt to convince policymakers
to, say, lower the goods and services tax. Therefore, two key elements are required for an
initiative to be a “campaign” – namely, (1) the aim to advance a particular cause, and (2)
the aim to invoke change.

SU1-5
COM388 Introduction & Planning a Campaign

Figure 1.1 People rallying in protest

Students may quickly balk at this definition and exclaim “well, I’m not going to
do something grandiose anytime soon, so count me out!”. Fortunately, the study
guide’s definition is not limited to far-fetched save-the-earth projects; this study guide
emphasizes that the campaign cause and extent of change need not be extravagant. For
example, a campaign can involve something as simple as aiming to enhance the public’s
understanding of mental illness (i.e., cause) by promoting awareness via Facebook (i.e.,
change).

Now that we understand the definitions of communication and campaigns, we can bridge
the two concepts together: communication campaigns. Communication campaigns are,
quite simply, intervention efforts that focus on communication strategies and processes.
That is to say, communication campaigns are interested in the approach in and processes
of designing messages, and the receptivity to those messages. The keen student may
ask, “why the emphasis in communication? What is so important about communication

SU1-6
COM388 Introduction & Planning a Campaign

for campaigns? Isn’t money and political influence the only things that matter in
campaigns?”. These questions aptly bring us to the next section, which addresses the
importance of communication/messages in campaigns.

Table 1.1 Definition

Terms Definition

Communication A transaction of messages between the sender and

receiver of the messages

Campaign An initiative that aims to advance a particular cause and

to invoke change

Communication campaign Intervention efforts that focus on communication

strategies and processes

1.1.2 The Communication/Messages Approach to Campaigns

There can be various approaches to running a campaign, but this course focuses on the
communication/messages approach. That is to say, the emphasis is on communication
strategies, message design, and message distribution processes. This course contends
that the communication/messages approach is an effective and appropriate approach to
campaigns, because communication is at the heart of every campaign; dialogue, rhetoric,
and persuasion are all key elements of campaigns.

One may retort that money and political influence are most important in a campaign;
however, even if one had money and political influence, dialogue, rhetoric, and persuasion
remain the essential cogs in any campaign. Thus, it is communication – not money or
political influence – that primarily drives a campaign.

SU1-7
COM388 Introduction & Planning a Campaign

Figure 1.2 Delivering a persuasive message

1.1.3 The Need for Communication Campaigns

Is there a need for communication campaigns? What can communication campaigns
achieve? As previously mentioned, communication campaigns have the aim to advance
a cause and to invoke change. Therefore, communication campaigns are invaluable to
society: first, such efforts promote democratic participation and help enhance the voices
of those who are usually marginalized. For example, labor unions or private organizations
can help speak out for marginalized construction workers in issues such as, say, fairer
wages. In Singapore, the non-profit organization Transient Workers Count Too advocates
for migrant workers, and actively engages with government officials and the public to
promote the welfare of migrant workers in the country.

SU1-8
COM388 Introduction & Planning a Campaign

Figure 1.3 Nonprofit organizations such as Transient Workers Count Too advocate for migrant
workers

(Source: © KC Wong / Wikimedia Commons / CC-BY-SA-3.0)

Second, such efforts may help to address problems in society – and there are many
problems in society. Inequities of every kind are prevalent; there are wage inequalities,
differences in access to and quality of education, inequitable healthcare and surging
healthcare costs, food insecurity issues, unethical treatment of employees, irresponsible
conglomerates that do harm to the environment, and so on. Many of the privileges that
we experience in today’s society are in fact the fruits of campaign efforts from the past. For
example, in the 1960’s, smoking was allowed onboard planes, and advocacy groups kept
championing against this practice. In 1972, airline industries relented, and implemented
separate sections for smokers and non-smokers onboard planes. But advocacy groups
were not content; they continued to press on and, eventually, smoking was no longer
allowed in airplanes (Holm & Davies, 2004).

SU1-9
COM388 Introduction & Planning a Campaign

Reflect 1.1

Are you glad smoking is no longer allowed on airplanes? Imagine what it would be
like being onboard a plane full of cigarette smoke! As we appreciate this modern day
privilege, think about aspects of society today that you feel need improvement or
change.

1.1.4 Who, What, and How?

Now that we are acquainted with the definitions, the approach, and the need, let us
explore who are the people involved in a campaign, what issues are addressed, and how
a campaign would unfold.

Who are the people involved?

The community. A campaign would, of course, involve the community that the campaign
hopes to help. For example, if the initiative aims to help cancer patients, then the
community is the cancer patients. It should be stressed that the community may
include other people from the outside as well. For example, although caregivers may
not necessarily have cancer themselves, their experiences with cancer patients are so
intertwined that they should also be regarded as constituents of the community. A
campaign team would have to actively engage with the community, not only to better
understand the problems that the community faces, but to collaborate with them in
advocating for change.

SU1-10
COM388 Introduction & Planning a Campaign

Figure 1.4 Image of amputees protesting

(Source: © Christian Volpati / Wikimedia Commons / CC-BY-SA-3.0)

Policymakers. Many campaigns deal with matters related to policy issues. For example,
if a team wants to advocate against unhealthy food companies that target children, then
the end goal typically will involve some form of policy implementation. Thus, a campaign
team may need to consider policymakers, who have influence over policymaking
decisions. A team would need to identify relevant policymakers, find out their position on
the campaign issue, and craft messages that would persuade the policymakers to support
the initiative. These processes will be described in further detail in Study Unit 1.5.

Media organizations. A communication campaign ideally should use every tool of

communication that is useful and available. Media outlets such as social networking
sites (e.g., Facebook) or blogs are free to use, but media outlets such as newspapers and
magazines are a different ball game – it is often costly to advertise through such media.
But costliness should not be a deterrent when one considers the wide readership that

SU1-11
COM388 Introduction & Planning a Campaign

newspapers and magazines have. Furthermore, it is possible to publicize a campaign

through such outlets without paying a single cent; hold your excitement – this too, will be
explained in further detail in Study Unit 1.5.

What issues are addressed?

As previously mentioned, there are many issues that a campaign can address. As long
as there is a perceived inequity, a campaign can advocate for change (whether or not
the effort is successful is quite another thing). Besides inequity, a campaign can also
address issues pertaining to vulnerable populations. For example, in 2004, a flavored
cigarette known as Kool targeted African American youth. In response, the National
African American Tobacco Prevention Network launched an effort that resulted in the
abolishment of Kool and a hefty $1.4 million in a legal settlement (Freudenberg, Bradley,
& Serrano, 2009). A campaign can also address issues pertaining to unjust practices,
such as the wrongful detainment of a person or outrageous price-hikes on life-saving
medications. Such issues, however, are on the fringes of what a campaign can address and
may sometimes incriminate the people representing the campaign (so be careful!).

SU1-12
COM388 Introduction & Planning a Campaign

Figure 1.5 Hillary Clinton campaigning

How would a campaign unfold?

There can be numerous ways that a campaign would unfold; depending on one’s
approach, a campaign can take on a very different route as compared to another campaign.
For example, some may prefer a gung-ho approach and conduct rancorous rallies and
protests right at the start of a movement. Others may prioritize networking and emphasize
starting slow and building networks. Given that this course is about communication
campaign planning, the focus is therefore on message development (communication) and
strategic, systematic processes (planning). Thus, this course adapts heavily from Mattson
and Lam’s (2016) Health Communication Advocacy Model, which focuses on – that’s right
– message development and systematic processes.

SU1-13
COM388 Introduction & Planning a Campaign

Figure 1.6 Health Communication Advocacy Model

(Source: Mattson and Lam’s (2016))

SU1-14
COM388 Introduction & Planning a Campaign

There are minor differences in how this course approaches campaigns; nonetheless most
of the processes are the same. The list below shows how a campaign progresses, which is
also how the Study Units are deliberately ordered.

1. Conduct formative research

2. Assemble a team
3. Conduct SWOT analysis
4. Assess target audiences
5. Conduct focus groups/interviews/surveys/community asset mapping
6. Design stimulating and persuasive messages
7. Use marketing mix
8. Consider efficacy and ethics
9. Pre-test draft messages
10. Determine which media to use
11. Consider timing and legalities
12. Execute campaign, then track and monitor progress
13. Revise, report, or repeat a campaign.

Now that you are acquainted with the basics and definitions, let us delve into the first and
most important step in communication campaign planning – formative research.

Lesson Recording

Introduction to Communication Campaigns: Who, What, and How?

SU1-15
COM388 Introduction & Planning a Campaign

1.2 Formative Research

Formative research is the process of searching for information before starting a campaign
project. This is the phase during which an individual or a group of people explores
whether a situation warrants a campaign effort.

Figure 1.7 Conducting formative research

SU1-16
COM388 Introduction & Planning a Campaign

1.2.1 Is There a Need?

The first thing to look at during formative research is whether there is a need to address
an issue. Say, for example, you find that there is a problem in society – we will call it
problem X. There are two aspects about problem X that you must investigate: (1) Is a
solution already in place or ongoing? (2) What is the prevalence of problem X?

First, is there already a solution in place for problem X? A simple search on a search
engine such as Google should provide you the answer. It is quite rare that a problem
has yet been addressed by others (if there is a problem that no one has yet addressed,
jump on the opportunity!). More typically though, problem X would already have a fleet
of organisations and non-profits that are working to mitigate the issue. However, there
may be aspects of problem X that others have not addressed or have not focused on. For
example, if problem X is, say, “the lack of welfare for migrant workers”, an aspect of this
problem that others may have overlooked could be “cheating agents that pile financial
burden on migrant workers”. Because problems usually are convoluted and complicated,
there should be many facets to problem X that still requires one to advocate for change.

Also, although there may already be solutions in place, the solutions and/or approaches
may not be satisfying for you. Continuing with the migrant workers example, imagine that
existing nonprofit organisations achieve their goal of enhancing the welfare of migrant
workers by providing these workers with financial bonuses through charity drives. Now,
you may not find the goal of these nonprofit organisations satisfying because, perhaps,
you think that giving financial stimulus does not address the deeper root problem of poor
wages, or perhaps you think that “welfare” constitutes more than just money, such as
social treatment. You may also think that the approach is not satisfying; perhaps, you think
that charity drives is not sustainable, or that charity money should not be used this way.
The list below gives a breakdown of what a campaign problem should be:

1. Unique; no one has addressed it yet

OR
2. Unique aspect. A subcategory that no one has addressed yet

SU1-17
COM388 Introduction & Planning a Campaign

OR
3. Addressed by others but the goal/approach was not satisfying

Second, you will have to find out the prevalence of problem X. If you recall from your
statistics courses, prevalence refers to the number of people who are affected by an issue
during a specific time. Finding prevalence figures requires a little more effort; the list
below provides some tips to getting those figures:

1. Try searching in specialised government websites; these websites should provide

resources regarding national statistics. For healthcare examples, there is the
Ministry of Health for Singapore, or National Institute of Health for the US. For
work-related affairs, there is Ministry of Manpower or Consumer Association of
Singapore (CASE), etc.
2. Try searching in the websites of reputable nonprofits. For example, if you are
interested in cancer-related issues, Singapore has a Singapore Cancer Society
website resource that you can go to. As there are many unmonitored private
organisations on the Internet, be particularly careful with the websites you
venture into and make sure the information are accurate.
3. Google Scholar. One of the most accessible, useful, and efficient literature search
tools around. A simple search inquiry of “prevalence of problem X” would most
surely give you a whole list of empirical articles answering your query. If you do
not have access to a journal, consult your university’s librarian.
4. Be mindful to find the latest prevalence information. It will not be useful if you
are looking at prevalence of problem X in the year 1990. On that note, it should
also be stressed that it is very rare to find prevalence for the current year. This is
so because scientists would have to spend time collating data, writing the paper,
and then sending the paper for publication. By the time that is done, at least a
year would have passed. Thus, do not fret if you cannot find prevalence for the
current year – it is normal. Simply look for the most recent prevalence.

SU1-18
COM388 Introduction & Planning a Campaign

There are two reasons why finding prevalence is important; first, finding out prevalence
allows you to comprehend the potential scale of the campaign. For example, if the
prevalence of problem X is in the millions, then the campaign may congruently involve
greater costs (e.g., cost of addressing many communities). The second reason why
prevalence is important is because it allows you to ascertain how necessary a campaign
is; for example, if problem X has a prevalence below hundred, a campaign may not be
a viable undertaking. Granted, some may argue that the hundred individuals are just as
important as the millions, but a smaller-scale project may be more justifiable.

1.2.2 What is the forecast?

Some issues, particularly health issues, have forecast data. For example, Augustine (2014)
predicts that cancer prevalence will increase by 75% over the next two decades. If forecast
information is available, it is essential to obtain such data because it can: (1) enhance you
and your team’s knowledge and credibility, (2) show that the issue warrants a campaign,
(3) demonstrate how the issue will continue to be a problem if it remains unaddressed,
and (4) demonstrate the need for your campaign.

Like prevalence information, forecast data adds to you and your team’s knowledge of the
particular issue. If a campaign team wants to be persuasive, it should appear credible; and
if a team wants to appear credible, knowledge and expertise can enhance the image of
credibility. If opponents to your campaign question you about the future of problem X, a
failure to confidently respond may result in significant damage to your campaign’s image
and efforts. Simply put – know what you are doing!

Next, forecast data can help show that the issue warrants a campaign. Consider the price
of tofu. One day, the price of tofu quadruples from $1 to $4. In rage, you rally a troop of
volunteers and invest monetarily and laboriously into setting up a campaign against tofu
price hike. Right on the day when your campaign is about to launch, your aide approaches
you and whispers “Erm, I checked the markets today. Tofu went back to $1.” What will you
do then? Of course, you would have no choice but to dissolve the campaign, bemoan all
the effort and money squandered, pack up, and go back home in time for dinner (which,

SU1-19
COM388 Introduction & Planning a Campaign

incidentally, has tofu as the main dish). Obtaining forecast data prevents such catastrophic
waste of effort and money by providing you with the confidence that the issue will not
simply go away easily.Having multiple experts assert that an issue will persist and/or
escalate will help you evaluate if the issue truly warrants a campaign.

Forecast data can also help demonstrate how an issue will continue to persist if it remains
unaddressed. Is problem X something that will just fizzle off in a matter of months? For
example, trends come and go; if problem X is, say, cyber-bullying on a new phone app, can
one be sure that the phone app will remain popular, or will it cease to operate after some
time? In contrast, the example given earlier mentioned that cancer prevalence will increase
by 75% over the next two decades (Augustine, 2014); such a forecast not only indicates that
the issue will not go away simply, but it should also motivate you, a campaigner, that the
issue needs to be addressed or else it will keep escalating. Having forecast data reassures
you that a problem is worth campaigning.

Finally, forecast data can help demonstrate the need for your campaign. Campaigns are
about persuasion; if you can present statistics of impending or escalating ill, you are more
likely to persuade people that your campaign is necessary and that the goal is important.
Consider, for example, a campaign with the goal of bringing down university tuition fees
by getting students to sign a petition. If there was no forecast data, most students would
likely shrug their shoulders and say, “Meh, is this necessary?” In contrast, if there were
forecast data indicating that tuition fees would increase twofold by the next semester, one
can be quite sure there will be a long queue of students eager to sign the petition. The
steps toward finding forecast data is similar to that for prevalence, which was explained
earlier.

1.2.3 What is the Political Climate Surrounding the Problem?

As mentioned before, a campaign typically involves addressing policies. Therefore, one
must ascertain the political climate surrounding an issue that one wishes to address. For
example, are citizens furious over problem X being unresolved? Are politicians trying
to clamp down on people who even whisper about problem X? These are some of

SU1-20
COM388 Introduction & Planning a Campaign

the considerations one needs to have. Consider, for example, that the former is true –
citizens are angry over how problem X is unaddressed. Knowing this can shape how one
approaches his or her campaign; for instance, one may design an initiative that focuses
on amassing citizens in order to collectively voice their disapproval regarding problem X.
Alternatively, one may consider not starting a campaign at all, if the citizens’ fury is so
high that policymakers would very likely fix problem X.

But what if the latter was true? What if politicians are trying to clamp down on people who
even whisper about problem X? Now, this course does not encourage gung-ho zealotry,
particularly since such behaviors can lead to incriminating outcomes – there is little point
in championing on behalf of others only to be in a position of needing intervention
yourself. In such situations, it is better to sit on the case and bide in wait. Observe the
situation, and look for a window of opportunity when the tension eases.

Thankfully, however, there are many more instances when politicians actually encourage
people to address problems in society. These instances typically occur in developed,
democratic, and progressive countries. A government may provide grant money to
motivate people to address issues in society. If you recall, Singapore launched a major
effort against the rise of diabetes. During that time, there were grants allocated for research
and practical efforts to address diabetes. Such grants though, are only available either
to academic institutions or organisations. If you do not belong to either an academic
institution or organisation, fret not – there are non-profits and local grassroots that may
provide you with resources (e.g., volunteers, networks, etc.).

Finding out political climate requires one to be a little street-smart. One can read the
newspapers, listen to the radio, go to online forums and get a sense of prevailing attitudes,
or go to social media sites such as Facebook and read relevant posts. Other techniques
such as focus groups, interviews, and surveys are also useful, but these techniques will be
explained in further detail in Chapter 2.

SU1-21
COM388 Introduction & Planning a Campaign

Activity 1.1

It is time to get some hands-on practice! Find a campaign in Singapore (e.g., diabetes
campaign), and look online to assess the political climate surrounding the campaign
issue (e.g., diabetes). Are people raging in forums? Are Facebook users focusing on a
particular problem about that issue?

Discuss which aspects of the issue you would prioritise if you ran a similar campaign.

1.2.4 Who are Your Allies?

It would not be wise to go about a fight you own. Take time during formative research
to search for allies. These often are nonprofit organisations, grassroots organisations,
foundations, or even universities and schools. These organisations will more likely be
an ally if your motivations and goals are similar to theirs. For example, the National
Kidney Foundation may not be keen on collaborating with you if your campaign is for
cancer patients. In contrast, the Singapore Cancer Society would likely be all ears to
your initiative. These allies may help in several ways, including helping to publicise the
campaign, disseminate campaign messages to specific communities, provide volunteers
for manpower and, more rarely, sponsor your campaign financially.

When you are done with formative research and are confident that there is an issue which
warrants a campaign, you are ready to delve right into action! The next step, then, is for
you to assemble a team to advocate together.

SU1-22
COM388 Introduction & Planning a Campaign

1.3 Assembling a Team

Why a team, you ask? Well, working as a team theoretically divides the workload to more
sizeable and efficient portions. Besides that – and more importantly – a team is necessary
because there are skill sets that you may not have but are essential for a campaign. There is
no hard-and-fast rule concerning the assembling of the team; it could be a formal corporate
hierarchy with organisational demarcations, or it could be a casual setup agreed among
friends. The important aspects to consider are skill sets and value to the team’s goal. Below
is a list of some people who may fit the bill:

1. Subject expert

A subject expert is someone with considerable expertise and/or experience in a

particular subject. Increasingly, the use of experts is important in contributing to
policy and decision-making (see e.g., Fick et al., 2003; Pauwelyn, 2002). Mattson
and Lam (2016) contend that a subject expert can help a team navigate in the
right direction and help prevent costly errors. For example, if a team wants to
campaign against online piracy and patent-stealing, the team may want to recruit
a professional in web media to advise the team on how such online theft is done,
and how the perpetrators may be nabbed. Alternatively, the team could recruit
a lawyer, who may then advise the team on the legal routes they could take to
apprehend the online thieves.

A subject expert can also transfer his or her credibility to a team. Such a
transfer of credibility is well-attested by halo-effect studies found in psychology
and marketing literature (see e.g., Leuthesser, Kohli, & Harich, 1995). With the
enhanced perception of credibility and reputation, a team may be in a more
favorable position to persuade audiences concerning its campaign goals (see
Herbig & Milewicz, 1995; Mattson & Lam, 2016).

It should be stressed that a subject expert does not always need to be a doctor,
a scientist in a white coat, or someone in a fancy suit. The definition suggests
that a subject expert is someone with considerable expertise and/or experience

SU1-23
COM388 Introduction & Planning a Campaign

in a particular subject. Therefore, if the subject is, say, cancer, a cancer patient can
be a subject expert because the patient would have had profound and personal
experiences with the disease. If the subject is homelessness, a homeless person
can be a subject expert because that person is very familiar with homelessness.
Hence, one should be mindful that a subject expert need not always be an
individual who is well-educated or elite.
2. Community partners

Earlier, there was a section that suggested finding allies for your campaign.
If among your search there are community partners that you think will
be suitable for joining your team, then go ahead and bring them in.
Community partners ideally should be organisations that share your team’s
vision and goals. Community partners may include churches, nonprofits,
grassroots organisations, local community centers, and so on. Community
partners are useful team members because of their already-established network
and resources, and their ties with the community. Research has shown that
community partners can help advance a cause. For example, in Louisiana, a
community-based coalition called “Shots for Tots” mobilised nurses, a public
healthcare clinic, the Office of Public Health, the Junior League, Medical
Auxiliary, Kiwanis Club, and Rotary International in a collaborative effort to
administer immunization to 2-year-olds in that region. The movement was
successful, and the Lafayette region witnessed an increase in immunisation rates
for 2-year-olds (Broussard & Blankenship, 1996).

There is, however, a caveat: be very careful with the community partners that
you pick. Because community partners are usually already well-established,
there is a possibility that they would impose their ideas on your campaign, and
consequently become a bad team player. To add to this problem, kicking them
out of your plans may likely leave a bitter taste – and bear in mind, they are
well-connected with other organisations and people in the community; a bad
comment here and there may prove detrimental to your team and the campaign.

SU1-24
COM388 Introduction & Planning a Campaign

3. Tech wiz

Given this is communication campaign planning, there is great emphasis on the

designing and delivery of messages. Therefore, a person proficient in technology
is likely needed for crafting appealing, creative, and professional messages, and
for using media tools effectively. Such a person would need to have good skills in
designing software (e.g., Affinity, Canva, etc.) and programming language (e.g.,
C++).
4. Lawyer

Not absolutely necessary but a lawyer would be a great team member to have.
The benefits are obvious – this team member can explain the politics and fine
prints behind implementing policy change, and can also advise the team how not
to get into legal trouble. The flipside? Well, unless you have a very good friend
who is a lawyer, chances are the services of a lawyer are incredibly expensive.

The list above is not exhaustive. If there are others whom you feel are well-suited to be
in a campaign team, go ahead and recruit them. At this juncture, you may ask, “Why
would they want to join my team?” Although it would be ideal to enlist such members,
this study guide does not suggest that it would be easy to enlist them. Enlisting members
would require you to do a little hard work; first, you will have to find relevant people
whose perspectives align with yours. That is to say, they are likely to have a similar take
on the campaign issue (e.g., unhappy with tax hike). Second, you will have to persuade
them that your campaign goal is achievable, will address the issue, and is worth fighting
for. If this goes well, you should have a few volunteers enthusiastically jumping onboard.

The other way is to pay for their services. This option is, of course, a very costly one,
especially if we take into consideration doctors, scientists, or lawyers. However, there are
a variety of ways in which this could be done. One, there can be a fundraising event where
the proceeds will go into paying for, say, lawyer services. Two, if you can get your hands
on grant money, the grant money can go towards paying for those services.

SU1-25
COM388 Introduction & Planning a Campaign

Because you are the one who came up with the campaign idea, ideally you should be the
person leading and taking charge of the team. The onus is on you, therefore, to distribute
workloads and to judge who gets a particular job to work on. Familiarity with team
members is therefore essential and, as team lead, you have to communicate regularly and
amicably with your team members. You will also have to plan the course of actions to
come for the team.

Reflect 1.2

Is there a team member whom you would like to recruit but did not see mentioned in
the list above? Perhaps this person is a friend of yours whom you think would be an
invaluable buddy for your campaign? Discuss who this person is and why he or she
would be an important team member.

When you are done assembling a team, it will be time for you to take a step back and
analyse your situation – what are the strengths you can work with? What are threats
that you should be mindful of? This analysis is known as SWOT analysis.

Lesson Recording

Formative Research and Assembling a Team

SU1-26
COM388 Introduction & Planning a Campaign

1.4 SWOT Analysis

SWOT analysis is a tool for identifying the internal and external attributes that can affect
a campaign (Mattson & Hall, 2011). Internal attributes refer to factors that are derived
from within the team, whereas external attributes refer to environmental factors that are
derived from outside the team (Mattson & Lam, 2016). SWOT is an acronym that stands
for:

Strengths
Weaknesses
Opportunities
Threats

Figure 1.8 below shows how a SWOT table looks like. The upper-half of the SWOT table
represents the internal attributes (i.e., strengths and weaknesses), while the lower-half
represents the external attributes (i.e., opportunities and threats). A campaigner should
fill up the table in a succinct manner. The objective is to identify all four categories and
then work toward minimising weaknesses and threats while enhancing strengths and
opportunities.

SU1-27
COM388 Introduction & Planning a Campaign

Figure 1.8 SWOT analysis table

1.4.1 Strengths and Weaknesses

Strengths and weaknesses refer to the characteristics of a team that can help or hinder
the campaign (Mattson & Lam, 2016). There are many possible strengths and weaknesses.
Table 1.2 below provides a list of some examples:

SU1-28
COM388 Introduction & Planning a Campaign

Table 1.2 List of some strengths and weaknesses

Strengths Weaknesses

• Many volunteers • Disagreements over campaign

• Many team members approach and/or goals

• Strong expertise in many areas • Lack of expertise in certain areas

• Dedicated full-time personnel (e.g., graphic design)

• Comprehensive network • Some members cannot commit

• Cohesion and teamwork regularly

• Financial resources • Little network

• Credibility and reputation • Bad teamwork

• Some members do not contribute
• Limited budget

After identifying the strengths and weaknesses, a campaigner should work toward
minimising the weaknesses and enhancing the strengths. For example, if one of the
weaknesses is the team has little network, the team can minimise this weakness by getting
sociable, sending out emails, going for conferences and local events, speaking with people
in the community, and making many friends. If one of the strengths is, say, credibility and
reputation of the team members, the team can enhance this strength by making the faces
of these members more prominent in their campaign website, brochures, Facebook page,
and so on.

Ideally, one should have more strengths than weaknesses. However, it should be noted
that quantity does not always guarantee that one side is stronger than the other. For
example, if one has, say, four “average” strengths but the weakness is “members cannot
get along”, it is likely that the one weakness will envelope the four strengths and become
too much of a problem for the team. Ideally, one should feel confident that there are
enough strengths and that the weaknesses do not impair before deciding to move forward
with a campaign.

SU1-29
COM388 Introduction & Planning a Campaign

1.4.2 Opportunities and Threats

Opportunities and threats refer to environmental factors that may advance or impede
a campaign (Mattson & Lam, 2016). Table 1.3 below provides a list of examples of
opportunities and threats:

Table 1.3 List of some opportunities and threats

Opportunities Threats

• Receptive audiences • Resistant audiences

• Positive political climate • Bad political climate
• Audiences are familiar with the • Audiences do not have much
campaign issue knowledge about the campaign
• No competing campaigns or issue
messages • Competing campaigns
• Lots of grant resources • Lack of grant resources
• Supportive networks • Unsupportive networks

Similar to strengths and weaknesses, a campaigner should try to enhance opportunities

and minimise threats. However, because these are environmental factors, there are some
opportunities and threats that are beyond the control of a team. For example, there is
very little a team can do about audiences not knowing much about the campaign issue;
such a problem can only be addressed much later, when the campaign is in full swing
and distributing its messages. Nonetheless, there are opportunities and threats that can
be tweaked; for example, if a team has unsupportive networks, the team can give these
networks a ring and try to spruce up the relationship. If that fails, the team can look for
other networks that may be more amicable and invested in the campaign.

Similar to strengths and weaknesses, ideally there should be more opportunities and
threats. But, again, quantity in one category does not necessarily mean that particular
attribute is stronger. When the campaigner is confident that the opportunities look

SU1-30
COM388 Introduction & Planning a Campaign

promising and the threats do not appear debilitating, the team can then move forward to
the next step in communication campaign planning – i.e., assessing target audiences.

Lesson Recording

SWOT Analysis

1.5 Assessing Target Audiences

Communication campaign planning focuses on communicating campaign messages
to audiences. Who, then, are these audiences? As you may recall, Study Unit 1.1.4
detailed three groups of people – the community, policymakers, and media organizations.
Together, these three groups are a campaign’s audiences. The objective of a campaign is
to persuade these audiences to support the campaign’s goal. How the support is enacted
varies across the three groups.

The community usually can support a campaign by adding their collective voice of
approval through means such as petition signing, letters, Facebook “likes”, and so on.
When there is a large number of people backing the campaign, policymakers may feel
more compelled to address the campaign issue. Or, perhaps the campaign’s goal is to
change the behavior of the community (e.g., exercise more); in that case, the community
“supports” the campaign by engaging in the recommended behavior. As a note, in the
U.S., the community can also demonstrate their approval by joining rallies and protests,
but the legalities in Singapore do not make such methods a viable option. Thus, this study
guide will not cover the concepts of rallying and protests.

Policymakers can support a campaign by bringing the campaign issue to those higher
up, or – if they are the “higher up” politicians – they could support the campaign
by implementing policy changes to address the campaign issue. Again, as a note, a
policymaker in U.S. can have a say in policy change, but the situation in Singapore is a little
different; there are many intricate mechanisms, and policy implementation occurs only

SU1-31
COM388 Introduction & Planning a Campaign

after a considerable web of discussions among the senior politicians and administrative
matters are finalised. Nonetheless, it is always worth a shot trying to address policymakers
in Singapore.

Media organisations can support a campaign by helping to publicise the campaign

through the outlets. For example, a radio station could talk about the campaign on air, or
magazines could do a write-up on the initiative.

The differences illustrated above have implications on how a campaign team designs its
campaign messages; these implications will only be discussed in Study Unit 2. Besides
implications on campaign message design, the differences above also have implications
on how a team assesses its audiences. Assessing audiences is necessary because it helps
a campaign team to better tailor messages for audiences and to anticipate responses.
According to Mattson and Lam (2016), assessing target audiences requires an investigation
of what is appropriate, relevant, and important to those audiences.

The community

To craft effective campaign messages for the community, it is essential to understand

what is appropriate for them. One would need to know the socio-demographics of the
community to gauge appropriateness. For example, if there are many more youths in
the community that your campaign is targeting, messages may need to involve more
stimulating appeals (e.g., humor, emotions) and should be distributed through more
advanced platforms such as social media sites, Instagram, phone apps, and so on.

Besides age, other sociodemographic factors such as education level may play a part. For
example, if the community you are targeting comprise mostly elderly people, English may
not be the best language to use in campaign messages since many of them may not have
had much education in English.

Income is also another sociodemographic factor to consider. For example, if the

community you are targeting comprise mostly people who are poor, you should consider
the burdens of the poor when designing campaign messages. For instance, because most
who are poor have to toggle between multiple odd jobs, asking them to support your

SU1-32
COM388 Introduction & Planning a Campaign

campaign through less-than-convenient ways would be too cumbersome for them. Your
campaign messages should thus be mindful of their burdens and particularly emphasise
convenience.

Culture or ethnicity is another factor to take into account. If many in the community are,
say, Malays, campaign messages should relate to Malay cultural values. One common
mistake in campaigns in Asia is that the messages embed western values, such as
individualism and the idea that one is responsible for one’s own behaviors. Such mistakes
may occur perhaps because the campaign is of western origin, or the campaign borrows
from western ways of thinking about things. Your campaigns, however, should be attuned
to the community’s culture. It is therefore imperative that you assess what is culturally
appropriate for the targeted community.

Next – and unrelated to sociodemographics – is the concept of sensitivity. The community

may be sensitive toward certain topics relevant to your campaign. For example, if your
campaign is related to cancer, you should be mindful not to make messages emotionally
or mentally burdensome to the cancer community. For instance, given that the cancer
community is familiar with the pains and struggles of the cancer experience, there is no
need for your campaign message to harp on those painful experiences. If your campaign
issue is related to cancer but the targeted community is people without cancer, you would
still need to be sensitive about how your messages are carried out because – most surely
– there will be cancer patients who will view/hear those messages too.

Typically, a campaign issue should be relevant to the community. For example, a cancer
advocacy effort will likely be relevant for the cancer community. However, sometimes, a
campaign may wish to target a specific community that may not find the issue relevant
to them. For example, consider this initiative: the goal of the campaign is for individuals
without cancer to install a phone app to encourage and engage with cancer patients; the
campaign vision is to reduce fearful attitudes toward those with cancer and to support
cancer patients. In this example, the community (i.e., individuals without cancer) will
likely feel that cancer is irrelevant to them. The perception that an issue is irrelevant can
be detrimental to a campaign’s effort. Bear in mind that explaining about the issue does

SU1-33
COM388 Introduction & Planning a Campaign

not improve relevancy – explanation only improves knowledge of the subject. It is up to

the creativity of a campaign team to design messages that will persuade the community
despite the lack of relevance.

Lastly, one would have to gauge the community’s level of awareness and understanding
regarding the campaign issue. For example, if the campaign issue is about diabetes,
how much does the community know about diabetes? Are they aware that diabetes is
escalating in Singapore? If awareness and understanding of the issue is low, then the
campaign messages should provide more information and explanation of the issue. On the
other hand, if awareness and understanding of the issue is high, the campaign messages
can focus on other areas such as use of appeals, call to action, and so on.

Policymakers

In the context of Singapore, appropriateness is of great importance when dealing

policymakers. In other words, if you are a campaigner in Singapore, do not appear to
defame, slander, or put yourself in an incriminating position when communicating to or
about politicians. We are used to watching American TV shows in which the celebrities
ridicule politicians, but the political context here in Singapore works very differently.
Always communicate to or about politicians professionally and with tact.

To assess policymakers, gauge their level of awareness and understanding about the
campaign issue. You can do that by reading out news about them, and by perusing their
profiles and CVs. What projects are they often involved in? Have they spoken publically
about certain relevant issues? For example, if your campaign goal is to build more facilities
for traditional Chinese medicine, but the relevant policymaker has been outspoken about
advancing western medicine, you can speculate a significant discrepancy between your
objective and the policymaker’s perspective. The way you craft a campaign message for
the policymaker will thus focus on persuading why traditional Chinese medicine is worth
investing in; this would not be so if the policymaker already endorses traditional Chinese
medicine.

SU1-34
COM388 Introduction & Planning a Campaign

Theoretically, in a democratic society, policymakers serve the citizens and are attentive
to the feedback of the citizens. Thus theoretically, what is important to the citizens will
be considered important to policymakers as well. If a campaign team is able to promote
awareness about an issue and persuade the community and the wider public to decry the
issue, policymakers likely would also regard the issue as important and thus implement
change. This is why it is highly critical for a campaign to distribute its messages as widely
as possible, because a larger public voice should generate greater bargaining power and
leverage.

Media organisations

Similarly, one should assess the level of awareness and understanding media
organisations have about a campaign issue. If the level of awareness and understanding
is low, your messages to the media organisations should focus on explaining the issue,
and vice versa. There are times where the media organisation’s specialty is congruent
with the campaign issue, thus making them experts on the matter. For example, if you are
campaigning against tax policies and you want to publicise the campaign on The Economist
magazine, you can be sure they would have an opinion on the matter themselves.

Relevancy can sometimes be problematic when dealing with media organisations. For
example, if you are advocating for environmental issues, a financial/economics magazine
such as The Economist may not wish to publicise your campaign because of a lack of
relevance from the magazine’s theme. In contrast, a magazine such as National Geographic
may find the advocated issue relevant and grant your campaign publicity.

In most situations, however, money is the most important consideration for media
organisations, given that they are profit-making outlets. The main question to consider,
then, is this: how can publicising your campaign be profitable for media organisations?
If your campaign team has a lot of financial resources (e.g., grant money, donors, etc.),
then paying premium fees to advertise your campaign on media outlets is straightforward
business – your team is willing to pay, and the media organisations definitely profit from
the advertising. But, in most cases, a campaign team has limited funds and would be

SU1-35
COM388 Introduction & Planning a Campaign

unwilling to spend in this manner. However, there are three ways for a campaign team to
publicise without forking out a single cent:

First, a campaign team may try to find a media organisation with a specialisation
congruent to the campaign issue. This media organisation may do a write-up or
presentation of your campaign because of the relevance. For example, if your campaign
seeks to address issues related to women’s healthcare, women’s magazines or healthcare
magazines may think that your campaign could be interesting editorial content for their
magazines.

Second, the team can explain and emphasise to a media organisation how providing
publicity would be a good PR move for the organization. The team can try to persuade
the organisation that their readers may develop favorable opinions should they support
the notable cause of, say, raising awareness on the plight of domestic helpers.

Third, the team can offer to advertise the media organisation’s brand in exchange for
publicity. For example, in exchange for being publicised on the radio channel 98.7FM,
the campaign merchandises, pamphlets, and website can feature the 98.7FM brand
prominently. This is akin to having a “sponsorship” deal.

One can assess the community, policymakers, and media organisations through some
effortful search on the Internet (e.g., forums, social media, website profiles, etc.). One
could also assess these audiences by conducting interviews, focus groups, surveys, and/or
community asset mapping. These methods can also be used to find out resources available
for you (e.g., networks), and helps you better design campaign messages that will likely
impact audiences. The next chapter, Chapter 2, will cover these methods in detail.

SU1-36
COM388 Introduction & Planning a Campaign

Activity 1.2

Imagine you are in charge of a diabetes campaign and are tasked to assess target
audiences. Given that this is a diabetes campaign:

1. Which community do you think should be targeted by the campaign?

a. What is their sociodemographic?
b. To what extent will the community find the issue of diabetes
sensitive?
c. To what extent will diabetes be a relevant issue to the community?
d. In your opinion, what is their level of awareness for diabetes?
2. Which media organisations do you think should be targeted by the
campaign?
a. In your opinion, what is their level of awareness for diabetes?
b. To what extent will diabetes be a relevant issue to these media
organizations?
c. How would the media organisations profit from publicising your
campaign?

SU1-37
COM388 Introduction & Planning a Campaign

Chapter 2: Tapping into the Community

Tapping into the community is important for a campaign because it helps the team to
get familiarised with their audiences and with the people they are championing for.
This chapter discusses the methods used to tap effectively into the community: in-depth
interviews, focus groups, surveys, and community asset mapping.

2.1 In-depth interviews

The term “in-depth” emphasises that such interviews differ from cursory conversations,
and probe deep into finding out more from a person. This section explores the role of in-
depth interviews in campaign planning and how such interviews are conducted.

Figure 1.9 Conducting an interview

SU1-38
COM388 Introduction & Planning a Campaign

2.1.1 What is the Role of Interviews in Campaign Planning?

According to Lindlof & Taylor (2011), interviews are useful for gaining understanding on
a particular subject. Therefore, interviews are great for helping you understand audiences’
point-of-view regarding the campaign issue; this allows your team to craft more effective
campaign messages. Using interviews to understand your audiences can also help you
anticipate their potential responses to campaign messages.

2.1.2 Sample Size

Of course, one cannot possibly interview every single individual within a community.
Not only would that be too time-consuming and arduous, it would be unnecessary. The
team need only interview a sample of the community to get a sense of what everyone’s
perspective on the campaign issue. There is no fixed or prescribed number for the sample
size; rather, the team should keep interviewing until saturation occurs – when additional
interviews somewhat repeat previous responses, are predictable, and do not provide new
information (see Guest, Namey, & Mitchell, 2013). As a gauge, however, one should expect
to have approximately 15 to 20 interviewees.

Also, the sample should be reflective of the community’s demographic. For example, if
there are much more women in the community, but the sample comprises mostly of men,
responses from the sample will likely not be reflective of the community’s perspectives.

2.1.3 Starting an Interview

Although those who will be interviewed may be positively affected if your campaign is
successful, individuals may not be motivated to participate in interviews. To circumvent
the lack of motivation, it is typical for the interviewer to offer incentives such as gift cards
or monetary incentives (Mattson & Lam, 2016). When the interviewer successfully recruits
a participant, the interview should be conducted in a conducive environment that the
participant finds comfortable. The interviewer should also build rapport quickly with

SU1-39
COM388 Introduction & Planning a Campaign

the participant to build trust and for the participant to feel comfortable sharing opinions
(DiCicco-Bloom & Crabtree, 2006).

2.1.4 The Interview Process

Although there is no fixed or prescribed timing, each interview should last approximately
45 minutes. A good interviewer should always try to probe deeper and really ask
the “why” and “how about” questions. Although the interviewer should direct the
interaction, the questions asked by the interviewer should be open-ended so that the
participant can freely express his or her thoughts. Questions such as “do you think this
is…?” will most often draw only a “yes” or “no” reply. Instead, an interviewer could ask
“what do you think of this…?” And, most importantly, an interviewer needs to be a great
listener; do not interrupt your participant and pay attention to what he or she is saying.
Take down notes so that you will not forget the important points raised by the participant.

2.1.5 Confidentiality and Anonymity

The interviewer needs to be mindful to keep the interviewee anonymous and the
conversation confidential, particularly when the campaign issue is sensitive. There is
no governing institution or contract that will land you in legal trouble if you breach
confidentiality or disclose identities; however, one should maintain professionalism and
uphold the trusts of all the participants who did the interviews. You may record interview
proceedings for references (upon the approval of your participant), but it would be a good
idea to delete the recordings as quickly as possible.

There may be instances, however, that a campaign team wishes to record the interviews
and use snippets of the recordings in the campaign messages. If that is so, the team must
get the participants’ approval and, preferably, their signed consent.

SU1-40
COM388 Introduction & Planning a Campaign

2.2 Focus Groups

Focus groups involve gatherings of a few people to discuss about a particular subject
(Mattson & Lam, 2016). These gatherings resemble the “alcohol anonymous” sessions on
TV, but instead of alcohol, the discussion centers on the campaign issue. Focus groups also
resemble interviews, in that you facilitate the discussion and ask probing questions to find
out more. The difference, however, is that focus groups typically do not go as “in-depth”
as in-depth interviews, since many participants will be involved and there is insufficient
time for every participant to go “in-depth”.

Figure 1.10 A focus group session

SU1-41
COM388 Introduction & Planning a Campaign

2.2.1 What is the Role of Focus Groups in Campaign Planning?

Similar to interviews, the role of a focus group is to understand audiences’ point-of-view
to design better campaign messages and to anticipate responses. The difference is that
focus groups encourage brainstorming of ideas and perspective. These brainstorming
sessions can help the campaign planning process in many ways, such as detecting
problems that were not previously identified, coming out with strategies that were not
previously thought of, and giving a group perspective on campaign messages. Focus
groups are especially helpful in getting feedback on draft campaign messages, which will
be explained in Study Unit 2.

2.2.2 Sample Size

For the purposes of campaign planning, approximately three to four focus groups with
six to eight participants in each group should suffice (Rabiee, 2004). Similar to interviews,
the participants in each group should be representative of the community. For example, if
a specific community comprises mainly Indians and very few Chinese and Malays, then
each focus group should have a dynamic reflective of the composition. Of course, the
dynamic of the focus groups is also dependent on the questions that will be asked and
the campaign issue. For example, if the campaign issue is about the Chinese and Malay
minorities lacking in voice and participation within the community, and if the questions
attempt to unearth these inequalities, having more Indians in the focus groups may cause
the minorities to feel uncomfortable about sharing frankly.

2.2.3 Starting a Focus Group

It may also be necessary to provide incentives to successfully recruit participants for
focus group sessions. Voluntary participation is possible, albeit rare. However voluntary
participation can be more common in cases where the individual feels that he or she can
contribute, or when the individual perceives that he or she may be affected by a successful
campaign, or when the individual feels strongly attached to the community and regards

SU1-42
COM388 Introduction & Planning a Campaign

himself or herself as a stakeholder in the community. For example, individuals with

chronic conditions, such as diabetic patients, may be willing to volunteer participating in
focus group sessions.

Be warned – arranging focus group sessions can be a tricky task. It can be challenging
to schedule a meeting time and place that everyone can agree on. That is why monetary
incentives can go a long way for focus groups – not only does it encourage greater
participation, but it also encourages people to turn up for the focus groups.

2.2.4 The Focus Group Process

The person leading the focus group session acts as a facilitator leading discussions.
Each focus group session should last approximately 1 hour to 1 hour 15 minutes. The
facilitator will not dominate conversations nor encourage any participant to dominate
conversations. Rather, the facilitator ensures that there is productive brainstorming
among all participants – knowing how to effectively facilitate requires wisdom, tact, and
experience. For example, if a participant keeps speaking and dominates conversations, the
facilitator can suggest to the participant, saying “Joe, you have given many great points,
but I would like to hear this side of the room speak since they have been so quiet. Shall we
hear what they have to say? Any one on this side of the room?” Even a subtle nonverbal
gesture may help too; for example, the facilitator can position his or her body toward the
quieter side of the room and stop nodding at the comments of the outspoken participant.
Similar to the interview process, the facilitator should take down notes to remember key
points raised.

2.2.5 Confidentiality and Anonymity

Unfortunately, there is little one can do to ensure confidentiality and anonymity for focus
groups. While the facilitator can keep findings confidential and identity anonymous, there
is little control over what other participants may say. For example, participant A may start
gossiping about participant B after the focus group session is over. Although there is little
control over what others may say, it is still nonetheless important to inform participants

SU1-43
COM388 Introduction & Planning a Campaign

that the facilitator will uphold confidentiality and anonymity, particularly when the topic
is about something undesirable (e.g., bad practices). The facilitator can also inform other
members of the focus group to respect others’ confidentiality and anonymity.

Reflect 1.3

Conversations with people during interviews or focus groups can be challenging.

This is especially true when you encounter individuals with peculiar personalities
or characteristics. What do you think may be some of these personalities or
characteristics?

And, as an interviewer or focus group facilitator, how would you engage with such
individuals?

2.3 Surveys
Surveys involve asking a series of short questions to understand the perspectives of the
respondents (see Guest et al., 2013). Figure 1.11 shows an example of a typical survey:

SU1-44
COM388 Introduction & Planning a Campaign

Figure 1.11 Example of a survey

A survey should not digress or ask redundant or confusing questions. Instead, a survey
should be concise and straightforward, particularly in the context of planning for a
campaign.

2.3.1 What is the Role of Surveys in Campaign Planning?

Surveys can help a campaign team in many ways: to understand the audiences’
perspective on the campaign issue, to get a sense of the political climate, to get a gauge on
potential support for the campaign, and so on. Surveys differ from interviews and focus
groups in that surveys are supposed to be short and numerous. As opposed to the lengthy
one hour for interviews or focus groups, surveys for campaigns should not take long to
complete (approximately 10 minutes). As opposed to the approximately 20 participants
for interviews or focus groups, surveys can go up to a hundred or more participants.
Having numerous participants for a survey may help a team get a closer reflection of a

SU1-45
COM388 Introduction & Planning a Campaign

community’s perspectives. Although surveys can be numerous and can be done in a short
span of time, a potential downside is that the information obtained may not be as in-depth
and rich in quality as compared to information from interviews and focus groups.

2.3.2 Sample Size

There is no prescribed sample size for campaign surveys. In the social sciences, research
sample size for surveys is approximately 200 to 300 participants. However, campaign
surveys do not need to reach such figures because the objective is not to have generalizable
findings but, rather, a sense of a community’s perspectives. A campaign planner would
need to exercise discretion here; if the community is very large, a bigger sample size is
necessary. Contrariwise, if the community is small, a modest sample size should suffice.

The participants of the campaign survey should reflect the community’s demographic.
For example, if Malays are a majority in a community, there should be more Malays in the
sample so that the results would be more representative of the community.

2.3.3 Starting a Survey

If you have ever been asked to do a survey, you would have likely felt it a cumbersome and
tiring task. This would likely have been due to a lack of motivation for you to complete the
survey. Your respondents would also likely feel the same when asked to complete your
survey.

There are two ways to circumvent this lack of motivation: first, one could offer incentives
such as coupons, vouchers, or financial incentives. Second, one could design the survey
such that it would be seamless and less taxing to complete. For example, the survey should
be straightforward, not confusing, and manageable. Approximately twenty questions
should suffice for a campaign survey (Mattson & Lam, 2016). According to Krosnick
(1999), one should label scale points with words instead of numbers because words clarify
the meaning of the scale points. There is no consensus among scholar regarding the
number of scale points for a survey question – some say five, others say seven. As a
campaign planner, you should use your discretion and decide which number of scale

SU1-46
COM388 Introduction & Planning a Campaign

points would be most effective. For example, if you think that the survey questions are
straightforward and the respondents are likely to be tired and unmotivated, then a five-
point scale may be ideal. In contrast, if you feel the survey questions requires deliberation
and the respondents are likely engaged individuals, then a seven-point scale may be ideal.
More importantly, the survey questions should be consistent in the number of points used
on a scale; either have all questions use a five- or seven-point scale. This consistency
prevents confusing the respondent and makes the survey more seamless and less taxing
to complete. Lastly, be discerning about who your respondents are and craft the survey
accordingly; for example, if the community does not have high literacy rates, written
surveys may not be ideal, but surveys done through face-to-face or telephone interactions
may be better (Healthy City, 2012).

2.3.4 The Survey Process

One can administer the survey through various ways. One could use traditional print
forms and ask people, say, in a shopping district to complete the survey. One could also go
door-to-door. Another approach is to use online platforms such as survey monkey, and to
distribute the survey link via email or through social media such as Facebook. This latter
approach is particularly effective because there is a wide reach, and friends (theoretically)
should find it hard to decline helping.

2.3.5 Confidentiality and Anonymity

Depending on the sensitivity of the survey questions, it may be a good idea to keep
responses confidential and the identities of respondents anonymous. However, campaign
surveys usually do not involve sensitive questions. In fact, if a campaign team really
wanted to ask sensitive questions, interviews would be the better approach, and surveys
should not be used.

SU1-47
COM388 Introduction & Planning a Campaign

2.4 Community Asset Mapping

Community asset mapping is a fun and useful method for a campaign team to know
a community better. This method involves mapping out resources within a community
(Griffin & Farris, 2010). These resources may include, for example, organisations that the
team is collaborating with. It also allows a team to have a satellite-view of the community
so that the team can execute campaign strategies more effectively. For example, if your
team is collaborating with churches, the map gives you a strategic view of where the
churches are and where you can position, say, campaign booths. Community asset
mapping is an opportunity for the team to get creative, fun, and artistic; the team can use
a large paper to draw out a satellite view of the community and use colour markers or
stickers to indicate key infrastructures and resources. Figure 1.12 below shows an example
of a completed community asset map.

Figure 1.12 Example of a community asset map

Community asset mapping can be done using interviews, focus groups, and/or surveys.
It can also be done through community walks, which involves walking around the
community to get a first-hand understanding of the place (Healthy City, 2012). During
the walk, the team can look for key resources, observe the place (e.g., to see if a location
has high human-traffic so that a campaign booth can be set there), or speak to members
of the community. Although community walks can be a fun and useful approach, it is

SU1-48
COM388 Introduction & Planning a Campaign

time-consuming and can be a physically demanding task, especially if the team has few
members or if the community is very big. Given these limitations, community walks
should only be done when the team has sufficient members or if the community is
relatively small (Mattson & Lam, 2016).

There are online tools available for community asset mapping, such as mapping software
found in HealthyCity.org (www.healthycity.org) and Google (http://maps.google.com/
maps). However, such tools may be too complex for the purposes of mapping for
campaign planning. On the other hand, hand-drawn maps would suffice and are, of
course, rather fun.

2.4.1 The Usefulness of Community Asset Mapping

Mattson and Lam (2016) suggest there are three ways in which community asset mapping
is useful for campaign planning: (1) it helps the team locate the most strategic positions
for conducting the campaign, (2) it helps the team find out the networks of people and
organisations within a community, and (3) it helps the team to see what resources are
available or lacking within a community.

First, community asset mapping helps the team locate the most strategic positions for
conducting the campaign. The map gives a visual illustration of the categories and
demarcations of the community. For example, as shown in Figure 1.13 below, if the team’s
objective is to disseminate campaign messages to churches, Point A1 and Point A2 would
be ideal locations to disseminate messages through booths and/or pamphlets. If the
team’s objective is to disseminate messages to local residences, an ideal position would
be Point B, where many HDB estates and a school are located. If the team’s objective is to
disseminate messages to the general public, Point C would be an ideal location because
it is situated next to a shopping mall and is alongside the main road, where there will be
high visibility for campaign posters.

SU1-49
COM388 Introduction & Planning a Campaign

Figure 1.13 Example of locating strategic locations

Second, community asset mapping helps the team locate the networks of people and
organisations within a community. Without community asset mapping, the campaign
team may not find, for example, a community centre in the neighbourhood or a small non-
profit organisation that engages with the community. Through community asset mapping,
the campaign team may also find out the networks of people and organisations. For
example, a team may discover that the elderly in the community like to spend weekday
nights in the local community centre. This would be invaluable information for a team
that is working on issues related to the elderly, as the team can reach out to the elderly at
the right place and at the right time.

Third, community asset mapping helps the team see what resources are available
or lacking within a community. For example, the team may identify the locations
of organisations relevant to the campaign cause and seek collaboration with those
organisations. Or, the team could find out what resources or lacking in relation to the
campaign issue. For example, if the campaign issue is that there are insufficient public
workout facilities near residences, the mapping may show how few public workout
facilities there are, or how far they are from the residences.

SU1-50
COM388 Introduction & Planning a Campaign

Lesson Recording

Tapping into the Community

SU1-51
COM388 Introduction & Planning a Campaign

Summary

Planning is the most important part of the campaign process. During this stage, formative
research is done; the campaign team is formed; the strengths, weaknesses, opportunities
and threats related to the team are identified; and target audiences are assessed. The
planning stage also involves tapping into the community to better understand the
political climate surrounding the campaign issue, to better understand the community’s
perspectives, and to anticipate potential responses to campaign messages. Tapping into
the community can be achieved through methods such as in-depth interviews, focus
groups, surveys, and community asset mapping.

Study Unit 2 progresses from this planning stage and moves to the designing of campaign
messages. The first chapter will explore the planning and designing processes, while the
second chapter will discuss pre-launch marketing as well as efficacy and ethical concerns.

SU1-52
COM388 Introduction & Planning a Campaign

Formative Assessment

1. What are two key characteristics of a campaign?

a. A campaign aims to change values and to change mindsets
b. A campaign aims to advance a particular cause and change policy
c. A campaign aims to raise funds and help to needy
d. A campaign aims to advance a particular cause and invoke change

2. Why is there a need for communication campaigns?

a. Communication campaigns promote democratic participation and may help
address problems in society
b. Communication campaigns help in maintaining the status quo
c. Communication campaigns promote social welfare
d. Communication campaigns help to enhance communication between groups
at dispute

3. If you are in charge of a campaign for amputees, who is unlikely to be part of your
targeted community?
a. Amputees
b. Caretakers
c. Diabetes patients
d. Cancer patients

4. Which of the following is not part of the Health Communication Advocacy Model?
a. Correction Loop
b. Formative Research and Message Development phase
c. Contingency Plan phase
d. Assemble Team phase

SU1-53
COM388 Introduction & Planning a Campaign

5. The process of searching for information and finding out if a situation warrants a
campaign effort is called:
a. Formative research
b. Pre-testing
c. SWOT analysis
d. Pre-study

6. What should you be mindful of when searching for prevalence data?

a. The source of the data
b. Data should be from a government website
c. The year of the records
d. The source of the data and the year of the records

7. __________ can help demonstrate how an issue will continue to persist if it remains
unaddressed.
a. Prevalence data.
b. Forecast data
c. Incidence data
d. Confounds

8. You are assembling a campaign team and are looking for a subject expert in
homelessness. Who should you recruit?
a. A professor who specializes in homeless studies
b. A homeless man
c. Auditor
d. A professor who specializes in homeless studies and a homeless man

9. In SWOT analysis, __________ refers to external elements that may hinder your
team’s progress.

SU1-54
COM388 Introduction & Planning a Campaign

a. Opportunities
b. Strengths
c. Threat
d. Weaknesses

10. How many focus groups should one conduct?

a. Ten
b. Two
c. Until saturation
d. Five

11. What is a potential backlash in having community partners as part of the campaign
team?
a. Community partners may want to have their brands advertised during
campaign events
b. Community partners may want to impose their own agendas on the campaign
c. Community partners may require to be paid for service fees
d. Community partners may rope in other collaborators

12. What is a good approach to encourage people to participate in interviews?

a. Financial incentive
b. Shorter interview time
c. Longer interview time
d. Having a moderator sit in

13. Which of the following is not one of the benefits of conducting community asset
mapping?
a. Locates strategic positions for conducting campaign events
b. Encourages community members to participate in the campaign
c. Finds the networks of people and organizations within a community

SU1-55
COM388 Introduction & Planning a Campaign

d. Assesses resources that are available or lacking within a community

SU1-56
COM388 Introduction & Planning a Campaign

Solutions or Suggested Answers

Activity 1.1

The answer to this activity is largely dependent on what issue you find online. Therefore,
there is no one answer to regimentally follow. Instead, this activity is for you to familiarise
yourself with searching for information pertaining to campaigns.

Specifically, focus on how you search for information. Are your methods effective? Did
you get information from biased sources?

Activity 1.2

There is no strict answer, but below shows one possible series of answers:

1. Which community do you think should be targeted by the campaign? The elderly
(because research statistics indicate that diabetes usually occur later in life).
a. What is their sociodemographic?

Any category with reasonable logic (e.g., ethnicity, income, etc.)

b. To what extent will the community find the issue of diabetes sensitive?

Diabetes is probably not a very sensitive issue given the Singapore

culture and beliefs. However, one should be careful with individuals
who have had surgical operations due to diabetes.
c. To what extent will diabetes be a relevant issue to the community?

Probably quite relevant, given that the Singapore government already

ran many awareness campaigns, and given that diabetes is on the rise
in Singapore.
d. In your opinion, what is their level of awareness for diabetes?

This is up to your discretion, but the answer should be backed by good

logic and – preferably – by research findings.

SU1-57
COM388 Introduction & Planning a Campaign

2. Which media organisations do you think should be targeted by the campaign?

You are free to give a creative and reasonable answer here. The media
organisation should preferably be relevant for the campaign issue (i.e., diabetes).
a. In your opinion, what is their level of awareness for diabetes?

This is up to your discretion, but the answer should be backed by good

logic and – preferably – by exploring online for answers.
b. To what extent will diabetes be a relevant issue to these media
organisations?

Unless the media organizations focus on health issues or diabetes,

diabetes would probably be of little relevance.
c. How would the media organisations profit from publicising your
campaign?

If not monetarily, then by (1) using the campaign as editorial content,

(2) using the campaign as a PR move, and/or (3) having the campaign
team advertise their brand.

Formative Assessment
1. What are two key characteristics of a campaign?
a. A campaign aims to change values and to change mindsets
Incorrect. Perhaps a campaign may want to change values and mindsets, but
this is not characteristic of all campaigns. Refer to Study Unit 1.

b. A campaign aims to advance a particular cause and change policy

Incorrect. While changing policy is admirable, not every campaign aims to
change policy. Refer to Study Unit 1.

c. A campaign aims to raise funds and help to needy

SU1-58
COM388 Introduction & Planning a Campaign

Incorrect. A campaign may not necessarily need to raise funds. Refer to Study
Unit 1.

d. A campaign aims to advance a particular cause and invoke change

Correct. A campaign is an intervention effort with the goal of changing
something. Refer to Study Unit 1.

2. Why is there a need for communication campaigns?

a. Communication campaigns promote democratic participation and may help
address problems in society
Correct. Communication campaigns are watchdogs of society, often
helping those who are marginalized. Refer to Study Unit 1.

b. Communication campaigns help in maintaining the status quo

Incorrect. Campaigns are all about invoking change, which is opposite of
keeping the status quo. Refer to Study Unit 1.

c. Communication campaigns promote social welfare

Incorrect. While promoting social welfare is admirable, communication
campaigns may sometimes do other things, such as raising awareness for a
certain health issue. Refer to Study Unit 1.

d. Communication campaigns help to enhance communication between groups

at dispute
Incorrect. While resolving disputes is admirable, there is more to
communication campaigns than just that. Refer to Study Unit 1.

3. If you are in charge of a campaign for amputees, who is unlikely to be part of your
targeted community?
a. Amputees
Incorrect. Since this is a campaign for amputees, they would be the most
important individuals in the community! Refer to Study Unit 1.

SU1-59
COM388 Introduction & Planning a Campaign

b. Caretakers
Incorrect. The experiences of caretakers are intertwined with amputees, and
thus they are very much part of the community. Refer to Study Unit 1.

c. Diabetes patients
Incorrect. In some serious cases, diabetes patients may have to undergo
surgery to amputate a limb. Therefore, the campaign may potentially be
relevant for them. Refer to Study Unit 1.

d. Cancer patients
Correct. The campaign issue may not be relevant for cancer patients. Refer
to Study Unit 1.

4. Which of the following is not part of the Health Communication Advocacy Model?
a. Correction Loop
Incorrect. The Correction Loop is the point during which a campaign team
returns back to redesigning campaign messages. Refer to Study Unit 1.

b. Formative Research and Message Development phase

Incorrect. This phase is the most crucial; this is when the campaign team does
research and designs campaign messages. Refer to Study Unit 1.

c. Contingency Plan phase

Correct. There is no “Plan B” phase; rather, a campaign team goes through
the Correction Loop, during which the team redesigns their campaign
messages. Refer to Study Unit 1.

d. Assemble Team phase

Incorrect. A campaign can get quite complex, so it is ideal to assemble a team.
Refer to Study Unit 1.

5. The process of searching for information and finding out if a situation warrants a
campaign effort is called:

SU1-60
COM388 Introduction & Planning a Campaign

a. Formative research
Correct. One should not delve into a project without having a thorough
understanding of the situation. Refer to Study Unit 1.

b. Pre-testing
Incorrect. Pre-testing refers to a process that is executed after you have
finished designing your draft campaign messages. Refer to Study Unit 1.

c. SWOT analysis
Incorrect. SWOT analysis is used for understanding the elements that work
for or against your campaign team. Refer to Study Unit 1.

d. Pre-study
Incorrect. This term was made up. The answer sounds more fanciful. Refer
to Study Unit 1.

6. What should you be mindful of when searching for prevalence data?

a. The source of the data
Incorrect. Source of data is extremely important, but there is one more option
that is essential too. Look closer. Refer to Study Unit 1.

b. Data should be from a government website

Incorrect. Government websites provide excellent data, but other websites
also provide very good data (e.g., Academic journals, Pew research center,
etc.). Refer to Study Unit 1.

c. The year of the records

Incorrect. The year of the records is essential, but there is one more option
that is extremely important. Look closer. Refer to Study Unit 1.

d. The source of the data and the year of the records

SU1-61
COM388 Introduction & Planning a Campaign

Correct. The source of data is extremely important as you do not want

inaccurate data. The year of the records is also essential because you do not
want outdated information. Refer to Study Unit 1.

7. __________ can help demonstrate how an issue will continue to persist if it remains
unaddressed.
a. Prevalence data.
Incorrect. Prevalence looks at moments that already occurred. Refer to Study
Unit 1.

b. Forecast data
Correct. Forecast data looks at possible scenarios in the future. Refer to
Study Unit 1.

c. Incidence data
Incorrect. Incidence does not predict future scenarios. Refer to Study Unit 1.

d. Confounds
Incorrect. You need to have data that looks into future scenarios. Refer to
Study Unit 1.

8. You are assembling a campaign team and are looking for a subject expert in
homelessness. Who should you recruit?
a. A professor who specializes in homeless studies
Incorrect. No doubt a professor would be a valuable recruit, but there is also
another person whom you should consider. This person knows more about
homelessness than a professor. Refer to Study Unit 1.

b. A homeless man
Incorrect. Yes, the homeless man knows a lot about homelessness, but
someone else can also be helpful; someone who can provide an academic
approach to understanding homelessness. Refer to Study Unit 1.

SU1-62
COM388 Introduction & Planning a Campaign

c. Auditor
Incorrect. Unless this was about keeping a company’s checkbooks in order,
the auditor is not an expert. Refer to Study Unit 1.

d. A professor who specializes in homeless studies and a homeless man

Correct. A subject expert does not necessarily have to be well-educated
or elite. As long as they truly have expert knowledge in an area, they are
subject experts. Refer to Study Unit 1.

9. In SWOT analysis, __________ refers to external elements that may hinder your
team’s progress.
a. Opportunities
Incorrect. Opportunities help your team progress. Refer to Study Unit 1.

b. Strengths
Incorrect. Strengths are good aspects that will help your team progress. Refer
to Study Unit 1.

c. Threat
Correct. The threat component assesses the external attributes that may
hinder a team’s progress. Refer to Study Unit 1.

d. Weaknesses
Incorrect. Weaknesses refer to INTERNAL attributes that may hinder a
team’s progress. Refer to Study Unit 1.

10. How many focus groups should one conduct?

a. Ten
Incorrect. That is a lot of focus group sessions! Numbers may not really
matter here. Refer to Study Unit 1.

b. Two

SU1-63
COM388 Introduction & Planning a Campaign

Incorrect. It is doubtful that you would get accurate insights with so few
sessions. Refer to Study Unit 1.

c. Until saturation
Correct. One should conduct sessions until the responses seem to repeat
and further probing does not result in new insights. Refer to Study Unit 1.

d. Five
Incorrect. Although this is a good estimate, this is not the criteria for deciding
how many focus groups one should conduct. Refer to Study Unit 1.

11. What is a potential backlash in having community partners as part of the campaign
team?
a. Community partners may want to have their brands advertised during
campaign events
Incorrect. This is not necessarily a bad thing. It does not affect progress
toward reaching the campaign goal. Refer to Study Unit 1.

b. Community partners may want to impose their own agendas on the

campaign
Correct. Unfortunately, this can happen sometimes and may compromise
progress toward the goal. Refer to Study Unit 1.

c. Community partners may require to be paid for service fees

Incorrect. Not only is this unlikely, it really is not much of a “backlash” per
se. Refer to Study Unit 1.

d. Community partners may rope in other collaborators

Incorrect. Sometimes, the more the merrier; having more involved may
actually be better. Refer to Study Unit 1.

12. What is a good approach to encourage people to participate in interviews?

a. Financial incentive

SU1-64
COM388 Introduction & Planning a Campaign

Correct. This is not bribing, by the way. It is ethical motivation. Refer to

Study Unit 1.

b. Shorter interview time

Incorrect. People will surely be encouraged to participate, but hurrying is
not a good approach because the quality of your findings will likely be
compromised. Refer to Study Unit 1.

c. Longer interview time

Incorrect. People hate having time wasted. Refer to Study Unit 1.

d. Having a moderator sit in

Incorrect. Some things should be confidential. Having another person sit in
may cause the participant to become apprehensive of divulging information.
Refer to Study Unit 1.

13. Which of the following is not one of the benefits of conducting community asset
mapping?
a. Locates strategic positions for conducting campaign events
Incorrect. This is one of the benefits. Refer to Study Unit 1.

b. Encourages community members to participate in the campaign

Correct. Community asset mapping is purely for your team to gather
more information. Trying to persuade the community to participate in a
campaign is not part of community asset mapping. Refer to Study Unit 1.

c. Finds the networks of people and organizations within a community

Incorrect. This is one of the benefits. Refer to Study Unit 1.

d. Assesses resources that are available or lacking within a community

Incorrect. This is one of the benefits. Refer to Study Unit 1.

SU1-65
COM388 Introduction & Planning a Campaign

References

Augustine, P. (2014). Cancer in developing countries – concerns. International Journal of

Preventive and Therapeutic Medicine, 2(1), 3-4. Retrieved from http://ijptm.com/

index.php/ijptm/issue/view/28

Broussard, L. A., & Blankenship, F. B. (1996). Shots for tots: Louisiana's infant

immunization initiative. Journal for Specialists in Pediatric Nursing, 1(3), 113-116.

https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1744-6155.1996.tb00013.x

Burns, J. C., Pudrzynska Paul, D., & Paz, S. R. (2012). Participatory asset mapping: A

community research lab toolkit. Los Angeles, CA: Healthy City. Retrieved from
http://www.healthycity.org/

DiCicco-Bloom, B., & Crabtree, B. F. (2006). The qualitative research interview. Medical

education, 40(4), 314-321.

https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1365-2929.2006.02418.x

Fick, D. M., Cooper, J. W., Wade, W. E., Waller, J. L., Maclean, J. R., & Beers, M. H. (2003).

Updating the Beers criteria for potentially inappropriate medication use in older

adults: results of a US consensus panel of experts. Archives of Internal Medicine,

163(22), 2716-2724.

https://doi.org/10.1001/archinte.163.22.2716

Freudenberg, N., Picard Bradley, S., & Serrano, M. (2009). Public health campaigns to

change industry practices that damage health: An analysis of 12 case studies.

Health Education & Behavior, 36(2), 230-249.

https://doi.org/10.1177/1090198107301330

Griffin, D., & Farris, A. (2010). School counselors and collaboration: Finding resources

through community asset mapping. Professional School Counseling, 13(5), 248-256.

https://doi.org/10.5330/PSC.n.2010-13.248

SU1-66
COM388 Introduction & Planning a Campaign

Guest, G., Namey, E. E., & Mitchell, M. L. (2012). Collecting qualitative data: A field manual

for applied research. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.

Herbig, P., & Milewicz, J. (1995). The relationship of reputation and credibility to brand

success. Journal of Consumer Marketing, 12(4), 5-10.

https://doi.org/10.1108/07363769510795697

Holm, A. L., & Davis, R. M. (2004). Clearing the airways: Advocacy and regulation for

smoke-free airlines. Tobacco Control, 13(suppl 1), i30-i36.

https://doi.org/10.1136/tc.2003.005686

Knapp, M. L. (2012). Nonverbal communication in human interaction. Boston, MA: Cengage

Learning.

Krosnick, J. A. (1999). Survey research. Annual review of psychology, 50(1), 537-567.

https://doi.org/10.1146/annurev.psych.50.1.537

Leuthesser, L., Kohli, C. S., & Harich, K. R. (1995). Brand equity: The halo effect measure.

European Journal of Marketing, 29(4), 57-66.

https://doi.org/10.1108/03090569510086657

Lindlof, T. R., & Taylor, B. C. (2011). Qualitative communication research methods (3rd ed.).

Thousand Oaks, CA: SAGE.

Mattson, M., & Hall, J. G. (2011). Health as communication nexus. Dubuque, Iowa: Kendall

Hunt.

Mattson, M., & Lam, C. (2016). Health Advocacy : A Communication Approach. Manhattan,

NY: Peter Lang.

Pauwelyn, J. (2002). The Use of Experts in WTO Dispute Settlement. The International and

Comparative Law Quarterly, 51(2), 325-364. Retrieved from http://www.jstor.org/

stable/3663232

Pearson, J. C., & Nelson, P. E. (2000). An introduction to human communication:

Understanding and sharing (8th ed.). Boston, MA: McGraw-Hill.

SU1-67
COM388 Introduction & Planning a Campaign

Rabiee, F. (2004). Focus-group interview and data analysis. Proceedings of the nutrition

society, 63(4), 655-660.

https://doi.org/10.1079/PNS2004399

SU1-68
 2
Study
Unit

Developing Messages for a

Campaign
COM388 Developing Messages for a Campaign

Learning Outcomes

By the end of this unit, you will be able to:

1. Analyse elements of culture, structure, and agency in case studies and in current
affairs
2. Design stimulating messages using communication techniques
3. Discuss communication theories in relation to campaign messages, including the
Extended Parallel Processing Model and the Elaboration Likelihood Model
4. Use the 4 P’s of Marketing Mix when designing campaign messages
5. Design efficacious messages
6. Discuss ethical concern in designing campaign messages
7. Discuss the importance of pre-testing draft messages

SU2-2
COM388 Developing Messages for a Campaign

Overview

T his study unit embarks on the most exciting part of the campaign planning
process – the designing of campaign messages. First, we will look at important
points to consider before delving into designing messages. Then, we will look at how
to design persuasive and effective campaign messages. Thereafter, we will discuss the
importance of Marketing Mix in the process of developing messages. Lastly, we will
discuss the importance of pre-testing draft messages.

SU2-3
COM388 Developing Messages for a Campaign

Chapter 1: Designing Campaign Messages

Designing campaign messages is the most fun and important part of the campaign
planning process. It is fun because your team gets to creatively express perspectives on
the campaign issue, and it is important because these messages are your key weapons for
winning support. We will first examine important points to consider before spearheading
into designing campaign messages.

1.1 Points to Consider

Study Unit 1 introduced you to the techniques of interviewing, focus groups, surveys, and
community asset mapping. You should use these techniques to understand the audiences’
perspectives on the campaign issue, their position on the issue, and what they regard as
important, as detailed in Study Unit 1. The campaign team would need to be mindful of
these aspects as they proceed with developing campaign messages. As a refresher, below
lists some of the key points to consider about target audiences:

1. What is the sociodemographic of the community? (e.g., age, income, ethnicity,

etc.)
2. Is the campaign issue sensitive?
3. Is the campaign issue relevant for the audiences?
4. How much do the community, policymakers, and media organisations know
about the campaign issue?
5. What is the profile of the policymaker(s)?
6. Why should media organisations publicise your team’s campaign?

After assessing these key points, the campaign team should keep in mind these points as
they proceed with developing the messages.

SU2-4
COM388 Developing Messages for a Campaign

1.2 Developing Stimulating and Persuasive Messages

According to Mattson and Lam (2016), there are five essential aspects to developing
persuasive campaign messages: the messages have to be (1) stimulating, (2) motivational,
(3) eliminating barriers, (4) culturally consistent, and (5) within the resource capabilities
of the team.

Figure 2.1 The 5 key aspects to developing campaign messages

1.2.1 Stimulating Messages

Try to recall an action show or movie that you have watched. Did you find the show
engaging, or did you fall asleep watching it? Did you remember some of the show’s
content? Chances are you were somewhat engrossed with the action and remember some
of the show’s details. In contrast, try to recall an informational/educational documentary
that you watched. Did you find it engrossing too, and can you remember the details?

SU2-5
COM388 Developing Messages for a Campaign

We tend to forget such experiences because documentaries often are quite boring (i.e.,
not stimulating) to watch. The challenge for you, as a campaign planner, is to design
messages that are both stimulating and informational. This is akin to designing an action-
documentary show.

Activity 2.1

Recently, documentaries such as those from the History channel have incorporated
stunning action and visual effects. Search a documentary OR an informational/
educational clip OR a campaign video that is both stimulating and informational.
Discuss why you thought it was stimulating and informational.

Stimulating messages can provoke and stir up an audience. Such messages should be
able to catch audiences’ attention and draw audiences into the content while maintaining
interest. There are two ways in which messages can be stimulating – through arousing
emotions and using visual and audio techniques.

Emotions (fear)

Some movies love to give their audience a little scare to maintain their level of engagement
with the movie. For example, in the movie Jurassic World, dinosaurs would spring out,
followed by a shocking sound-effect, and the scene would end with a scream. Interestingly,
campaigns work the same way: by inducing the appropriate amount of fright, audiences
may not only be continuously engaged with the campaign message, but there is a
chance audiences’ behaviors will change accordingly too. The concept of appealing to the
audience’s fear in messages was introduced by Witte and Allen’s (2000) famous Extended
Parallel Processing Model (EPPM). In this section, we will expound a little on EPPM and
relate the use of fear appeals in campaign messages.

SU2-6
COM388 Developing Messages for a Campaign

The EPPM posits that a combination of fear appeals and high-efficacy messages will
promote behavioural change (Witte & Allen, 2000). Fear appeals trigger an unpleasant
emotional state through the use of threatening stimuli, with the aim of motivating
preventive and self-protective behaviors (Ruiter, Abraham, & Kok, 2001). The grotesque
images on cigarette packages (e.g., eye surgery, throat cancer, etc.) are examples of fear
appeals. Efficacy refers to instilling confidence in undertaking a specific task. For example,
a message that provides details on the hotlines and therapy sessions that help with
quitting smoking would be an example of a high-efficacy message. On the other hand,
a message that does not provide such details would be an example of a low-efficacy
message.

Figure 2.2 below illustrates the four possible scenarios for the EPPM. Scenario “A” occurs
when a message has high fear appeals but is low in efficacy. This can happen, for example,
when a campaign message emphasises the deadly consequences of smoking but does not
inform the audience what to do to quit smoking. In such a situation, the audience may
be so frightened that they turn away from the campaign message and distract themselves
with other activities. This is a typical response when people find messages disturbing and
unhelpful.

SU2-7
COM388 Developing Messages for a Campaign

Figure 2.2 The four scenarios of the EPPM

Scenario “B” occurs when a message is low in both fear appeals and efficacy. This can
happen, for instance, when a campaign message chooses not to use any fear appeals and
does not provide details on how to quit smoking. It is debatable whether behaviour will
not change in this scenario because one can still use many other forms of appeals (as will
be discussed later). Nonetheless, the EPPM suggests that Scenario “B” will not be effective
in changing behavior among audiences.

Scenario “C” occurs when the message is low in fear appeals but is high in efficacy. An
example of this would be a campaign message that simply promotes the solutions to
quitting smoking (e.g., hotline, website, therapy groups, etc.) but displays only a model
holding a cigarette with a sad face. The EPPM would contend that the audience would
not feel sufficiently vulnerable to the threat of smoking and thus ignore the message. That

SU2-8
COM388 Developing Messages for a Campaign

is to say, if the threat is not apparent, there is no perceived problem, and there is thus no
need to pay attention to a message regarding solutions.

Figure 2.3 Cigarette boxes in Singapore

Scenario “D” occurs when a message is both high in fear appeals and efficacy. This can
happen, for example, when a campaign message conveys the dangers of smoking and
presents achievable solutions to quitting smoking. The EPPM would contend that scenario
“D” is the desired scenario that would be most effective in persuading audiences to alter
behavior. This is so because the audience would feel sufficiently vulnerable to the issue
(e.g., smoking), and would feel sufficiently confident to enact the recommended solutions
(e.g., going to therapy sessions to quit smoking).

Given the postulations of the EPPM, one may try to use fear appeals in campaign
messages. That is not to say, however, that any form of fear-inducing stimuli can be
used. The stimuli should be relevant to the campaign issue. For example, if the campaign
issue revolves around smoking, the stimuli should be, say, frightening images of throat
cancer.Other irrelevant stimuli (e.g., a spooky sound) would only confuse the audience.
One must also exercise discretion concerning the amount of fear appeals used. For
example, showing too many grotesque images of throat cancer may turn people off.
Therefore, you need to be careful about using appropriate amounts of fear appeals, or else

SU2-9
COM388 Developing Messages for a Campaign

there may be a backlash if your audience becomes offended or afraid (Guttman & Salmon,
2004).

Other emotional appeals (anger & guilt)

One may use other emotional appeals besides fear appeals, such as anger or guilt
appeals. Anger is instigated when goal-oriented behavior is hindered by obstacles or when
demeaning offences are perceived to be committed against a person or a person’s loved
ones (Nabi, 1999). Anger appeals communicate such obstacles or offences to the audience
so that they may experience anger. Anger appeals are particularly useful for addressing
issues that restrict the rights of people (Turner, 2007). Thus, anger appeals may work
well for campaigns that deal with an apparent injustice. For example, if your team thinks
that elderly folks are not given fair employment opportunities, your team can depict the
injustice in campaign messages so as to invoke anger against the injustice. It is important
to note that the campaign team must be focused on the objective in using fear appeals –
that is, the anger should be directed at the injustice, and not anything else (e.g., political
party, the government, etc.). Directing anger on, say, a political party may not only be
irrelevant to the issue, it may also land the campaign team in legal trouble.

SU2-10
COM388 Developing Messages for a Campaign

Figure 2.4 Videos of the vulnerable being treated badly always draw angry reactions. For example,
this incident in which a couple confronted an elderly man in Toa Payoh

(Source: http://www.straitstimes.com/singapore/courts-crime/hawker-centre-quarrel-couple-
arrested-for-causing-public-nuisance)

Anger appeals should be explicit and clear in showing how the problem can be resolved,
how there is injustice, or how the audience’s goals are threatened (see Turner, 2007). This
is similar to the earlier concept of efficacy in the EPPM: the campaign message must
explain the steps toward addressing the injustice or hindrance, and the audience should
feel confident about undertaking those steps. For example, a campaign message may
communicate the disparity in employment among the elderly, and explain how the public
can go online to sign an online petition to implement policies for fairer employment
opportunities for the elderly. A non-example would be a campaign message with the same
issue but requires the audience to be involved in a public protest. Because there may be
repercussions to protesting in Singapore, the campaign message’s recommended solution
is not efficacious and therefore unlikely to garner public support.

SU2-11
COM388 Developing Messages for a Campaign

Guilt appeals are another emotional appeal that a campaign team can use. Guilt is
experienced when a personally relevant social or moral standard has been violated
(Kugler & Jones, 1992). Guilt appeals, therefore, emphasise the discrepancy between one’s
own conduct and personal standards, or between one’s well-being and the well-being of
other people (Coulter, Cotte, & Moore, 1999). For example, guilt appeal is used when a
video shows the pain experienced by patients undergoing kidney dialysis, and when the
video communicates that the viewer can help by donating to a relevant organisation. A
persuasive guilt appeal should be accompanied by a recommended course of action to
reduce the guilt (O’Keefe, 2002). In the example above, donation to a relevant organisation
was the recommended course of action.

According to Coulter and colleagues (1999), guilt appeals are more likely to be effective
if audiences perceive the message as credible. On the other hand, if audiences perceive
that the message is using inappropriate tactics to manipulate people, then they will react
negatively and feel annoyed instead. A message can be perceived as credible if the source
is credible. For example, when it comes to the issue of kidney dialysis in Singapore,
the National Kidney Foundation is a brand name of considerable reputation. People are
more likely to donate to this long-established organisation than to a new or questionable
organisation. On that note, it should be mentioned that the campaign team should – as far
as the context suits it – adhere to professional names for events or entities. For example,
a professional-sounding name such as, say, National Dialysis Coalition would likely be
perceived as more credible than, say, Tan’s Dialysis Group. Of course, a lot will depend on
the context. If the context demands creativity, such as with a campaign for youths, the
naming of events or entities can sound less “professional”. For example, a campaign event
called “Ignite! Youths Speak Out” should be more appealing to youths than a campaign
event called “Youth Symposium: Forum for Participatory Action”.

SU2-12
COM388 Developing Messages for a Campaign

Activity 2.2

Find a reputable nonprofit organisation. Discuss why you think the organisation has
a credible image.

Then, look at one of its messages (e.g., video, website, Facebook, etc.). Did the message
use any emotional appeal? If so, did you find its use of emotional appeal effective? If the
appeal was not effective, or if the message did not contain any emotional appeal, which
emotional appeal do you think would have worked well for the message? Why?

Another way for a message to be perceived as credible – and for guilt appeals to work
better – is the use of celebrities. The transfer of a popular person’s credibility to another
person, product, or organization is also known as halo-effect (see e.g., Leuthesser, Kohli,
& Harich, 1995). Many campaigns have used celebrities to enhance credibility. Typically,
such campaigns would have to fork out significant amounts of money to pay those
celebrities to participate. If your campaign team does not have financial resources to pay
for celebrities, your team could – ideally – use the persuasive techniques described in this
Study Unit to convince celebrities to participate in the cause. If the cause is significant
or relevant to a celebrity, and if your team is persuasive, a celebrity may help promote
the team’s cause pro bono. For example, a popular blogger may blog about your team’s
campaign efforts.

Activity 2.3

Find a campaign that uses a celebrity or celebrities. Do you think the inclusion of the
celebrity or celebrities helps the campaign achieve its objective(s)? Why, or why not?

SU2-13
COM388 Developing Messages for a Campaign

Visual and audio techniques

Another way that messages can be stimulating is through the use of visual and audio
techniques. There is ample evidence in research showing how visual and audio elements
can enhance a message (e.g., Appiah, 2006; Ravaja, 2004). Your personal experiences
would likely have attested to the research evidence. It is likely that you have found movies
more engaging than comics/storybooks, or the radio/podcast more engaging than the
newspaper. When we watch movies, we are often attentive to high-action sequences (e.g.,
fight scenes in a superhero action movie) and loud, escalating sounds (e.g., explosions),
than we are to the artistic films that win Oscar awards. In the following section, we will
explore some of the visual and audio techniques that can enhance a campaign message.

Visual techniques. Visual techniques refer to the use of imagery as a stimulus. Research
has shown that such techniques can make messages more effective. For example, Appiah
(2006) found that online users who viewed a testimonial ad in audio/video format were
more likely to identify with characters in the testimonial ad and be favorable to the
website than compared to online users who viewed a text/picture testimonial ad. In
another research study, Lang, Dhillon, and Dong (1995) showed that arousing television
messages were remembered better than calm messages (see also Bradley, Greenwald,
Petry, & Lang, 1992). Attention, knowledge acquisition, and memory of content may
be enhanced when viewing moving images instead of static images (see Ravaja, 2004).
A campaign team should aim to craft video messages where possible, such as when
promoting issue awareness on social media. Most people would not pay attention to a
static image accompanied by a lengthy text, let alone read the whole text. In a world where
there are so many competing messages, a campaign team’s message needs to stand out in
order to gain audiences’ attention. Therefore, the campaign message should be as vivid
as possible.

Vivid imagery involves an image that can catch a person’s attention and is so impactful
that there is likely memory retention of the image. There are numerous ways to create vivid
imagery. For example, some colors are very striking and would likely leave an impression;
bright orange, yellow, or any color that resembles a highlighter’s color. Shocking or

SU2-14
COM388 Developing Messages for a Campaign

unpleasant images can also be vivid. For example, there are many drink-driving/text-
driving campaign messages that show depictions of accidents resulting from inebriated/
irresponsible driving. Some of these depictions can range from quick and simple flashes
of a crash, to very lengthy and detailed portrayal of a fatal accident. The use of shocking
or unpleasant images requires, of course, a great deal of discretion. Chapter 2 will discuss
more on the ethics surrounding the use of such images.

Figure 2.5 A drink-driving campaign message

(Source: http://www.roadsafetygb.org.uk/news/3651.html

The use of fast sequences, fast moving objects, or novel (i.e., new) pictures/objects are also
some ways to produce vivid imagery. An example that most would be familiar with would
be the movie trailers in cinemas. Having to cramp movie details in a short span of time,
these trailers often involve flashing sequences, speeding objects (e.g., car chases, flying
superhero, etc.), or novel characters (e.g., a new Spiderman) or scenes (e.g., gorgeous
Prague backdrop). It should be noted, however, that the vivid imagery used should be

SU2-15
COM388 Developing Messages for a Campaign

congruent with the theme of the campaign message; the congruency helps audiences
process the message (Smith & Shaffer, 2000). In contrast, vivid imagery that is incongruent
with the theme of the message would compromise message processing. For example, if the
campaign message is about, say, making university more affordable, having a background
of Prague is not only irrelevant (unless the university is in Prague), it may also distract the
audience.

Figure 2.6 Prague, though scenic, can be a distraction if irrelevant to the theme of the message

(Source: http://www.pragueczechtravel.com/

Audio techniques. Audio techniques refer to the use of sound as a stimulus. Rodero
(2012) describes two types of sounds – sound effects and sound shots. Sound effects depict
situations or environments. For example, the sound of a crash to depict a car crash, or
the sound of birds chirping and flowing waters to depict a tranquil forest. Sound shots
are changes in sound intensity to convey spatial distances. For example, the sound of a

SU2-16
COM388 Developing Messages for a Campaign

car screeching on its brakes, escalating as it approaches the viewer. According to Rodero,
the use of sound effects and sound shots can enhance listener attention. As you design a
campaign message, try to use sound effects and sound shots to create a realistic scene for
the audience.

Research shows that sounds do affect memory recall. For example, Bradley and Lang
(2000) found that sounds that were highly arousing – whether pleasant or not (e.g.,
screeching or orchestra) – were remembered better than sounds that were low in arousal
ratings. This would be useful if, say, your campaign had a signature music or song.
The number of voice actors/actresses in a message and the intervals between voices
can also shape listening outcomes; Potter (2000) suggested that information positioned
immediately after a voice change (i.e., less than 3 seconds) is not processed by the listener
as effectively as information given later on. In application, if a campaign message involves
multiple voices, the important information should not be presented right after a voice
change. Just as it is with visual techniques, sounds should not be irrelevant to the message
as irrelevant sounds can interfere with memory (Banbury, Macken, Tremblay, & Jones,
2001).

SU2-17
COM388 Developing Messages for a Campaign

Activity 2.4

Recently, Golden Village played a short clip in its cinemas to encourage patrons not
to litter. Golden Village’s tiny “campaign” involved a fair bit of visual and audio
techniques. Write a page discussing the visual and audio elements used.

Visit: Youtube.com. Search for the video “Just Bin It”. (0:42)

Figure 2.7 The Golden Village short clip

(Source: https://www.youtube.com)

SU2-18
COM388 Developing Messages for a Campaign

1.2.2 Motivational Messages

In order for people to support a campaign, a campaign needs a motivational booster to
get people going. In 1963, Martin Luther King campaigned for civil and economic rights
and delivered his famous “I have a dream” speech, which many regarded as a highly
motivational speech. In that vein, campaigns should excite and compel people to act – be
it by signing a petition or “liking” a Facebook page. Mattson and Lam (2016) propose two
ways to make campaign messages motivational: (1) by conveying to the audience their
susceptibility to a threat and how it affects them, or (2) by including self-disclosure in
messages.

Figure 2.8 Martin Luther King’s “I have a dream”

speech

SU2-19
COM388 Developing Messages for a Campaign

Susceptibility and how it affects

Earlier we discussed the use of fear appeals in the EPPM. This concept also works for
crafting motivational messages; fear of something is a motivational tool to get people
moving. Witte (1994) contends that audiences will likely not process a message nor
respond to the message if the perceived threat is low. For example, if you are in the
amazon and you tell your buddy that a crocodile is right behind him/her, your buddy will
likely jump and look behind. In contrast, if you are in a corporate building and you tell
your buddy that a crocodile is right behind him/her, your buddy will likely ignore your
warning and reply that there is a bear behind you. In your campaign message, perceived
threat may be enhanced if you emphasise how the audience is susceptible to the issue
and how the issue affects them. For example, if you are campaigning against a tax hike,
your message can communicate how the audience will be affected by a tax hike and what
would happen to them if the tax was raised. It is worth reiterating that the message should
be efficacious (i.e., an achievable action is recommended) so that the audience will not be
frightened and dismiss the message.

Self-disclosure

The other approach to make messages motivational is to include self-disclosure in

messages. Self-disclosure occurs when a person reveals his/her own personal story. Han
(2009) suggested that people are more likely to participate in a political appeal if it includes
self-disclosure. Han’s experiment further showed that people who heard self-disclosure
in an appeal were twice as likely as people who heard an appeal without self-disclosure
to make donations to a cause. Perhaps self-disclosure has a human-touch that helps forge
trust and connection to the speaker; Collins and Miller (1994) reported that greater self-
disclosure promotes liking.

A common way to include self-disclosure in campaign messages is to use testimonials.

Often there are videos of people talking about their positive experiences with an
organisation or political affiliation. For example, there are many videos where people
express their positive experiences with hospitals, dental clinics, and so on. Such
testimonials have the aim to relate to viewers, earn their trust, and eventually give them

SU2-20
COM388 Developing Messages for a Campaign

the confidence to patronise the organisation. When President Donald Trump was yet
President and still running election campaigns, he had Governor Mike Pence introduce
him before going up a stage in one campaign. Mike Pence, a reputable figure, disclosed
personal details, such as his perspectives on and interactions with Donald Trump.

Figure 2.9 Governor Mike Pence invites Donald Trump

on stage

Of course, it would be good if your campaign had reputable figures such as celebrities
to provide testimonials for the campaign. The use of celebrities would leverage both
advantages of self-disclosure and the halo-effect. However, when it comes to reputable
figures and celebrities, there is the challenge of costs involved. But, as previously
mentioned, it may be possible that reputable figures or celebrities would participate if

SU2-21
COM388 Developing Messages for a Campaign

the cause is relevant/significant, and when the campaign team is persuasive. Although
having celebrities provide testimonials would be a fantastic boon, testimonials of
laypeople would more than suffice.

1.2.3 Eliminating Barriers

Campaign messages should also identify, address, and eliminate existing or potential
barriers. For example, if your campaign event will be held outdoors at Sentosa, a potential
barrier would be the chance of rain. In your advertisements for the event, there should
be a brief description of the contingency plan. Addressing existing or potential barriers is
important because it shows that your campaign plan is well thought-out, and it may also
help reduce any worries that your audience may have and enhance their confidence in
supporting your campaign. Allison, Dwyer, and Makin (1999) propose that there are two
forms of barriers – external and internal. A campaign should take note of these barriers
when designing messages.

Internal barriers refer to constraints and disturbances within the individual that may
impede the individual from taking a certain action (Allison et al., 1999). Internal barriers
may include discomfort, stress, anxiety, uncertainty, and fear, among others. Internal
barriers may exist or potentially exist when the campaign’s recommended action is
unorganised or incriminating (i.e., low efficacy). The audience may feel fearful of
participating in a campaign if the recommended action appears to be, say, a protest (e.g.,
website looks unprofessional and language seems anger-driven) or something that would
compromise, say, their careers (e.g., appearing on national TV).

SU2-22
COM388 Developing Messages for a Campaign

Figure 2.10 Uncertainty can sometimes cause people to be apprehensive about supporting a
campaign

Sometimes, internal barriers exist due to misunderstandings about the campaign

issue. For example, if the campaign issue is about organ donation, people may hold
misconstrued ideas about organ donation, such as the idea of a black market for organs
(see Morgan, Harrison, Afifi, Long, & Stephenson, 2008). The campaign team should
address misunderstandings and communicate the facts in a tactful, inoffensive way.
People usually do not like being told they are wrong, so wisdom and tact is required to
communicate the facts.

External barriers refer to environmental circumstances that may impede an individual

from taking action. External barriers may include monetary costs, infrastructure problems,
distance, lacking access to technology, among others (Matton & Lam, 2016). For example,
some campaigns have donation drives, but the minimum amount to donate may be too
large for some individuals (e.g., $5, $10, etc.). Access to technology is a common issue. For
example, most of the elderly in Singapore are not very proficient in the use of technology.

SU2-23
COM388 Developing Messages for a Campaign

If a campaign requires the elderly to, say, download and use a mobile phone application,
the elderly may find it too challenging a task and thus not participate in the campaign.
Those who have low-income may also have limited access to technology, as they may use
their income for other purposes instead.

A final caveat regarding the addressing of barriers: keep it brief. A campaign message
should catch and retain the attention of the audience, so one should not bore the audience
with lengthy explanations. The addressing of barriers could be done in many ways,
including interweaving it into a campaign message, quickly explaining it in a promotional
video, or writing it in a small section of a promotional pamphlet.

Activity 2.5

When it comes to supporting a campaign, what do you think may be some of the
internal and external barriers for Singaporeans? Explain, in a single page, why you
think those barriers may exist.

1.2.4 Culturally Consistent

When designing campaign messages, it is important to always consider culture. When
messages integrate culture relevantly and appropriately, the messages are better able to
capture attention and stimulate information processing (Kreuter & Haughton, 2006). One
popular way of integrating culture is to use the approach called “tailoring” (Hawkins,
Kreuter, Resnicow, Fishbein, & Dijkstra, 2008). Tailoring involves customising a message
to specifically attend to the needs and preferences of audiences belonging to a cultural
group. For example, during the 2017 Chinese New Year in Singapore, Gov.sg launched
a diabetes awareness campaign video that featured festive themes and kungfu fighting
scenes typical in old Chinese films. The video was popular among viewers and garnered
positive responses. The video managed to “tailor” to the Chinese cultural group because

SU2-24
COM388 Developing Messages for a Campaign

the needs at the time (i.e., Chinese New Year related theme or concept) and preferences
(i.e., jolly, feel-good factor) were met. The campaign video would not have worked as
effectively if the video depicted, say, hospital images and serious undertones regarding
the consequences of diabetes. Such seriousness would not have matched the need for the
feel-good factor during Chinese New Year.

Visit: Youtube.com. Search for the video “Kungfu Fighter, Hidden Sugar”. (1:21)

Besides “tailoring”, Kreuter, Lukwago, Bucholtz, Clark, and Sanders-Thompson (2003)

recommended five approaches to integrate culture into messages. These approaches are:
(1) peripheral, (2) evidential, (3) linguistic, (4) constituent-involving, and (5) socio-cultural
approaches.

Peripheral

The peripheral approach relies on aspects that are outside of the content of a
message (see Petty & Cacioppo, 1984). In the previous Gov.sg’s campaign example, the
traditional Chinese costumes, background, and food (e.g., yusheng) all communicated the
Chinese culture without verbalising it. There are many ways in which culture can be
communicated in such subtle forms. For instance, a culture may have unique associations
and preferences for colours; Asians may associate the colour red with danger (Chan &
Courtney, 2001) and prefer clean, fresh, or modern colours (Ou, Luo, Woodcock, & Wright,
2004). Peripheral elements can be as subtle as type of background music in a video, style
of word font, and so on (Mattson & Lam, 2016).

Evidential

The evidential approach uses information about a cultural group to relate to people from
that group. For example, if the campaign issue is about obesity among the Chinese, the
campaign message can use statistical evidence showing the number of obese people in
the Chinese community. When an audience thinks that an issue affects similar others, the
audience may be compelled to think about the issue, decide to take preventive action, and
make plans to act (Kreuter et al., 2003).

SU2-25
COM388 Developing Messages for a Campaign

Linguistic

The linguistic approach uses language that is most familiar to a cultural group. For
example, Spanish for Latinos, French for the French, and English for the British. What,
then, is the language for Singaporeans? This is a tricky question; right away, one might
respond that “English” is the answer. But in fact the answer is “it depends”. Given that
Singapore is an ethnically-diverse nation, the language used in a campaign depends
on which cultural group is being targeted. Furthermore, the language used is not
straightforward; even among the Chinese elderly in Singapore, there are those who only
speak certain dialects and not Mandarin. Therefore, one should tap into the community
(see Study Unit 1) and get a sense as to which language is most commonly used.

There is also the issue with Singlish. It is widely used by Singaporeans but sometimes it
can be perceived as unprofessional in specific situations. For example, if the campaign
issue is about a tax hike, one would expect serious and professional language used in
explaining the economic predicament. However, there are occasions for Singlish. For
example, in contexts where a message needs to be relatable, casual, or fun, Singlish may
be appropriate. For instance, back in 2003, when the severe acute respiratory syndrome
(SARS) epidemic hit Singapore, the authorities launched a campaign video featuring the
then-iconic TV character, Phua Chu Kang. The video involved a Singlish rap. Figure 2.11
shows a part of the lyrics:

Can't SARS me baby, and I don't mean maybe

You must be steady, just use your brain,
Use your brain, use your braaainnn

SU2-26
COM388 Developing Messages for a Campaign

Figure 2.11 Phua Chu Kang and the SARS rap video

(Source: https://eresources.nlb.gov.sg/music/music/album/3ea555ce-fbd6-494f-977c-4fff0970cc80)

Whether or not the campaign was successful is another subject of conversation altogether.
The point here is that the authorities thought it appropriate to use Singlish for a public
campaign message. For your own campaign, do not feel limited by the need to “use
English properly”, because the choice of language really depends on the context of what
the message needs to be.

SU2-27
COM388 Developing Messages for a Campaign

Activity 2.6

Search online for the above Phua Chu Kang rap video. Discuss whether the use of
Singlish appealed to you. Do you think the video would appeal to others?

Search online for a video – it could be an advertisement or a campaign video – which

uses a linguistic style that you think would appeal to most Singaporeans. Explain why.

Constituent-involving

The constituent involving approach incorporates the experiences of members of a cultural

group. The easiest way to embed a specific culture in a message is to have a person from
that culture speak in the message. For example, if one is reaching out to the Hokkien
community, the plainest and simple way to embed Hokkien culture in a video is to have a
Hokkien speak in the video. The constituent-involving approach resembles the evidential
approach – the difference is that the former may not necessarily present “evidences” per
se, and involves personal sharing of information. Using testimonials for the constituent-
involving approach is effective, because testimonials can also draw upon the benefits of
linguistics, self-disclosure, and similar others (see Mattson & Lam, 2016).

Socio-cultural

The socio-cultural approach highlights the social structure that a culture is predicated
upon. For example, if Singaporean families have a culture of prioritising family dinners
at home, a campaign message can use the dinner setting to emphasise Singapore culture.
As a Singaporean, you should be familiar with the social structure of the nation – the
norms, perspectives, values, and beliefs. But there may be micro-social structures that you
may not be as familiar with – for example, if your campaign deals with, say, the youths
at Skate Park, there are unique norms and perspectives in that micro-culture. Although
it is important to consider the social structure, a team should be careful not to stereotype

SU2-28
COM388 Developing Messages for a Campaign

(see e.g., Verhaeghen, Aikman, & Van Gulick, 2011), because that may result in adverse
reactions instead.

1.2.5 Resource Contingent

A campaign team would need to consider resource capabilities when developing
messages. Time, money, and communication and organisational skills are important
resources required for campaigns (Brady, Verba, & Schlozman, 1995; Mattson & Lam,
2016).

Time

A campaign should be well-planned – team members need to be deliberate, decisive, and

on time with schedule. If a campaign is unorganised, or if the team procrastinates and
does not adhere to schedule, the campaign may appear unprofessional and support may
dwindle. If a campaign drags on for too long, particularly without bearing much fruit,
people may lose their initial excitement and adrenaline and become too discouraged and
exhausted to support the campaign. Thus, time is of the essence; but, like all resources,
time is limited. This is especially true when there are deadlines.

A campaign can have deadlines to meet if it is grant-funded, or when there is a limited

window of time to reach out to certain audiences. For example, if a campaign targets
youths, the campaign needs to disseminate messages before the June/December holidays
during which many youths travel or are too distracted with other activities. Policymakers,
too, have periods busier than other days (see Gregrich, 2003), and so the window to reach
out to audiences is limited. Bearing all these in mind, a campaign team needs to plan
ahead, be efficient, work cohesively, and be progressive.

Money

Designing effective campaign messages can be a costly task. Depending on the level of
aesthetics of sophistication of the design, sometimes professional designers or Web2.0
specialists may be required. For example, if a team wants the campaign website to be
interactive but does not know how to make it so, a specialist may be needed to design the

SU2-29
COM388 Developing Messages for a Campaign

webpage. Or, if the team wants the website to rank high in a Google’s search, a specialist in
search engine optimisation may be required. If the team does not have the finances to pay
for such professional services, the team may choose to raise funds to cover such expenses.

Alternatively, the team need not be so elaborate with their messages. This is not to say
that the messages can be done sloppily and unprofessionally. Rather, the team can design
simpler and professional-looking messages with little to no cost using simple tools. Many
of the existing campaign messages that you see can be replicated using something as
accessible as Microsoft PowerPoint (and some creativity). A search on Google will also
show you some of the free-to-use tools for designing messages. Some of these free-to-use
tools even provide templates, as shown below:

Figure 2.12 Free Templates

Communication and organisational skills

When designing messages, a team should also consider the availability of members
who are proficient in communication and organisation skills. These skills include being
articulate in discourse, effective in relaying information, and being comfortable in
organising and attending meetings (Brady et al., 1995). The very nature of a campaign
suggests that will likely be some spotlight on the campaign and its proceedings; a team
may sometimes be flanked by journalists, curious onlookers and organisations, or angry
netizens. Having a member in the team who can address such people will be invaluable
to the team.

SU2-30
COM388 Developing Messages for a Campaign

Lesson Recording

Developing Persuasive Messages (Part One)

Lesson Recording

Developing Persuasive Messages (Part Two)

SU2-31
COM388 Developing Messages for a Campaign

Chapter 2: Marketing Mix and Considerations

When designing campaign messages, a team also needs to work out their marketing
strategy, consider efficacy and ethics, and then pre-test draft messages. This chapter will
discuss these aspects accordingly.

2.1 The Marketing Mix

In 1971, Kotler and Zaltman introduced the concept “social marketing”, which is the use
of marketing strategies for the objective of generating social action (such as campaign
participation). Thus, instead of looking at buyer-seller relationships that is central in
typical marketing, social marketing looks at the elements that influence social action.
These elements are product, price, promotion, and placement – collectively known as
the marketing mix. As a campaign planner, you will have to work out your campaign’s
marketing strategy by considering the components of the marketing mix. The following
section will discuss each of these components accordingly.

2.1.1 Product
Product refers to the recommended action and how it is presented to audiences. That is
to say, the campaign objective is the “product”. For example, if a campaign objective is to
have people sign an online petition, the “product” that the campaign needs to convince
people to “buy” is the act of going online to sign the petition. Identifying the product
is a straightforward task; knowing how to present it to audiences can be challenging.
Like tangible products, a team needs to “brand” the product such that it is appealing
to audiences. The appeal depends on whether the message addresses the needs and
preferences of the audiences. For example, if youths are the targeted audience, one would
have to consider the needs and preferences of the youths: Do they prefer fast-moving
sequences? Do they prefer happy or melodramatic narratives? Do they want humor in
dialogues, or do they want serious conversations? One can use interviews, focus groups,

SU2-32
COM388 Developing Messages for a Campaign

or surveys (explained in Study Unit 1) to get a sense of what these needs and preferences
may be.

Of course, the easiest way that a campaign message can be appealing to its audience
is when the campaign issue is directly relevant to them. For example, if the team is
advocating for, say, more vacancies for university enrolment and lower tuition fees, most
of the youths will be right on cue. However, sometimes, an issue will not be directly
relevant to the audience. For instance, in the earlier example of Gov.sg’s Kungfu Fighter,
Hidden Sugar, the target audiences were people who celebrate the Chinese New Year –
most of whom do not already have diabetes. The approach that Gov.sg took, as mentioned
earlier, was to attend to the needs and preferences of the audience at that time (i.e., jolly,
feel-good festive themes). But Gov.sg also crafted the message such that diabetes would
seem relevant to the audience. In one scene – typical festive foods (e.g., yusheng, orange
juice) were portrayed as being problematically high in sugar. Right away, these festive
foods draw relevance to the audience (who were likely about to eat yusheng at the time),
establishing some connection to the watching viewer and diabetes. In the same way, your
campaign can seem relevant to audiences if you draw upon some relatable elements or if
you are able to convince audiences that the issue is somehow related to them.

Visit: Youtube.com. Search for the video “Kungfu Fighter, Hidden Sugar”.

SU2-33
COM388 Developing Messages for a Campaign

Figure 2.13 Gov.sg’s campaign used festive foods to draw connections with the audience

(Source: https://www.facebook.com/gov.sg/videos/10154889083913686/)

2.1.2 Price
Price refers to the cost incurred by the audience in order to participate in the campaign,
and may include psychological, monetary, energy, or opportunity costs (Kotler & Zaltman,
1971). One would have to consider these costs when designing messages.

Psychological costs

Psychological costs are constraints and disturbances within the individual that may
impede the individual from taking a certain action (Allison et al., 1999). This is the
same definition as that of internal barriers described in the “eliminating barriers” section
(Chapter 1.2.3). Psychological costs may include discomfort, stress, anxiety, uncertainty,
fear, among others. In Singapore, people may be apprehensive of supporting a campaign,
say, via signing an online petition. There can be a variety of reason why there may be

SU2-34
COM388 Developing Messages for a Campaign

such apprehension – some may fear that their signature will be used for other purposes
in the future; some may be afraid that they will be liable to court or legal matters; some
others may be concerned that a signature represents a commitment to a cause, and that
the campaign team would keep harassing them for future support. Campaigners should
communicate to the audience and assuage these fears. Alternatively, campaigners could
adopt a different approach that may involve less psychological costs for the audience.

Monetary costs

Monetary costs are the financial input necessary for the audience to participate in the
campaign. For example, if the campaign involves fundraising or donation drives, then the
donation is the monetary cost for the audience. The campaign team would have to figure
out if the monetary costs are off-putting and adjust costs accordingly.

Monetary costs may also involve expenditures that are not immediately apparent, but are
needed to participate in a campaign. For example, there are costs involved in taking a
bus to participate in a campaign event. Although such expenditure may not be significant
to many individuals, it may be significant for individuals with low income. Therefore,
a team needs to be sensitive and put themselves in the shoes of their audiences, and
consider the expenses that may be significant. Monetary costs are especially significant
when policymakers are the audience; when suggesting policy change to policymakers, the
team needs to have a ready proposal of the costs involved.

Energy costs

Energy costs are physical efforts needed to participate in a campaign. This may involve
the energy required in making a trip to attend an event – this is especially pertinent
for audiences with disabilities, as it can be taxing for them to travel. Energy costs may
also involve energy required to participate in the event. Recently, Singapore has seen
some campaigns that involve significant energy costs. For example, in 2015, OnePeople.sg
organised a Race Against Racism, during which individuals can participate in 3.5km
walks or 5/10km competitive runs – all in the name of stamping out racism (Race Against
Racism, n.d.). In this event, the organisers considered individuals who may not be willing

SU2-35
COM388 Developing Messages for a Campaign

or able to exert 5/10km’s worth of running by introducing a 3.5km fun walk category.
Your campaign should also consider the energy capacity of audiences (e.g., are they young
or old? Motivated or unmotivated? etc.).

Activity 2.7

Singapore has several campaigns involving marathons (e.g., Yellow Ribbon, Orange
Ribbon, etc.). Find one such campaign and discuss what the costs to participation are.

Opportunity cost

Opportunity cost refers to the sacrifice of alternatives due to a decision made (Burch
& Henry, 1974). That is to say, what would audiences have to forgo if they choose to
participate in your campaign? Could they have gone to the movies with friends instead
of attending your campaign event? Could they have spent time online shopping instead
of signing a petition? A team would need to be persuasive that the cause is worth the
participation, and worth the forgoing of alternative pursuits. A team can emphasise how
the campaign goal benefits the audience, or the lives of others.

If the audiences are media organisations, the opportunity cost for them to publicise your
campaign is to forgo other news/stories due to limited editorial space. A team would
have to convince media organisations that the campaign is engaging news for readers/
viewers/listeners, or that publicity would be a good PR move for the organisations. The
opportunity cost for policymakers is the investments in other projects they would have to
shelf in order to prioritise your team’s proposal.

Opportunity cost is especially pertinent for the low-income community. Many of them
have to take on odd-hour jobs or work multiple jobs. Participating in a campaign,
therefore, may mean having to compromise one of those jobs that is important for their
livelihood. Again, this is where tapping into the community (in Study Unit 1) is useful in

SU2-36
COM388 Developing Messages for a Campaign

finding out the best way to navigate these stumbling blocks. A team should find out what
works best for the community and the team.

2.1.3 Promotion
Promotion refers to the process of bringing the product to the attention of audiences
(Kotler & Zaltman, 1971). There are various ways one can promote the campaign effort.
For example, one could organise an awareness event in a busy-district. Such an event
usually involves bright thematic colors (e.g., orange) and loud music to gain the attention
of onlookers. Pamphlets with details about the campaign can be distributed during the
event, and there can be games or competitions. Games and competitions really are just
motivators to get audience attention and sign people on a mailing list so that they can be
updated about the campaign progress. Of course, one needs to observe responsible code
of ethics in dealing with a mailing list (e.g., no coercion, no deception, no spam, choice to
quit mailing list, etc.).

But given this is a communication course, one should also consider more sophisticated
ways such as social media. Facebook and Twitter are some very popular options, as they
both have well over hundreds of million active users (see Caers et al., 2013; Junco, Elavsky,
& Heiberger, 2013). There are several advantages to using Facebook as a platform for
promotion. A campaign can have its own unique Facebook group page, which can be very
accessible for audiences to view updates and videos related to the campaign. Facebook
has a wide number of users, and the interconnectivity between users may lead some
to chance across the campaign’s group page. It is not necessary for a team to use both
Facebook and Twitter; the team would have to access which platform would be the best
for promotional purposes – if using both would be advantageous, then the team should
use both. Remember, resource allocation is limited, so be careful not to stretch the team
too thin by using too many platforms. If there are not enough members to do a good job
in regularly posting updates and replying posts across multiple platforms, then a team
should limit the number of platforms. It should be noted also that there will be many
competing messages on social media that will be vying for your audiences’ attention.

SU2-37
COM388 Developing Messages for a Campaign

In that sea of messages, your campaign messages need to stand out using the strategies
mentioned earlier in Chapter 1.

Traditional media can also be used to promote a campaign effort. A team can advertise
through newspapers, radio, or the television. However, advertising through such channels
can be costly. The team will need to ascertain if there are adequate funds for doing such
advertising. Even if there are sufficient funds, advertising through traditional media may
not be a cost-effective approach (see Farrelly, Hussin, & Bauer, 2007). That is to say, the
number of people who would become aware of the campaign through advertising on
traditional media may not justify the costs. Therefore, instead of paying for advertising,
it may be better for a team to first try to persuade media organisations to publicise the
campaign pro bono. As mentioned in Study Unit 1, Chapter 1.5, media organisations may
publicise the campaign for free if (1) the campaign is relevant to the media organisation’s
specialty, (2) the team can persuade the media organisations that publicity would be a
good PR move, and (3) the team can advertise the media organisation’s brand in exchange
for publicity.

2.1.4 Place
Place refers to the channel for audiences to translate motivation into action (Kotler &
Zaltman, 1971). It is through a channel that audiences support a campaign, and it is the
responsibility of the team to direct audiences to the appropriate channel (Mattson & Lam,
2016). The channel can be a physical site such as a petition booth, an awareness event, or
a marathon/walk site; or it can be non-physical, such as the Internet (e.g., online petition,
social media, etc.) or traditional media (e.g., writing in to newspapers, calling in radio
programs, etc.). This section will explore each of these channels accordingly.

Physical location

Physical locations are great for audiences because they usually do not require complicated
steps or procedures to participate; audiences simply show up and participate. The
downside, however, is that a physical location is susceptible to bad weather. Given how
unpredictable Singapore’s rainy days can be, having a physical location is quite a gamble.

SU2-38
COM388 Developing Messages for a Campaign

In the event of rain, a team can hold the campaign indoors in, say, a shopping mall.
However, doing so requires the permission of the shopping mall. Furthermore, human-
traffic may be compromised since many choose to stay at home when it rains. A petition
booth may be a good option because of its convenience, visibility, and people can just
sign and go. An awareness event is similar – conveniently located, high visibility, and
people can just go in and out of it. A marathon/walk site is also similar, but it is very
vulnerable to bad weather. Despite the unpredictability of weather, a physical location is
typically expected for most campaigns. Therefore, a team should use a physical site, with
non-physical channels being complementary to the physical site.

Non-physical channels

Non-physical channels can be convenient for audiences because there is no need to

travel. However, visibility can be low because of the many competing messages on the
Internet, and that may cause audiences to have trouble finding the channel or to give up
searching for it. Some audiences may think that non-physical channels involve too many
complicated and cumbersome steps. For example, it may be exhausting to turn on the
computer just to search for a specific website, find the link for the petition, enter personal
details, and so on. Or, it may be tiring to download a phone application and learn how
to use it. The reluctance to take these steps may be due to people not really liking change
or wanting to learn new things. Engaging in these steps, however, involve a fair amount
of change (e.g., downloading a new phone application) and learning (e.g., learn how to
use the phone application). Again, one should look at audiences’ needs and preferences
when deciding which channel to use. Health Promotion Board’s National Steps Challenge
(see below) was highly successful in getting Singaporeans to participate in the campaign
objective of walking more without using a physical site.

SU2-39
COM388 Developing Messages for a Campaign

Activity 2.8

In 2016, the Health Promotion Board issued watches that can track walking distances
to participants of the National Steps Challenge. The queue to grab the watches was long,
and the event was successful. Why do you think the use of watches (and a mobile app)
as a non-physical channel was successful? Would Singaporeans not prefer to meet in
a physical site to exercise? What needs and preferences were met?

Figure 2.14 A tracking device watch

Online petition. Another nonphysical channel may be an online petition. An online

petition is a statement published on the Internet which people can read and sign
electronically to show their support (Earl, 2006). Online petition providers such as
moveon.org and www.petitiononline.com have received thousands of signatures for a
variety of causes, including petitions against political issues and war (Earl). The idea
behind petitioning is that, by getting more people to support a position, there will be
more bargaining power when negotiating with policymakers. For example, there were

SU2-40
COM388 Developing Messages for a Campaign

500,000 signatures for the online petition against the impeachment of Bill Clinton in
1998 (Earl). Although you are not expected to garner 500,000 signatures, and although
there is no prescribed number for one to adhere to, the rule-of-thumb is that the more
signatures you have, the better. Designing and hosting an online petition site can be a
challenging task, so one may want to consider using existing services such as moveon.org
or www.petitiononline.com.

Social media. Social media can also be used as a channel for audiences to participate in
a campaign. For example, audiences can participate by “liking” the campaign’s Facebook
group page. These “likes” are akin to (but not exactly similar to) signatures for a petition;
the more “likes” a campaign has, the more support there seems to be for it. Facebook
“likes” differ from signatures for a petition in that the former may not be regarded
as formal as the latter. There is a strong caveat when it comes to using Facebook for
campaigns – its usefulness is very limited to initiate actual support. For example, a
popular Facebook movement, Saving the Children of Africa, had over 1.7 million members
but only raised about $12,000 (Morozov, 2012). This token display of support which
is not actual support is known as “slacktivism” (Kristofferson, White, & Peloza, 2014).
Slacktivism is such a common practice that UNICEF Sweden had to launch a “Likes
Don’t Save Lives” campaign to remind people that financial contributions, and not token
displays of support, are necessary for helping children in developing nations combat
disease (Kristofferson et al., 2014). Other researchers have also found there is little
connection between Facebook support and online petition signatures – that is to say, one
does not necessarily translate to the other (Panagiotopoulos, Sams, Elliman, & Fitzgerald,
2011). With this caveat in mind, a campaign team should probably use social media such
as Facebook for promotional purposes, as discussed earlier.

Traditional media. Traditional media, such as newspapers and radio, can be a channel
for campaign audiences to participate/support the campaign. For example, the campaign
can persuade audiences to write in to newspaper forums or call in to radio programs to
communicate about the campaign issue and to support the campaign. If the campaign
audiences are media organisations, these organisations can – of course – use their own

SU2-41
COM388 Developing Messages for a Campaign

platforms to support the campaign. For example, the campaign can persuade a radio
station to publicise the campaign pro bono.

Lesson Recording

The Marketing Mix

2.2 Efficacy and Ethics

When designing messages, it is important to consider efficacy and ethics. Efficacy, as you
might recall in Chapter 1.2.1, refers to instilling confidence in undertaking a specific task.
Ethics refer to responsible conduct and not doing harm to others.

2.2.1 Efficacy
A team needs to consider how the campaign messages can be efficacious. The team should
ask themselves: “Will the audiences be able to confidently undertake the recommended
action?” There are a variety of ways in which messages can be efficacious. For example,
contact details can be added to messages, such as an email address or organisation phone
number. Such contact details may be helpful for audiences who wish to make further
inquiry. Online messages, such as Facebook posts, can add links to resources that may
be helpful for learning more about a campaign issue (e.g., a link to cancer management
information). A campaign website can also embed such links, or provide the information
through a “resources” page/tab. Videos of similar others promoting or engaging in the
recommended action may also encourage audiences to undertake the action. A team needs
to be consistently mindful of efficacy because one can get carried away with the aesthetics
of designing messages and forget about spurring audiences to act.

SU2-42
COM388 Developing Messages for a Campaign

2.2.2 Ethics
Emotions

A team also needs to consider if the campaign messages are ethical. For example, a
team should reflect upon whether or not they went too far with their use of emotional
appeal. For instance, was there excessive guilt tripping? Will it likely be perceived as an
underhand tactic? Was there excessive use of melancholy? Emotional appeals should stir
up your audiences, but such appeals should not be used in an exploiting fashion.

Imagery

A team needs to think about the use of vivid imagery. As certain degree of professionalism
is expected of a campaign, the use of images such as sexual images will be frowned upon.
Although suggestive sexual themes may work well for normal advertising purposes, they
usually do not bode well for campaigns. Besides, the use of sexual themes is ethically
questionable. Some may argue that sexual themes may be relevant for a campaign – for
instance, in campaigns encouraging reproduction (yes, we did have that in Singapore for
a while). However, such campaigns do not need to step out of line and introduce sexually-
suggestive imagery; there can always be clever alternatives. In general, the rule-of-thumb
is that campaigns should not involve suggestive sexual imagery.

SU2-43
COM388 Developing Messages for a Campaign

Figure 2.15 A Singapore reproduction campaign

The other imagery of concern is disturbing scenes. Vivid imagery can rouse up an
audience, but a team needs to consider if the depictions are too vivid. There was once
an American campaign video that showed a lengthy depiction of a car-crash due to text-
driving. The scene involved many special effects, from shattering glass windows to the
girls in the car getting fatally injured in slow-motion. After that gruesome scene, the video
carried on, this time with the surviving passenger wailing over her dead friends. The
wailing continued for a long while and realistically, too. Before this juncture, the viewer
would have long understood the campaign message, which begs the question: were those
scenes excessive and superfluous? Were they needed for the message to really “sink in”?
A campaign team would need wisdom and discernment in managing the right amount
of vividness in campaign videos. And, importantly, the team would need to get feedback
from audiences regarding the appropriateness of the messages. This process of getting

SU2-44
COM388 Developing Messages for a Campaign

feedback is done through the pre-testing of draft messages, which will be discussed in the
subsequent chapter.

Targeting vulnerable populations

One also needs to consider the extent to which a campaign is targeting vulnerable
populations. Vulnerable populations may be children, people with disabilities, or people
with serious disease/illnesses. Such individuals may not be able to independently
discern and respond to messages, or they may be so ill that messages would burden
them. For example, it may not be ethical if campaign messages that target children
incorporate subtle references, because children may not be able to detect and discern those
subtle references. Also, children may not be able to independently respond to campaign
messages; eventually, children would have to turn to their parents to support a campaign.
Therefore, it is contentious whether children should ever be a target audience.

Copyright issues

As a student, you should be well-acquainted with the term “plagiarism”, which refers to
the act of taking someone else’s work without crediting the original author(s). Designing
campaign messages also operates within the same code of ethics – one should not steal
designs or concepts from other sources. Therefore, campaign messages should be original.
Not only is the stealing of designs and concepts a breach on ethics, it could potentially put
one in trouble if there is a violation of copyrights. Besides, one should strive for novelty
in designing stimulating campaign messages. Moreover, if a member of the audience
realises that there is copyright infringement, the reputation and credibility of the team
and its future campaigns may be jeopardised. Simply put, one should not plagiarise when
designing campaign messages.

SU2-45
COM388 Developing Messages for a Campaign

2.3 Pre-Test Draft Messages

When a team has finished designing campaign messages, the messages can only be
considered drafts and not the finished product. Like all drafts, revisions are required. Pre-
tests allows a team to identify what aspects should be revised. According to Mattson and
Lam (2016), pre-testing involves giving a small group of people a first-look at campaign
messages and getting their feedback on those messages. That is to say, the campaign
messages will go through some alpha-testing before being distributed to target audiences.

2.3.1 How to Conduct Pre-Testing?

The small group is essentially identical to a focus group, both in terms of the size and
the processes. The people in the small group are selected by the campaign team, which –
similar to a focus group – should be reflective of the demographic of the target audiences.
Just like in a focus group, a member of the campaign team will facilitate the small group
in appraising which messages and/or message elements work and which do not.

Although there is no hard-and-fast rule on how to let participants view the messages, the
draft messages should be the completed article, or at least 90% close to being completed.
For example, if the message will be in the form of an interactive mobile app, the draft
version cannot be, say, PowerPoint slides of how the app will be like. In this scenario, only
the appearance of the app is pre-tested, but the important element of interactivity is not
pre-tested; critical aspects such as user-friendliness, interface, and quality of interactivity
are not addressed.

Sometimes, a message needs to be a completed article – not simply 90% completed – in

order to be pre-tested. Videos are an example of this. One cannot pre-test an incomplete
video because later additions or cuts may have ramifications on how audiences perceive
the video message.

The important question to address is: “Were the communication objectives met?” (see
Brown, Lindenberger, & Bryant, 2008). This may involve asking pre-test participants if

SU2-46
COM388 Developing Messages for a Campaign

the messages are understandable, appealing, relevant, culturally appropriate, credible,

efficacious and, ultimately, acceptable and persuasive.

Similar to focus groups, pre-testing will continue with different groups of people until the
team is confident that further sessions will likely reproduce the same kind of responses.
When members of the team feel they have a good sense of how target audiences will
respond, pre-testing will end.

After receiving the feedback, the team can work on tweaking the message’s aesthetics,
content, efficacy, appropriateness, interface, or user-friendliness accordingly. When the
revision is completed, ideally, pre-testing should be done again. However, if the
revisions were minor, pre-testing would not be required, and the team can proceed with
disseminating the campaign messages.

2.3.2 Why Pre-Test?

Pre-testing is important because it helps a team anticipate and prepare for the kind of
responses target audiences may have (Mattson & Lam, 2016). For example, if the pre-test
participants give feedback that the message arouses anger toward the campaign issue,
and that they want to post their angry feelings on social media, the team can anticipate
reactions on social media when the message is actually disseminated.

Pre-testing is also important because it helps a team to avoid costly errors (Brown et al.,
2008). For example, pre-test allows a team to identify and rectify aspects of a message
that may be potentially confusing for audiences. Correcting a message only after it has
been disseminated may be laborious and financially draining, and the confusion it causes
among audience may tarnish the team’s credibility.

Pre-test does have some downsides, although it should be noted that the advantages far
exceed these downsides. Below is a table showing the pros and cons of pre-testing.

SU2-47
COM388 Developing Messages for a Campaign

Table 2.1 Pros & cons of pretesting

Pros Cons

• Prevents costly errors • Time spent may be seen as

• Allows a team to anticipate and “wasteful” as one can theoretically
prepare for potential responses proceed with a campaign
from target audiences. straightaway.

• Circumvents the consequences • May not be able to capture

of bad/confusing messages, such everyone’s potential response.
as angry responses, tarnishing • Pre-testing – like focus groups –
of team’s credibility and future can be mentally and physically
campaign efforts, etc. taxing for the facilitator. Sufficient
• Circumvents the laborious and manpower to conduct pre-testing
financially draining task of is thus advised.
correcting messages when it has
already been disseminated.

Lesson Recording

Efficacy, Ethics, and Pre-testing

SU2-48
COM388 Developing Messages for a Campaign

Summary

Designing campaign messages is the most fun and important part of the campaign
planning process – fun, because one can creatively express ideas; important because
these messages will be instrumental in winning support for the campaign movement.
Messages should be (1) stimulating, (2) motivational, (3) eliminating barriers, (4) culturally
consistent, and (5) within the resource capabilities of the team. There are also numerous
aspects to take into account when designing messages, such as the marketing mix
strategy – which includes the four p’s (product, price, promotion, and placement), efficacy
considerations, and ethical issues. After the messages have been crafted, pre-testing
should be conducted so that the messages can be fine-tuned. When all these are completed,
the messages will be disseminated.

SU2-49
COM388 Developing Messages for a Campaign

Formative Assessment

1. Which of the following is not one of the five aspects to developing persuasive
campaign messages?
a. Stimulating
b. Eliminating barriers
c. Resource contingent
d. Constituent involving

2. You designed a campaign video that showed the ill effects of smoking. However,
audiences who watched the video became very frightened and disinterested in the
campaign. The video likely had:
a. High fear appeals, high efficacy appeals
b. High fear appeals, low efficacy appeals
c. Low fear appeals, low efficacy appeals
d. Low fear appeals, high efficacy appeals

3. How may a guilt appeal be more effective?

a. Include celebrities in the appeal
b. Introduce more guilt-inducing messages
c. Introduce anger-inducing messages
d. Increase the duration of a video

4. Your campaign is against drunk-driving. Which of the following is an example of

effective use of visual/audio technique?
a. Include a stunning view of New Zealand in the backdrop
b. Show vivid imagery of smoking consequences
c. Having a signature campaign music
d. Show very vivid imagery of a driver dying from a crash

SU2-50
COM388 Developing Messages for a Campaign

5. Campaign messages can be motivational by introducing these two aspects:

a. Susceptibility and self-disclosure
b. Susceptibility and dissonance
c. Severity and self-disclosure
d. Severity and dissonance

6. Anxiety, discomfort, and stress are all examples of __________.

a. Internal barriers
b. External barriers
c. Internal resistance
d. External resistance

7. Which of the following is not one of the five approaches to integrate culture into
messages?
a. Peripheral
b. Linguistic
c. Constituent-involving
d. Racial profiling

8. You use data showing the number of Malays in a community who have diabetes.
What approach is this?
a. Peripheral
b. Statistical
c. Evidential
d. Constituent-involving

9. Which of the following should be taken into account when considering resource
capabilities?
a. Time

SU2-51
COM388 Developing Messages for a Campaign

b. Money
c. Communication and organization skills
d. Time, money, communication and organization skills

10. What is the marketing mix?

a. The use of marketing strategies for the objective of increasing purchasing intent
b. The use of marketing strategies for the objective of generating social action
c. The use of mixed-disciplinary strategies for the objective of generating social
action
d. The use of mixed-disciplinary strategies for the objective of increasing
purchasing intent

11. Some of your audiences would rather go on a holiday at the beach than support your
campaign event. Which aspect of the marketing mix addresses this?
a. Product
b. Price
c. Place
d. Promotion

12. How many social media outlets should one use for promoting a campaign?
a. As many as possible
b. Focus just on one
c. Just use Facebook
d. Depends on resources available and necessity

13. The act of showing token displays of support on social media is known as:
a. Shadow support
b. Fake support
c. Slacktivism
d. Online inconsistency

SU2-52
COM388 Developing Messages for a Campaign

14. When campaign messages use sexual themes, __________ may be called into
question.
a. Efficacy
b. Ethics
c. Emotions
d. Copyright

15. Which of the following is not a benefit of pretesting?

a. Prevents costly errors
b. May not be able to capture everyone’s potential response
c. Circumvents consequences of confusing messages
d. Allows a team to anticipate responses

SU2-53
COM388 Developing Messages for a Campaign

Solutions or Suggested Answers

Activity 2.4

Some of the visual and audio techniques include:

Visual:

• The use of colour commonly associated with horror films (i.e., green, black)
• Expressions of horror - Vivid imagery of a pile of rubbish
• Big-font words to strike home the message

Audio:

• Escalating background music

• Scary-sounding music, especially at the start

Activity 2.5

Below is just one of many possible answers:

For Singaporeans, an internal barrier may be the fear of incriminating behaviour. The
reason for this fear may be due to the historical and political contexts in Singapore. Also, it
may be a cultural upbringing, such as how “defiance” is often dealt with in public schools.

For Singaporeans, an external barrier may be monetary costs. The reason for this barrier
may be due to the cultural context – perhaps Singaporeans value and prioritise spending
on other things (e.g., buying a house, paying for university, paying for children’s
expenditures). Or, perhaps the cost of living is very high for many Singaporeans and,
therefore, they do not want to spend for the purposes of a campaign.

SU2-54
COM388 Developing Messages for a Campaign

Activity 2.8

There are multiple possible answers to this activity. Below is one possible answer:

Perhaps watches with a tracking function are a trendy fashion among Singaporeans – a
social status symbol, quite like the iPhone. Therefore, it is not to say that Singaporeans
do not prefer convening at a physical site to exercise. Rather, this non-physical channel
appealed to the needs and preferences of Singaporeans (i.e., trendy, popular, social status).

Formative Assessment
1. Which of the following is not one of the five aspects to developing persuasive
campaign messages?
a. Stimulating
Incorrect. This is one of the five aspects. Refer to Study Unit 2.

b. Eliminating barriers
Incorrect. This is one of the five aspects. Refer to Study Unit 2.

c. Resource contingent
Incorrect. This is one of the five aspects. Refer to Study Unit 2.

d. Constituent involving
Correct. This is not one of the five aspects. Refer to Study Unit 2.

2. You designed a campaign video that showed the ill effects of smoking. However,
audiences who watched the video became very frightened and disinterested in the
campaign. The video likely had:
a. High fear appeals, high efficacy appeals
Incorrect. This may in fact lead to participation in campaigns. Refer to Study
Unit 2.

SU2-55
COM388 Developing Messages for a Campaign

b. High fear appeals, low efficacy appeals

Correct. Too much fright and too few recommended solutions may lead to
backlash effects. Refer to Study Unit 2.

c. Low fear appeals, low efficacy appeals

Incorrect. Audiences were frightened, therefore fear appeals were likely high.
Refer to Study Unit 2.

d. Low fear appeals, high efficacy appeals

Incorrect. Audiences were frightened, therefore fear appeals were likely high.
Refer to Study Unit 2.

3. How may a guilt appeal be more effective?

a. Include celebrities in the appeal
Correct. Celebrities may help enhance credibility, which in turn helps guilt
appeals become more effective. Refer to Study Unit 2.

b. Introduce more guilt-inducing messages

Incorrect. Too much guilt may lead to backlash effects. Refer to Study Unit 2.

c. Introduce anger-inducing messages

Incorrect. Anger-inducing messages are for anger appeals. Refer to Study
Unit 2.

d. Increase the duration of a video

Incorrect. Duration may not have any relation with guilt appeal’s
effectiveness. Refer to Study Unit 2.

4. Your campaign is against drunk-driving. Which of the following is an example of

effective use of visual/audio technique?
a. Include a stunning view of New Zealand in the backdrop
Incorrect. The stunning view may distract audiences. Refer to Study Unit 2.

SU2-56
COM388 Developing Messages for a Campaign

b. Show vivid imagery of smoking consequences

Incorrect. Smoking is irrelevant to the campaign issue of drunk-driving.
Refer to Study Unit 2.

c. Having a signature campaign music

Correct. This may help audiences remember your campaign brand in
future projects. Refer to Study Unit 2.

d. Show very vivid imagery of a driver dying from a crash

Incorrect. Overdoing vividness may frighten the audience. Refer to Study
Unit 2.

5. Campaign messages can be motivational by introducing these two aspects:

a. Susceptibility and self-disclosure
Correct. A combination of these two may motivate audiences to take action.
Refer to Study Unit 2.

b. Susceptibility and dissonance

Incorrect. You want audiences to be motivated by making them feel
vulnerable and by having someone share information to them. Refer to Study
Unit 2.

c. Severity and self-disclosure

Incorrect. You want audiences to be motivated by making them feel
vulnerable and by having someone share information to them. Refer to Study
Unit 2.

d. Severity and dissonance

Incorrect. You want audiences to be motivated by making them feel
vulnerable and by having someone share information to them. Refer to Study
Unit 2.

6. Anxiety, discomfort, and stress are all examples of __________.

SU2-57
COM388 Developing Messages for a Campaign

a. Internal barriers
Correct. Internal barriers are constraints/disturbances within an
individual. Refer to Study Unit 2.

b. External barriers
Incorrect. These feelings occur from the inside of an individual and are
stumbling blocks. Refer to Study Unit 2.

c. Internal resistance
Incorrect. These feelings occur from the inside of an individual and are
stumbling blocks. Refer to Study Unit 2.

d. External resistance
Incorrect. These feelings occur from the inside of an individual and are
stumbling blocks. Refer to Study Unit 2.

7. Which of the following is not one of the five approaches to integrate culture into
messages?
a. Peripheral
Incorrect. This is one of the five approaches. Refer to Study Unit 2.

b. Linguistic
Incorrect. This is one of the five approaches. Refer to Study Unit 2.

c. Constituent-involving
Incorrect. This is one of the five approaches. Refer to Study Unit 2.

d. Racial profiling
Correct. Integrating culture into messages should not involve stereotype
or biases. Refer to Study Unit 2.

8. You use data showing the number of Malays in a community who have diabetes.
What approach is this?

SU2-58
COM388 Developing Messages for a Campaign

a. Peripheral
Incorrect. Peripheral is another approach. Refer to Study Unit 2.

b. Statistical
Incorrect. It is statistical, but that is not the name of the approach. Refer to
Study Unit 2.

c. Evidential
Correct. The evidential approach uses statistics that describe a specific
cultural group. Refer to Study Unit 2.

d. Constituent-involving
Incorrect. Constituent-involving is another approach. Refer to Study Unit 2.

9. Which of the following should be taken into account when considering resource
capabilities?
a. Time
Incorrect. Important, but there are more. Refer to Study Unit 2.

b. Money
Incorrect. Important, but there are more. Refer to Study Unit 2.

c. Communication and organization skills

Incorrect. Important, but there are more. Refer to Study Unit 2.

d. Time, money, communication and organization skills

Correct. All three are essential to consider when developing messages.
Refer to Study Unit 2.

10. What is the marketing mix?

a. The use of marketing strategies for the objective of increasing purchasing
intent

SU2-59
COM388 Developing Messages for a Campaign

Incorrect. Marketing mix has a social agenda, not necessarily business. Refer
to Study Unit 2.

b. The use of marketing strategies for the objective of generating social action
Correct. Marketing mix uses the four P’s to generate social action. Refer to
Study Unit 2.

c. The use of mixed-disciplinary strategies for the objective of generating social

action
Incorrect. Marketing mix uses only marketing strategies. Refer to Study Unit
2.

d. The use of mixed-disciplinary strategies for the objective of increasing

purchasing intent
Incorrect. Marketing mix uses only marketing strategies, and has a social
agenda. Refer to Study Unit 2.

11. Some of your audiences would rather go on a holiday at the beach than support your
campaign event. Which aspect of the marketing mix addresses this?
a. Product
Incorrect. The issue is about opportunity cost. Refer to Study Unit 2.

b. Price
Correct. The issue is about opportunity cost. Refer to Study Unit 2.

c. Place
Incorrect. The issue is about opportunity cost. Refer to Study Unit 2.

d. Promotion
Incorrect. The issue is about opportunity cost. Refer to Study Unit 2.

12. How many social media outlets should one use for promoting a campaign?
a. As many as possible

SU2-60
COM388 Developing Messages for a Campaign

Incorrect. One should think if it is necessary to have that many, and if

resources can cope with that many. Refer to Study Unit 2.

b. Focus just on one

Incorrect. Sometimes more might be better, especially for reaching out to
more audiences. Refer to Study Unit 2.

c. Just use Facebook

Incorrect. One should not limit the campaign to just one outlet. Refer to Study
Unit 2.

d. Depends on resources available and necessity

Correct. Do not stretch your team members too thin. Use an achievable and
effective number of outlets. Refer to Study Unit 2.

13. The act of showing token displays of support on social media is known as:
a. Shadow support
Incorrect. The name is more interesting, actually. Refer to Study Unit 2

b. Fake support
Incorrect. Yes, the support may be fake, but that is not what it is called. Refer
to Study Unit 2

c. Slacktivism
Correct. Having a lot of “likes” may not necessarily translate into
supportive action. Refer to Study Unit 2.

d. Online inconsistency
Incorrect. The behavior is inconsistent, but that is not what it is called. Refer
to Study Unit 2..

14. When campaign messages use sexual themes, __________ may be called into
question.

SU2-61
COM388 Developing Messages for a Campaign

a. Efficacy
Incorrect. Efficacy refers to confidence in undertaking a task. Refer to Study
Unit 2.

b. Ethics
Correct. Ethics may be violated when sexual themes are used just so to
catch audiences’ attention. Refer to Study Unit 2.

c. Emotions
Incorrect. Unless they make you cry – but no, emotions refer to feelings. Refer
to Study Unit 2.

d. Copyright
Incorrect. Copyright refers to taking somebody else’s work. Refer to Study
Unit 2.

15. Which of the following is not a benefit of pretesting?

a. Prevents costly errors
Incorrect. This is one of the benefits. Refer to Study Unit 2.

b. May not be able to capture everyone’s potential response

Correct. This is a big world, so pretesting may miss out some potential
response. Refer to Study Unit 2.

c. Circumvents consequences of confusing messages

Incorrect. This is one of the benefits. Refer to Study Unit 2.

d. Allows a team to anticipate responses

Incorrect. This is one of the benefits. Refer to Study Unit 2.

SU2-62
COM388 Developing Messages for a Campaign

References

Allison, K. R., Dwyer, J. J., & Makin, S. (1999). Self-efficacy and participation in vigorous

physical activity by high school students. Health Education & Behavior, 26(1),

12-24.
https://doi.org/10.1177/109019819902600103
Appiah, O. (2006). Rich media, poor media: The Impact of audio/video vs. text/picture

testimonial ads on browsers' evaluations of commercial web sites and online

products. Journal of Current Issues & Research in Advertising (CTC Press), 28(1),

73-86.
https://doi.org/10.1080/10641734.2006.10505192

Banbury, S. P., Macken, W. J., Tremblay, S., & Jones, D. M. (2001). Auditory distraction

and short-term memory: Phenomena and practical implications. Human Factors:

The Journal of the Human Factors and Ergonomics Society, 43(1), 12-29.

https://doi.org/10.1518/001872001775992462

Bradley, M. M., Greenwald, M. K., Petry, M. C., & Lang, P. J. (1992). Remembering

pictures: pleasure and arousal in memory. Journal of Experimental Psychology:

Learning, Memory, and Cognition, 18(2), 379-390.

Bradley, M. M., & Lang, P. J. (2000). Affective reactions to acoustic stimuli.

Psychophysiology, 37(2), 204-215.

https://doi.org/10.1111/1469-8986.3720204
Brady, H. E., Verba, S., & Schlozman, K. L. (1995). Beyond SES: A resource model of

political participation. The American Political Science Review, 89(2), 271-294.

Retrieved from http://www.apsanet.org/

Brown, K. M., Lindenberger, J. H., & Bryant, C. A. (2008). Using pretesting to ensure

your messages and materials are on strategy. Health Promotion Practice, 9(2),

116-122.

SU2-63
COM388 Developing Messages for a Campaign

https://doi.org/10.1177/1524839908315134

Burch, E. E., & Henry, W. R. (1974). Opportunity and incremental cost: Attempt to define

in systems terms: A comment. Accounting Review, 49(1), 118-123. Retrieved from

http://aaahq.org/

Caers, R., De Feyter, T., De Couck, M., Stough, T., Vigna, C., & Du Bois, C. (2013).

Facebook: A literature review. New Media & Society, 15(6), 982-1002.

https://doi.org/10.1177/1461444813488061
Chan, A. H., & Courtney, A. J. (2001). Color associations for Hong Kong Chinese.

International Journal of Industrial Ergonomics, 28(3), 165-170.

https://doi.org/10.1016/S0169-8141(01)00029-4

Collins, N. L., & Miller, L. C. (1994). Self-disclosure and liking: a meta-analytic review.

Psychological bulletin, 116(3), 457-475.

https://doi.org/10.1037/0033-2909.116.3.457

Coulter, R. H., Cotte, J., & Moore, M. L. (1999). Believe it or not: Persuasion,

manipulation and credibility of guilt appeals. Advances in Consumer Research,

26(1), 288-294. Retrieved from http://www.acrweb.org/

Earl, J. (2006). Pursuing social change online: The use of four protest tactics on the

Internet. Social Science Computer Review, 24(3), 362-377.

https://doi.org/10.1177/0894439305284627

Farrelly, M. C., Hussin, A., & Bauer, U. E. (2007). Effectiveness and cost effectiveness of

television, radio and print advertisements in promoting the New York smokers’

quitline. Tobacco Control, 16(Suppl 1), i21-i23.

https://doi.org/10.1136/tc.2007.019984

Gregrich, R. J. (2003). A note to researchers: communicating science to policy makers

and practitioners. Journal of Substance Abuse Treatment, 25(3), 233-237.

https://doi.org/10.1016/S0740-5472(03)00120-X

SU2-64
COM388 Developing Messages for a Campaign

Guttman, N., & Salmon, C. T. (2004). Guilt, fear, stigma and knowledge gaps: Ethical

issues in public health communication interventions. Bioethics, 18(6), 531-552.

https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1467-8519.2004.00415.x

Han, H. C. (2009). Does the content of political appeals matter in motivating

participation? A field experiment on self-disclosure in political appeals. Political

Behavior, 31(1), 103-116.

https://doi.org/10.1007/s11109-008-9066-9

Hawkins, R. P., Kreuter, M., Resnicow, K., Fishbein, M., & Dijkstra, A. (2008).

Understanding tailoring in communicating about health. Health Education

Research, 23(3), 454-466.

https://doi.org/10.1093/her/cyn004

Junco, R., Elavsky, C. M., & Heiberger, G. (2013). Putting twitter to the test: Assessing

outcomes for student collaboration, engagement and success. British Journal of

Educational Technology, 44(2), 273-287.

https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1467-8535.2012.01284.x

Kotler, P., & Zaltman, G. (1971). Social marketing: An approach to planned social

change. Journal of Marketing, 35(3), 3-12. Retrieved from http://www.jstor.org/

stable/1249783

Kreuter, M. W., & Haughton, L. T. (2006). Integrating culture into health information for

African American women. American Behavioral Scientist, 49(6), 794-811.

https://doi.org/10.1177/0002764205283801

Kreuter, M. W., Lukwago, S. N., Bucholtz, D. C., Clark, E. M., & Sanders-Thompson,

V. (2003). Achieving cultural appropriateness in health promotion programs:

Targeted and tailored approaches. Health Education & Behavior, 30(2), 133-146.

https://doi.org/10.1177/1090198102251021

SU2-65
COM388 Developing Messages for a Campaign

Kristofferson, K., White, K., & Peloza, J. (2014). The nature of slacktivism: How the social

observability of an initial act of token support affects subsequent prosocial action.

Journal of Consumer Research, 40(6), 1149-1166.

https://doi.org/10.1086/674137

Kugler, K., & Jones, W. H. (1992). On conceptualizing and assessing guilt. Journal of

Personality and Social Psychology, 62(2), 318-327.

https://doi.org/10.1037/0022-3514.62.2.318

Lang, A., Dhillon, K., & Dong, Q. (1995). The effects of emotional arousal and valence

on television viewers’ cognitive capacity and memory. Journal of Broadcasting &

Electronic Media, 39(3), 313-327.

https://doi.org/10.1080/08838159509364309

Leuthesser, L., Kohli, C. S., & Harich, K. R. (1995). Brand equity: The halo effect measure.

European Journal of Marketing, 29(4), 57-66.

https://doi.org/10.1108/03090569510086657

Mattson, M., & Lam, C. (2016). Health Advocacy : A Communication Approach. Manhattan,

NY: Peter Lang.

Morgan, S. E., Harrison, T. R., Afifi, W. A., Long, S. D., & Stephenson, M. T. (2008). In

their own words: The reasons why people will (not) sign an organ donor card.

Health Communication, 23(1), 23-33.

https://doi.org/10.1080/10410230701805158

Morozov, E. (2012). The net delusion: The dark side of Internet freedom. New York:

PublicAffairs.

Nabi, R. L. (1999). A cognitive-functional model for the effects of discrete negative

emotions on information processing, attitude change, and recall. Communication

Theory, 9(3), 292-320.

https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1468-2885.1999.tb00172.x

SU2-66
COM388 Developing Messages for a Campaign

O’Keefe, D. J. (2002). Guilt as a mechanism of persuasion. In J. P. Dillard, & M. Pfau

(Eds.), The persuasion handbook: Developments in theory and practice (pp. 329-344).

Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.

Ou, L. C., Luo, M. R., Woodcock, A., & Wright, A. (2004). A study of colour emotion and

colour preference. Part I: Colour emotions for single colours. Color Research &

Application, 29(3), 232-240.

https://doi.org/10.1002/col.20010

Panagiotopoulos, P., Sams, S., Elliman, T., & Fitzgerald, G. (2011). Do social networking

groups support online petitions? Transforming Government: People, Process and

Policy, 5(1), 20-31.

https://doi.org/10.1108/17506161111114626

Petty, R. E., & Cacioppo, J. T. (1984). The effects of involvement on responses to

argument quantity and quality: Central and peripheral routes to persuasion.

Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 46(1), 69-81.

https://doi.org/10.1037/0022-3514.46.1.69

Potter, R. F. (2000). The effects of voice changes on orienting and immediate cognitive

overload in radio listeners. Media Psychology, 2(2), 147-177.

https://doi.org/10.1207/S1532785XMEP0202_3

Race Against Racism. (n.d.).

Ravaja, N. (2004). Effects of image motion on a small screen on emotion, attention, and

memory: Moving-face versus static-face newscaster. Journal of Broadcasting &

Electronic Media, 48(1), 108-133.

Rodero, E. (2012). See it on a radio story: Sound Effects and Shots to Evoked Imagery

and Attention on Audio Fiction. Communication Research, 39(4), 458-479.

https://doi.org/10.1177/0093650210386947

Ruiter, R. A., Abraham, C., & Kok, G. (2001). Scary warnings and rational precautions: A

review of the psychology of fear appeals. Psychology and Health, 16(6), 613-630.

SU2-67
COM388 Developing Messages for a Campaign

Smith, S. M., & Shaffer, D. R. (2000). Vividness can undermine or enhance message

processing: The moderating role of vividness congruency. Personality and Social

Psychology Bulletin, 26(7), 769-779.

https://doi.org/10.1177/0146167200269003

Turner, M. M. (2007). Using emotion in risk communication: The anger activism model.

Public Relations Review, 33(2), 114-119.

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.pubrev.2006.11.013

Verhaeghen, P., Aikman, S. N., & Van Gulick, A. E. (2011). Prime and prejudice: Co-

occurrence in the culture as a source of automatic stereotype priming. British

Journal of Social Psychology, 50(3), 501-518.

https://doi.org/10.1348/014466610X524254

Witte, K., & Allen, M. (2000). A meta-analysis of fear appeals: Implications for effective

public health campaigns. Health Education & Behavior, 27(5), 591-615.

https://doi.org/10.1177/109019810002700506

Witte, K. (1994). Fear control and danger control: A test of the extended parallel process

model (EPPM). Communications Monographs, 61(2), 113-134.

https://doi.org/10.1080/03637759409376328

SU2-68
 3
Study
Unit

Executing a Campaign
COM388 Executing a Campaign

Learning Outcomes

By the end of this unit, you will be able to:

1. Discuss the pros and cons of distributing campaign messages via traditional
media
2. Discuss the pros and cons of distributing campaign messages via new media
3. Assess the necessity of various media platforms for a communication campaign
4. Assess which media are most suitable for a particular communication campaign
5. Assess (find out) the best timing cycles for distributing messages for relevant
populations, media organizations, and policymakers
6. Assess (find out) the legalities that may stymie a campaign effort
7. Discuss the ways a team can track and monitor message effectiveness
8. Discuss how the team operates like a dynamic system (system theory) in regard
to getting feedback
9. Discuss the possible negative responses to a campaign
10. Discuss geographical and demographical differences that should be considered
during revision of messages
11. Discuss the channels and strategies for reporting campaign progress or outcome
12. Identify the key processes that need to be repeated for another round of
campaign

SU3-2
COM388 Executing a Campaign

Overview

I n this Study Unit, we will look at the end stages of the campaign process, including
determining the channel(s) for disseminating campaign messages, making sure
there are no legal blunders, tracking and monitoring the campaign progress, and revising,
reporting, or repeating the campaign as necessary.

SU3-3
COM388 Executing a Campaign

Chapter 1: Choice of Media: Traditional Versus New

Media in Campaigns

After designing the campaign messages, your team is ready to disseminate those
messages to the target audiences. The question is: “Through which channels will your
team disseminate those messages?” This question may have been addressed during the
marketing mix phase; nonetheless, a more in-depth discussion on this topic would be
helpful. We now look at the traditional and new media that can be used in campaigns, the
respective advantages and disadvantages, and the considerations involved in deciding
which media would work best for a campaign.

1.1 Traditional Media in Campaigns

Traditional media refer to information-distribution channels before the era of the Internet.
Thus, traditional media includes the radio, television (TV), print newspapers, magazines,
poster ads, and pamphlets. Although the advent of the Internet-age brought huge
advances to how one can distribute information to the masses, traditional media are
still useful for mass communication. As discussed in the previous Study Unit, ideally,
one could persuade traditional media organisations to publicise a campaign pro bono.
Alternatively, one could pay for the publicity. In this section, we turn our focus on the
media itself, and discuss how various traditional media can be used for a campaign. Radio
The radio has been around for a very long time, with an inception dating as far back as
the early twentieth century (Barboutis, 2013). Despite facing challenges from newer media
(Albarran et al., 2007), the radio industry still has many listeners. For example, many
people listen to the radio when they drive a car (Dibben & Williamson, 2007). Because the
radio is free, and because many people still listen to it out of habit and interest in music/
news, the radio still has considerable reach. For this reason, the radio is a good option to
publicise a campaign to the masses in a short amount of time and with little effort.

SU3-4
COM388 Executing a Campaign

Figure 3.1 The radio

Furthermore, the radio is segmented into various categories, which can be helpful for
a campaign in targeting specific audiences. For example, in Singapore, 9.87FM caters to
current English dance/pop songs, 90.5FM specialises in classic/old-school English songs,
and 93.3FM is exclusively for Chinese songs. Their listeners, therefore, are segmented
into particular demographics. For instance, the listeners of 93.3FM are likely Mandarin-
speaking individuals, while 98.7FM may appeal more to English-speaking youths and
90.5FM may appeal to older English-speaking adults. This grouping is an estimate – to
be sure, not every listener falls into those categories – but it should be rather reflective
of the listener demographic. With the segmentations in mind, a radio can be useful
for distributing campaign messages to a particular group of listeners. For example, if
the campaign is targeting English-speaking youths, 98.7FM may be a good choice to
disseminate campaign messages. Put in another way, radio stations are already segmented
for targeted communication – a ready-filtered channel for your campaign purposes.

SU3-5
COM388 Executing a Campaign

Activity 3.1

Which radio station do you think would be ideal for your campaign? For this activity,
pick two radio stations and compare them. Search online for information on the
following: -

• Who are the main listeners of these two radio stations?

• Which radio station has greater listenership?
• How much does it cost to advertise on either radio station?

After assessing the above, select the radio station you think would be ideal for your
campaign and explain your choice.

Television (TV)

Similar to the radio, television (TV) has been around for a long time, with an origin
dating back to the early twentieth century (see McQuail, 2010). There are many different
television genres including news, soap operas, reality shows, talk shows, and crime
dramas (see Shim & Paul, 2007). These genres continuously expand and shrink over time.
Sometimes, an experimental genre pops up and becomes popular, while at other times,
old genres lose popularity and become phased out. The TV can be used for the purposes of
publicising a campaign. Similar to the radio, TV programs are segmented into categories
(i.e., genres), and audiences are also likely segmented into particular demographics as
well. For example, individuals who tune in regularly to the Discovery channel may
likely be English-speaking and have high cognitive needs. Campaign messages that
are cognitively-stimulating (e.g., with well-grounded arguments) may thus be more
appealing to these audiences. On the other hand, individuals who watch a channel
dedicated to, say, action movies may watch TV for purposes of escapism and relaxation.
These audiences may not pay attention to cognitively-stimulating campaign messages,

SU3-6
COM388 Executing a Campaign

but may prefer action-oriented and stimulating messages. The TV is useful for publicising
a campaign, and particularly useful for targeting specific audiences.

Figure 3.2 TV remains a popular household item

Out of all the TV genres, news is perhaps the most appropriate and effective genre to
publicise a campaign. This is because TV news may help convey a sense of legitimacy,
seriousness, and urgency regarding a campaign (see Wallack & Dorfman, 1996). For
other TV genres such as, say, crime dramas, a campaign can only be presented during
advertisements; however, for TV news, a campaign can be presented as part of news
content. That is to say, if a campaign is deemed sufficiently relevant and newsworthy, a TV
news program may report about the campaign. For example, a hypothetical “Singapore
Against Cancer” advocacy effort may be deemed relevant because it concerns the locals
(i.e., Singaporeans) and is newsworthy because the issue is significant (i.e., about cancer).
Of note here is that relevancy and newsworthiness is a perception that can be altered. As

SU3-7
COM388 Executing a Campaign

a campaign planner, you can persuade news organisations that your campaign is indeed
relevant and newsworthy.

Activity 3.2

Do you have a favorite TV show? Perhaps it is a sports programme, or a Korean

drama? Well, time for you to find out the things that go on behind the scenes!

Select one TV show that you like or that you think is popular, and find out: -

• Which cable company owns the right to broadcast the show?

• What is the average viewership for the show?
• What are the demographics of the viewers?
• How much does it cost to advertise in-between segments of the show?

After finding the answers to the above questions, discuss whether advertising a
campaign during the show is worth it.

Print newspapers

Print newspapers share a lot in common with the above-mentioned TV news. The
difference is, of course, in the mode of delivery (i.e., print versus cable). Newspapers
differ in editing priorities and styles – some prefer a more objective approach to reporting
news while others prefer using more sensationalistic approaches (e.g., dramatised
headlines and vivid pictures). Newspapers also differ in their stringency with editorial
decisions. Some newspapers, for example, report stories that are low in relevance and
importance, but are entertaining to read (e.g., celebrity gossip, neighbors quarrelling, etc.).
Consequently, these newspapers may compromise on their credibility and legitimacy.
While it is easy for a campaign to be featured in such newspapers, one must consider how
the campaign’s credibility and legitimacy may be affected because of the newspapers’
reputation.

SU3-8
COM388 Executing a Campaign

Figure 3.3 The Straits Times, one of the most popular newspapers in Singapore

A campaign can be publicised in newspapers as reported news or as advertisements.

Similar to the radio and TV, newspapers also have segmented audiences, albeit to a lesser
extent particularly in the context of Singapore. Here in Singapore, the segmentation is
largely language-based: Lianhe Zaobao for those proficient in Mandarin, The Straits Times
for those proficient in English, and Berita Harian for those who are proficient in Malay.
Such segmentation would be useful for a campaign targeting audiences based on ethnicity
or language spoken.

SU3-9
COM388 Executing a Campaign

Activity 3.3

Newspapers have different editorial priorities and styles. Pick two newspapers that
you think are very different and explain the differences.

Nowadays, it is not uncommon to find campaigns publicised in newspapers. These

campaigns range in terms of objectives: some have the aim of elevating health
awareness, some advocate for welfare, while others champion environmental causes.

From the two newspapers you selected, find in each newspaper a campaign
advertisement or a news report (they do not have to be the same campaign). Take a
picture of both and discuss: -

• How are the campaign advertisements/reports different?

• Are the campaign advertisements/reports reflective of the newspaper quality/
style?
• Are the campaign advertisements/reports located in good positions in the
newspapers? Do you think they will likely capture the attention of readers?
Why, or why not?
• In your opinion, which campaign advertisement/report will more likely
succeed in publicising the campaign effectively? Why?
• What improvements do you think can be made for the campaign
advertisements/reports?

Magazines

The inception of magazines began much earlier than the radio or the TV, dating all the way
back from the early eighteenth century (McQuail, 2010). Today, although the magazine
industry has been facing competition from more advanced platforms such as the Internet,
it still retains a considerable number of consumers (Guenther, 2011). A campaign can be

SU3-10
COM388 Executing a Campaign

publicised in a magazine as a featured article if it is relevant. The campaign can also be

publicised as an advertisement within the magazine, albeit for a costly fee. Similar to the
choice of newspapers, one must exercise discretion in deciding which magazines are best
for publicising a campaign. Some magazines have a more serious tone (e.g., Time, History,
etc.), while other magazines are more casual and focused on entertainment (e.g., Chloe,
Esquire, etc.). As a campaign planner, you would have to determine which magazines are
most relevant and appropriate for publicising your campaign.

Figure 3.4 Magazines under Singapore Press Holdings (SPH)

(Source: http://www.sphmagazines.com.sg/magazines)

Of course, magazines are catered to specific readers, and thus one can target specific
audiences via magazines. For example, Chloe caters to readers who are women;
FourFourTwo caters to those who like football; Time caters to those interested in political
happenings, and so on. A campaign planner will have to determine which magazine
would be best for reaching out to a specific audience.

SU3-11
COM388 Executing a Campaign

Activity 3.4

You may have read magazines many times before, but few know the business-
end of magazines. Usually, there will be information online regarding a magazine’s
readership and advertising costs. For this activity, search three magazines and find
out what is their number of readership and their advertising fees. Select the magazine
that you think would be ideal for publicising your campaign, and explain why you
made that choice.

Poster ads

A poster ad can catch the attention of many passersby, but two conditions are required
for this to occur: first, the poster needs to be positioned at a location where there is high
volume of human-traffic and where the poster is in a good line of vision. Second, the poster
should ideally be positioned without competing posters/messages around. Although
posters can potentially catch the attention of many passersby, it is questionable whether
the passersby actually process the information on the poster. This is especially true when
the passersby are walking in a hurry (e.g., peak hour at bus interchange) or distracted (e.g.,
using a phone, talking to friends, etc.). Whereas individuals are somewhat cognitively-
involved when listening to the radio or reading magazines, individuals will likely only
give posters a casual glance without putting much thought into it. Therefore, a campaign
poster will only have a small window of opportunity to impress onlookers to process the
information further. To achieve that, the campaign planner must design a very appealing
poster using the techniques described in Study Unit 2.

Despite the disadvantage that some passersby may not process information on a poster,
the use of posters remains an attractive option given its inexpensiveness. It would cost
approximately $100+ to produce a large colored poster measuring 4’ x 8’. Also, it takes a
very short amount of time to get posters produced, ranging from a few hours if you are in

SU3-12
COM388 Executing a Campaign

a hurry and willing to pay more for expedited printing, to 1-2 days for a normal printing
service. There are many poster printing services in Singapore. A popular hotspot is in
Queenstown, where several companies are located within the same complex (see below).

Figure 3.5 A printing hotspot at Queenstown

As much as one would like to merrily display posters everywhere, there are regulations
in Singapore that limit and control how and where posters can be displayed. For example,
putting up a poster in an area owned by the government or an organisation (e.g., bus
interchange, shopping mall, etc.) without permission is almost akin to vandalism – the
poster will be taken down at best, and you may receive an angry phone call at worst.
It is imperative, therefore, that the campaign planner (i.e., you) finds and contacts the
management-in-charge and obtains permission to display the posters.

To be sure, there are very few poster ads in recent times. What is more common now are
ads such as those found in trains and at bus stations. These ads are technically not posters,
but they serve the same function – the main difference is the material used. Sometimes,

SU3-13
COM388 Executing a Campaign

these ads can be large billboard images found at train stations or small illustrations found
inside a train. Publicising a campaign through such means can be a costly endeavor and,
similar to poster ads, it is questionable whether passersby actually process the message.

Activity 3.5

There are many poster advertisements in Singapore. You can find them at the MRT or
bus stations, in the train or bus, at the community centre, and so on. For this activity,
take a picture of one poster advertisement and explain why you think it is an effective
advertisement. Ideally, this poster advertisement should be related to a campaign.

Pamphlets

Pamphlets are like mini-posters – they serve the same purpose but in micro-fashion.
Pamphlets help publicise and provide information about a campaign to an individual.
Similar to posters, pamphlets can be produced quickly and inexpensively. Ideally, one
should distribute the pamphlets in areas where there is a high volume of human-traffic.
Alternatively, one can distribute pamphlets via mail, but that would involve additional
expenses. Unfortunately, from our own experiences, we know that pamphlets do not really
survive very long after distribution – they usually end up being thrown into the litter bin.
This is because the use of pamphlets is a hit-or-miss approach (mostly miss), with the hope
that an individual may find the pamphlet information relevant or interesting. Similar to
posters, the pamphlet only has a few seconds of opportunity to impress an individual that
the information warrants further attention. To achieve this, one should use the message
design strategies discussed in Study Unit 2.

SU3-14
COM388 Executing a Campaign

Figure 3.6 If you use pamphlets, be ready to fight with a lot of competing messages

A scenario where pamphlets are more likely to be retained by an individual is a campaign

event (e.g., roadshow, booth, etc.). This is because the individual, being a participant of the
event, is likely already interested (or somewhat interested) about the campaign. In such
a scenario, a pamphlet is exceptionally useful as it can provide participants with further
information about the campaign. Besides simply distributing the pamphlets during an
event, there are other subtler ways to distribute pamphlets – for example, by handing out
a pamphlet as accompaniment to a door gift (e.g., pen, water bottle, portable fan, etc.), or
by including a pamphlet in a goodie-bag.

SU3-15
COM388 Executing a Campaign

1.1.1 The Transformation of Traditional Media

Over the years, message designers have become rather creative in the way they
communicate information. For example, a message can be embedded as a tiny scroll
within a pen, to which the user can un-scroll and read its content. Some may embed
messages within games – for example, information can be printed on poker cards. The
benefit of such creative ways of communication is that the novelty may pique the interest
of individuals, leading them to process messages that they may otherwise ignore. Some
individuals may even retain messages because they want to keep the novelty item. The
downside is, of course, that the novelty item is so interesting that the embedded message
is relegated and ignored.

Figure 3.7 Interesting ways to promote messages

More significantly, the Internet era has greatly impacted traditional media, pushing it
to change in order to compete with other more advanced platforms. Because many

SU3-16
COM388 Executing a Campaign

entertainment and educational resources are available conveniently and for free online,
traditional media have had to adjust its usual broadcasting/publication methods to
survive. To this end, many traditional media have taken to the Internet as well. Now, radio
is online (e.g., podcast, Spotify, etc.), TV programmes can be viewed on the Internet (e.g.,
YouTube, C-Span, etc.), and even print newspapers and magazines can be read online (e.g.,
The Straits Times). The considerations for online platforms will be discussed later (in Study
Unit 3, Chapter 1.2), but it is worth mentioning now that traditional media has changed
and is not exclusively distinct from the Internet.

1.1.2 Advantages of Traditional Media in Campaigns

There are many advantages to using traditional media in campaigns. Some of these
advantages were mentioned or implied in the previous section, but this section will
expound on these advantages more elaborately. Specifically, this section will discuss how
traditional media are convenient, accessible, and carry a sense of legitimacy.

Traditional media are convenient. Such a statement may seem odd, given the many
textbooks that claim new media are convenient and traditional media are inflexible.
However, in the context of campaigns, traditional media channels often are convenient
for audiences. For example, receiving a pamphlet is convenient and does not require one
to engage in further steps to read about a campaign – the information is already on the
pamphlet. Likewise, when watching the news, information is summarised and spoon-fed
to the audience. Therefore, traditional media are convenient. This is not to say, however,
that traditional media is more convenient than new media in campaigns, although there
are cases where this is the case (e.g., reading information a pamphlet is more convenient
than searching for the same information on Google).

Convenience is a very important element in persuading people to support a campaign. If

individuals must go through several steps to find out information about a campaign, they
may be dissuaded from learning more about the movement. Even if campaign messages
are relevant and/or important to audiences, people may feel unmotivated to read those

SU3-17
COM388 Executing a Campaign

messages when there are too many barriers (e.g., go online, sign a form to be a member,
enlist as a newsletter subscriber, etc.).

It is advantageous to use traditional media because of its accessibility. Most traditional

media are so inexpensive that they are akin to being a public good. For example, The
Straits Times newspaper costs only $1.10; the radio content is virtually free if one owns
a radio device; and TV programmes (not cable TV) are also free-to-air. Such accessibility
is particularly significant for the elderly folks in Singapore; there are still many elderly
people who are not technologically savvy, and who still rely on traditional media to be
informed or entertained. This is an especially important consideration for campaigns that
focus on the elderly in Singapore.

Using traditional media is also advantageous because they carry a sense of legitimacy.
In the context of Singapore, there are not many traditional media outlets, and the few
that operate are somehow regarded as “official” or “authoritative”. For example, most
Singaporeans would regard content in newspapers such as The Straits Times and Today
as legitimate and credible. Publicising a campaign effort through such traditional media,
then, would likely automatically instill a sense of seriousness and credibility for the
campaign.

1.1.3 Disadvantages of Traditional Media in Campaigns

There are also disadvantages to using traditional media in campaigns. These include
inflexibility, lack of speed, and shrinking reach.

Traditional media can be somewhat inflexible for campaigns. For example, if you want to
advertise your campaign on the radio, the radio station would give you a rigid itinerary
indicating when your campaign advertisement can go on air. The same applies for TV
programmes as well. To add to this problem, the “good slots” during which most listeners
or viewers are tuned in are often very costly. If your campaign has a tight budget, the
costliness of primetime slots will further limit your options to publicise at a certain time.
Another way in which traditional media is inflexible is in its editorial restrictions. Editors
are gatekeepers and they may not want to publicise your campaign because it may not be

SU3-18
COM388 Executing a Campaign

relevant to their programme/content. Editors also may deny publicising your campaign
if it is deemed to be of a taboo, risky, or controversial nature.

Traditional media also lacks speed. That is not to say that it is terribly slow – new media
is just a lot quicker. For example, whereas one can post a campaign advertisement online
instantly, an advertisement on TV will need to go through vetting before it goes on air. The
lack of speed is even more pronounced when it comes to interactivity; whereas interaction
between sender and receiver of a message is almost instantaneous on new media (e.g.,
Facebook, Twitter, emails, etc.), it will take a couple of days before the receiver’s reply
reaches the sender (e.g., reply to editor, forum, or traditional mail). Again, it should be
emphasised that the process is not terribly slow – it is just that new media is much quicker.
One would thus have to determine if the advantages of traditional media outweigh its
relatively slow speed.

Lastly, traditional media have a shrinking reach. Before the advent of new media,
traditional media had a powerful reach that was very effective for communicating a
message to the masses in a relatively short amount of time. Now, new media can reach
even more people at an even shorter amount of time. Furthermore, many youths in this
era are turning to new media and forgoing traditional media. For example, youths read
news online instead of newspapers, or watch online satire news such as The Daily Show
with Jon Stewart instead of TV news (see Baym, 2005). Therefore, traditional media have a
shrinking reach and may not be able to reach out to the masses as effectively as before –
particularly when it comes to the youths. However, there is a caveat: while it is true that
new media can reach more people at a shorter time than compared to traditional media,
this is not necessarily always the case. The intense competition in new media – the many
brands and advertisements that are wrestling for audiences’ attention – may compromise
one’s ability to spread a campaign message effectively.

SU3-19
COM388 Executing a Campaign

Table 3.1 The advantages and disadvantages in using traditional media in campaigns

Advantages Disadvantages

• Convenient • Inflexible
• Accessible • Editorial restrictions
• Particularly accessible for the • Lack of speed
elderly • Lack of speed especially in regard
• Sense of legitimacy and credibility to interactivity
• Shrinking reach
• Limited reach to youths

Lesson Recording

Traditional Media in Campaigns

1.2 New Media in Campaigns

New media refer to information-distribution channels in the Internet era. New media
brought speed, interactivity, and reach to a level that their predecessor could not attain.
Consequently, many people turned to new media and used lesser traditional media. There
are multifarious forms of new media that one can use for the purposes of a campaign. In
this section, we shall examine the use of mobile phones, social media, and blogs.

Mobile phones

More and more people in the world are using mobile phones. In the past, mobile phones
were gadgets exclusive for adults, but now even very young adolescents own their
own mobile phones. Kratzke and colleagues (2013) suggest that mobile phone usage is
increasing among the rural population as well. Thus, mobile phone ownership today is
less affected by factors such as age and economic status.

SU3-20
COM388 Executing a Campaign

Most phones today are smartphones, capable of accessing the Internet. While not every
individual may be able to afford Internet-on-the-go, Singapore has plenty of free Wi-Fi,
thus allowing users to access the Internet.

Figure 3.8 Mobile phones are getting increasingly sophisticated

Disseminating campaign messages to mobile phones would be a challenging – if not

unfeasible – task. This is because one would not have readily available access to people’s
phone numbers. Any attempt to mass-text random numbers would be an ineffective,
untargeted effort. Furthermore, without solicitation or prior consent, sending campaign
messages to people’s phones would likely be unwelcomed. Therefore, mobile phones
are best reserved as a channel to keep in touch with individuals after they are exposed
to campaign messages. For example, during a roadshow, the team can recommend
participants to download the campaign phone app so that they can continue to support
the campaign.

SU3-21
COM388 Executing a Campaign

Persuading people to download a campaign phone app is one of the best approaches
when it comes to mobile phones. Other approaches, such as asking people for their
mobile number, usually would not work as effectively. This is because people may feel
uncomfortable about disclosing their numbers, often for the fear of being hassled. In fact,
from your own experience (or from observing others), you would have witnessed people
writing fake mobile numbers when filling up forms for, say, a free ice-cream cone or free
admission into a convention/event. Sometimes, however, depending on the nature of the
campaign and its goal, it is necessary to obtain the contact details of supporters. In that
case, then, it would be imperative for the team to attempt obtaining the contact details –
just bear in mind it would not be an easy task!

Programming an app would of course require some level of expertise. If your team does
not have any member with the skills to design a phone app, the team could hire an expert
– but that would be costly. The alternative would be to forgo phone apps and focus on the
next best thing which people also use their phones for – social media.

Social media

Social media are Internet-based applications that users participate in by generating

and exchanging web content (Kaplan & Haenlein, 2010). There are many social media
platforms – some of the more prominent ones are Facebook and Twitter. Social media are
useful for campaigns because most of them are free. But most importantly, social media
users are very interconnected. For example, Facebook users can recommend a campaign
page to his/her friends on Facebook (or, if you prefer, “friends” with quotation emphasis).
Even without actively recommending a campaign page, the simple act of “liking” a
campaign page might show up as a new post for his/her friends. If those friends also
“like” or recommend the campaign page, the spiraling effect can be tremendous.

Facebook is a social media platform that is worth examining a little further. Beginning as
a college network site in 2004, Facebook transformed into a massive social networking
site with a global reach (Boyd & Ellison, 2007). At one point, Facebook had 1 billion active
monthly users (Caers, 2013). Given its massive number of users, there is good reason for
a team to use Facebook for promoting their campaign messages.

SU3-22
COM388 Executing a Campaign

During Facebook’s early inception, the platform was perceived more as a social fun rather
than a legitimate, serious platform. The social and fun aspects still remain, but more
and more organisations are using Facebook as a legitimate platform to keep stakeholders
updated. In fact, today, one would expect major organisations to have their own Facebook
account. Therefore, having a campaign Facebook page may add a sense of professionalism
to the campaign effort. Of course, simply having the Facebook page will not immediately
instill the sense of professionalism; the Facebook page must be well-organised and
continuously updated. There have been smaller organisations which – perhaps due to
a lack of resources – produced sloppy Facebook pages (e.g., missing information, poor
visuals, no updates, poorly maintained, etc.).

When an individual “likes” the campaign page, the individual can get regular updates
on the campaign’s progress. By default, an organisation page’s postings are arranged
chronologically. This arrangement makes it easy for one to find the latest campaign efforts
and previous endeavors. The campaign Facebook page can also take advantage of the
function of uploading pictures and videos, incorporating the message design techniques
described earlier in Study Unit 2.

There are, of course, other social media platforms around, such as Twitter. But it will
not be necessary to elaborate on more platforms because the principles remain the same:
a campaign can benefit from using social media because they are free, they often have
massive number of users, and the users are very interconnected.

Activity 3.6

Besides Facebook, select one social media platform. Discuss the pros and cons for a
campaign using that platform.

SU3-23
COM388 Executing a Campaign

There is a caveat to using social media: one would not be able to effectively reach out to
the elderly. Now and then, there are some unusual instances of tech-savvy elderly folks
who use social media such as Facebook; however, such instances are few and far between.
By and large, most of the elderly in Singapore do not use social media, or are not very
proficient in using them.

Lastly, just as it is with any trend, certain social media platforms may phase out after a
period of time. Today, Facebook may be popular, but its popularity may wane and another
platform may take over. One must be kept up-to-date with the latest trends in order to
effectively reach out to the masses.

Blogs

Blogs are websites that contain regular postings of an individual’s or organisation’s

opinions/reflections. For the purposes of a campaign, a blog serves almost the same
function as a normal website – to inform and to update. A campaign blog, however, differs
in having regular postings and the expected interactivity. This interactivity comes in the
form of comments that readers of the blog can leave behind.

Setting up a blog can come at no cost. Platforms such as Wordpress remain popular
options as they are free and easy to use. However, the free versions would require your
website to have some irrelevant advertisement or an address with some pesky reference
(e.g., “wordpress.com”), both of which would not appear very professional. One should
consider purchasing a domain because it is relatively inexpensive.

There may be contention regarding the usefulness of blogs. Back in its heyday, blogs were
a democratic masterstroke, where anyone could freely express his or her opinions and
receive feedback from anyone in the world. Some who became popular bloggers even
thrived commercially, such as earning advertising revenues through their blogs. Today,
however, the popularity of blogs has been noticeably on the wane, and it is questionable
how blogs can still be effective communication outlets. This is especially true when we
consider the oversaturated sea of blogs out there, each vying with another for viewers/
readers. This oversaturation may mean that a campaign blog would find it hard to

SU3-24
COM388 Executing a Campaign

compete for viewers/readers, and the intended interactivity may be compromised too.
For example, Merry (2010) found that few environmental organisations use blogs and that
there is very little interaction between blog authors and readers.

That is not to dissuade one from considering using a blog. When done right, a blog can be
a fun and meaningful way to actively keep in touch with supporters. Best of all, blogs are
not constrained by editorial restrictions. Whereas one would have to write according to
the demands of, say, magazine editors, blogs are one’s own platform for expression and
are free from such demands.

Activity 3.7

Find a popular blog. What are its key characteristics that contribute to its popularity?
How can you incorporate some of those characteristics for your own campaign blog?

1.2.1 Advantages of New Media in Campaigns

So what are the advantages to using new media in campaigns? Immediately, speed
and convenience are some advantages that one can think of. But besides speed and
convenience, new media is inexpensive, users are interconnected, and – to an extent –
there is growing expectation that any professional project should involve new media.

The speed and convenience of new media eradicates the former hurdles of having to wait
for, say, a magazine editor to respond to your team. With new media, your team can
immediately post campaign messages online for public viewing. People may also read or
view those messages on-the-go, such as on their mobile phones when taking the public
transport.

New media is also inexpensive – mostly free. Also, the use of new media may be an
alternative to more costly approaches to disseminating information such as road shows,
which involve high labor and financial resources. However, it should be stressed that

SU3-25
COM388 Executing a Campaign

while the use of new media is a possible alternative, it is not recommended as a complete
replacement over traditional approaches such as road shows. Traditional approaches have
their utility and purpose that new media may not be able to achieve on its own. For
example, road shows have an impeccable ability to rouse up curiosity and interest for the
event issue/product. Therefore, the use of new media should complement – not replace –
the use of traditional approaches/media.

New media users are often very interconnected. This is advantageous because,
theoretically, campaign messages should spread like wildfire, passing from one person
to another in complex networks. Although such effective dissemination of information
is possible, we shall see later that oversaturated competing messages make such ideal
dissemination rare. Nonetheless, one can still communicate through a weave of networks,
albeit less effectively than the ideal.

There is also a growing expectation that any professional project should involve new
media. Nowadays, in Singapore, whenever you see a campaign poster on display, the
poster will likely have information pertaining to new media, such as the organisation’s
website, email address, Twitter, or Facebook page. Very often, one would also see a Quick
Response (QR) code, which, after scanning with a mobile phone, allows the phone user
to view further information. Therefore, given the prevalence of new media in current
projects, it would seem a little unprofessional and out-of-touch for a team to use traditional
approaches/media exclusively. Imagine, if a layperson were to ask you during your
roadshow “What is your campaign’s website? Or Facebook page?” and you respond “Oh,
those things… we don’t do new media.” Immediately, to that layperson, the campaign’s
image will be tarnished and its credibility diminished. It is thus essential to involve new
media in your campaign project; at least the bare minimum of a website or Facebook page
should be set up.

SU3-26
COM388 Executing a Campaign

Figure 3.9 QR codes are almost everywhere these days

1.2.2 Disadvantages of New Media in Campaigns

There are certain disadvantages to using new media in campaigns. These include: the
potential exclusion of the elderly, added pressure on team members, oversaturated
competing messages, and occurrence of “slacktivism”.

As mentioned earlier, most of the elderly in Singapore are not proficient with new media.
The more advanced the platform (e.g., social media), the less likely the elderly know
how to use it. Thus, one disadvantage to using new media in campaigns is the potential
exclusion of the elderly. For example, if your campaign requires the downloading of
a phone app or scanning a QR code, the elderly may not know how to do these and,
consequently, miss out on your campaign message.

SU3-27
COM388 Executing a Campaign

Although speed and convenience are great benefits of new media, the speed and
convenience may put added pressure on team members to respond quickly to audiences.
Whereas users of traditional media would take even up to a week to respond, users of
new media are expected to respond much quicker – sometimes even within 24 hours. As
a result of such expectations, campaign audiences may be less patient, demanding, and
easily irritable. All it takes is for one agitated member of the audience to post furiously
on a campaign Facebook page to compromise the campaign. The openness of the Internet
world – where the public can view negative comments about your campaign – is another
added pressure to your team. Sure, new media is a great tool, but it is also a great double-
edged sword – as much as one can use it to progress, antagonists can also just as much
use it to stymie.

One of the biggest disadvantages to using new media is the oversaturated competing
messages on the Internet. A simple Google search of “campaign” can generate
approximately 617,000,000 results – how could one possibly stand out of all the competing
messages on the Web? The oversaturation has allowed the practice of Search Engine
Optimization (SEO) to flourish in recent years, as more and more brands want to emerge
at the top of Google’s search system. A campaign team could also consider hiring a SEO
expert, although that would be costly. This is why a team should not use new media
exclusively, but should use it as an accompaniment to traditional approaches/media (e.g.,
road shows, events, etc.).

Lastly, there is the issue of “slacktivism” which was mentioned earlier in Study Unit 2.
To reiterate, “slacktivism” occurs when people engage in token displays of support rather
than engaging in actual support (Kristofferson, White, & Peloza, 2014). For example, an
individual may “like” your campaign Facebook page but not engage in any effort to read
more regarding the advocated cause. Therefore, one must figure out ways to encourage
audiences to be active participants instead of passive “slacktivists”.

SU3-28
COM388 Executing a Campaign

Table 3.2 The advantages and disadvantages in using traditional media in campaigns

Advantages Disadvantages

• Access • Potentially excludes the elderly

• Convenience • Adds pressure on team members
• Fast to respond quickly

• Inexpensive/Free • Oversaturated competing

• Massive number of users messages

• Users are very interconnected • “slacktivism”

• No editorial restrictions

Activity 3.8

Find a popular campaign Facebook page. How many “followers” or “likes” does it
have? Discuss how the campaign Facebook page may be appealing to Facebook users.

Do you think the “followers” or people who “liked” that page are “slacktivists”? How
do you think the campaign organisation prevented “slacktivism?”

Lesson Recording

New Media in Campaigns

SU3-29
COM388 Executing a Campaign

1.3 Are Certain Media Necessary for the Campaign? Which is the
Best?
This is a good juncture to emphasise that not all media platforms are necessary for a
campaign; one does not need to use all of the previous listed platforms. Also, there is not
a platform “better” than another, per se. Instead, whichever media are used depends on
the campaign, the contexts, and the environment. For example, if the targeted audiences
are youths, social media may be a useful tool. On the other hand, if the main target is the
elderly, roadshows, newspapers, and TV may work better. One would have to exercise
discretion to determine what media is most appropriate for the campaign. While one
should not cut corners and use too few media platforms, one also should not stretch the
team’s resources too thin by investing in too many media platforms.

1.4 Timing and Legalities

A team should also be mindful of timing and legal issues throughout the campaign
planning process. Timing refers to the appropriateness of a campaign – ideally, a campaign
should be initiated when competing factors are low and environmental factors are
working in the campaign’s favor. Figure 3.10 below shows the different scenarios that can
occur:

SU3-30
COM388 Executing a Campaign

Figure 3.10 Timing scenarios

Competing factors may include, for example, competing campaigns, events, or messages
– elements that try to vie away your team’s audiences. Supportive environmental factors
may include, for example, trends and events that increase the demand for your campaign.
For instance, Singapore’s recent attention to healthy-living and war against diabetes may
cause Singaporeans to be more health-conscious. A campaign that shares a similar theme
(i.e., healthy-living) but focuses on a less-known issue (e.g., thyroid) may still be well-
received by the public because people would be interested in health matters.

Scenario A is where a team wants to be: Competing factors is lowest and supportive
environmental factors are highest. This is the opportune timing to launch a campaign.
Scenario B is a less ideal scenario, but still workable: Supportive environmental factors
may be low, but the low level of competing factors allows a campaign to progress with

SU3-31
COM388 Executing a Campaign

minimal obstruction. Scenario C is the worst scenario and should be avoided: In this
scenario, there is very little support from environmental factors and competing forces
are high – it may be better for a team to bide time, observe how the situation develops,
and then launch the campaign later. Scenario D occurs when both competing factors and
supportive environmental factors are high. The earlier example of a thyroid campaign
illustrates this scenario: Other health-related campaigns help to increase the receptivity
for the thyroid campaign, but the thyroid campaign would have to compete with those
other health-related campaigns (e.g., diabetes, aging, etc.). In such cases, Scenario D is a
good scenario to launch a campaign, but – in order to circumvent competing campaigns
– the team should brand their campaign as uniquely as possible to distinguish itself from
other campaigns.

The other important consideration that a team must consider is legal issues. Given that
Singapore has many laws, regulations, and corporate legalities, a team must be careful in
navigating through the campaign processes, lest they be caught up in some legal trouble. It
is the responsibility of the team to do their homework and check if their campaign violates
any legal stipulation. An “I did not know” excuse may not acquit a team if they land into
legal trouble.

SU3-32
COM388 Executing a Campaign

Chapter 2: Launching and Monitoring the Campaign

After deciding which media outlets to use, and after considering timing and legal issues,
it is finally time to launch the campaign! During this phase, the campaign team will
disseminate all the messages they have crafted, with the objective of persuading audiences
to support the team’s goal. In order to determine if audiences are persuaded, the team will
have to track and monitor target audiences. Then, depending on the outcome – whether
or not audiences were persuaded – the team will have to revise, report, or repeat their
campaign effort.

2.1 Track and Monitor

Tracking and monitoring progress requires active observation of target audiences, and the
team will need to act as a dynamic system that is capable of quickly addressing responses
from audiences.

2.1.1 Ways to Track and Monitor Target Audiences

There are various ways to track and monitor target audiences. For example, with YouTube,
one can see the number of views over a period of time. For Facebook, one can refer to
the number of “likes” or page visits. For websites, one can use Google Analytics, which
is a free and useful tool to monitor page visitors. Google Analytics can provide simple
information from the number of page visits to more sophisticated in-depth information
such as travel path of visitors, detailing which links they click. Usually, websites such
as WordPress.com provide basic statistical information regarding page visitors. If the
information is too basic, one could always use Google Analytics. While this Study Unit
will not expound on how to use Google Analytics, it is advisable to read up more about
it given its usefulness. Below is a link which gives a succinct overview of what Google
Analytics is.

SU3-33
COM388 Executing a Campaign

Read

You should now read:

https://monetizepros.com/getting-started/how-to-track-visitors-to-your-website-
google-analytics-explained/

Tracking new media audiences is a relatively easy task because there are so many software
and accessible data. Tracking traditional media audiences, on the other hand, can prove
to be a challenging task. This is because tracking information is either unavailable or
inaccessible. For example, there is no way one can find out the reading patterns of every
newspaper reader – Did they read your advertisement? Did they read your advertisement
first or last? – it is almost impossible to find the answers to such questions. The only
information that one might be able to gather is subscription volume, but such information
is too general. The only remaining solution, therefore, is for a team to conduct surveys
or interviews to access audience’s responses to campaign messages via traditional media.
For example, a team could ask people if they read newspapers recently and if they chanced
across the campaign advertisement/article, and what they felt about the advertisement/
article. The team does not need to survey or interview too many people; the team need
only attain a rough gauge of audiences’ overall responses.

2.1.2 The Team as a Dynamic System

During the process of tracking and monitoring audiences’ responses, a team will
need to act as a dynamic system. According to Systems Theory, a dynamic system
requires permeability (Miller, 2012). Permeability refers to the openness of a system
to environmental factors, such as responses from audiences and situational changes
(Mattson & Lam, 2016). In contrast, a system that is not permeable is a closed system in
which feedback is not considered and the strategy is rigid. It is important for a team to act

SU3-34
COM388 Executing a Campaign

as a dynamic system so that the team can react effectively to positive or negative responses
from audiences. Because of its permeability, a dynamic system is characterised by its knack
for feedback and its four properties of holism, equifinality, negative entropy, and requisite
variety (Miller, 2012).

Corrective feedback & growth feedback

A dynamic system is open to feedback. Systems Theory suggests there are two types of
feedback – corrective feedback and growth feedback (Miller, 2012). Corrective feedback,
also known as negative or deviation-reducing feedback, involves detecting deviations
from the objective and addressing those deviations so that the system can steer back
toward the objective (Mattson & Lam, 2016). In the case of a campaign team, corrective
feedback involves the team monitoring for deviations from the goal and responding to
those deviations. For example, instead of being persuaded by guilt appeal messages (i.e.,
the goal), audiences may post angry comments saying that they are being guilt-tripped
(i.e., deviating from intended goal). The team should then respond to this deviation by,
say, taking down the guilt appeal messages and replace them with more light-hearted
messages instead.

Growth feedback, also known as positive or deviation-amplifying feedback, involves

changing the system in order for the system to improve (Mattson & Lam, 2016). In
contrast to corrective feedback, growth feedback focuses on the system itself and not the
processes in action. For example, in the context of a campaign team, growth feedback
would require the team to change and improve – it is not the messages that need to change
and improve. For instance, a team may learn that its members are often overloaded with
work; in response, the team recruits more members so that workload for future projects
will be more evenly distributed. Growth feedback is intended for the long-term future, for
improving future operations, whereas corrective feedback is more concerned with current
issues (Mattson & Lam, 2016).

SU3-35
COM388 Executing a Campaign

Holism

A dynamic system is characterised by four properties, one of which is holism. A holistic

system prioritises the sum of the parts rather than parts working individually (Mattson
& Lam, 2016). That is to say, a team works better together than each member going
solo. Therefore, when tracking and monitoring audiences’ responses, a team should work
collaboratively and spread out the workload. If one member takes up a disproportionate
amount of work, the team’s progress may be hindered if that member falls ill or cannot
continue with work.

Equifinality

Equifinality is the concept that a goal can be achieved through multiple ways (Mattson
& Lam, 2016). That is to say, there is no one way to achieve a campaign goal. A team
should thus be flexible and adapt when necessary without fearing change. A team should
be quick to forgo a strategy when it is clearly not working and improvise. Equifinality also
suggests that there is no one media outlet that must be used; multiple media platforms
can be used and in different permutations (Mattson & Lam, 2016).

Negative entropy

Entropy refers to the propensity for a closed system to decay and die. Negative entropy,
on the other hand, refers to the propensity for a dynamic system to survive and flourish
(Miller, 2012). Therefore, in order for a campaign team to excel, the team should be
dynamic, permeable to feedback and respond effectively to feedback. A team that
obstinately refuses to receive feedback will likely wither away. Sometimes, a team can
be so passionate about their campaign idea/issue that they become defensive or hyper-
sensitive to criticisms or negative feedback. Such defensiveness and hyper-sensitivity
are characteristics of a closed system and should be avoided. A team should instead
embrace critiques without fear – especially since critiques can serve as corrective or growth
feedback.

SU3-36
COM388 Executing a Campaign

Requisite variety

Requisite variety is the notion that a system should be as complex as the environment in
order to effectively react to that environment (Miller, 2012). In the context of a campaign,
this means that a team needs to produce a creative and effortful campaign that can
challenge environmental obstacles, such as competing messages or obstinate audiences. If
the team does not produce the requisite variety and effort to challenge the environment,
the team will likely be overcome by the environmental forces.

2.2 Possible Responses (And What to Do)

There can be two possible responses from audiences – either they respond favorably to
your messages and support the campaign, or they respond unfavorably to your messages
and do not support the campaign.

2.2.1 Favorable Response + Support

If the former happens, one should be very glad indeed. What the team does thereafter
depends on what the goal was. For example, if the goal was simply to raise awareness,
there is little left to be done. On the other hand, if the goal was more ambitious and
involved, say, persuading policymakers to implement policy changes, the team could
take on several possible routes: they could continue disseminating campaign messages
and further increase the number of supporters in order to pressure policymakers into
taking action, or they could use the existing number of supporters as leverage to enter
into negotiations with policymakers.

In any case, whatever the campaign goal was, a team must do one thing if the objective
was met – the team must inform affected populations regarding the progress or changes
made. For example, if the campaign goal was to, say, lower the cost of a prescription drug,
and the goal was achieved, the team should inform the supporters and those who use
the drug regarding the price change. Failure to inform affected populations regarding the
progress or changes implemented would be no different from the campaign failing.

SU3-37
COM388 Executing a Campaign

There are various ways to inform affected populations regarding the success of the
campaign. For those who are already connected via social media, a team can simply
post updates. For those who are not connected via social media, the team can inform
through traditional media such as pamphlets, magazines, or newspapers. The drawback,
of course, is that traditional media is oftentimes more costly than new media (Pickerill,
2001). Mattson and Lam (2016) contend that social media is still the best approach to
update affected populations.

2.2.2 Unfavorable Response + Do Not Support

In the case of the latter, where audiences do not respond favorably and do not support the
campaign, a team would have to reassess why audiences responded that way. There are
several possible explanations for a negative response: lack of information, participation
apprehension, and/or campaign messages were not convincing enough (Mattson & Lam,
2016).

Lack of information

Audiences may have decided against supporting the campaign because of a lack of
information. For example, the guidelines for supporting the campaign may have been
missing or inadequate; as a result, efficacy would be low. Recall in Study Unit 2 that
efficacy refers to instilling confidence in undertaking a specific task (see Witte & Allen,
2000). When efficacy is low, audiences may feel unequipped to support the campaign.
Missing contact information may be another potential reason for negative responses;
audiences may be skeptical because a lack of identification may seem unprofessional
or suspicious. Audiences may also be unconvinced if information regarding the
campaign issue/objective was missing or insufficient. Lastly, information regarding the
consequences of a successful/unsuccessful campaign may not have been adequately
relayed to audiences. In such a situation, the audiences may not have understood the
potential impact that the campaign could bring, and become nonchalant about the
campaign. For example, if audiences were not adequately informed that the campaign

SU3-38
COM388 Executing a Campaign

could, say, help save the lives of many with health issues, the audiences may misconstrue
that the campaign has little impact and not consider it further (Mattson & Lam, 2016).

Participation apprehension

Participation apprehension refers to hesitancy in supporting a campaign due to doubts

or concerns. There can be various doubts and concerns, such as concerns regarding
emotional costs, responsibilities, and backlashes. Sometimes, people may worry about
emotional burden that may come from supporting a campaign. For example, individuals
may worry about disappointment if the campaign is unsuccessful. Such worries may
stem from an excessive use of guilt appeals (see Guttman & Salmon, 2004). Certain
individuals may have participation apprehension because they fear the responsibilities
involved. Sometimes, these fears can be unwarranted. For example, some individuals
may incorrectly believe that they have to commit to future requests (e.g., donation) after
they sign a petition. In the context of Singapore, perhaps the most possible reason for
participation apprehension is the fear of backlashes. That is to say: the fear of paying
a penalty for participation. For instance, Singaporeans may fear that their participation
would involve unlawful action or incriminating behavior, such as protesting against
the government. Although a campaign would not and should not involve unlawful
action, the mere thought of campaigning for policy change can be quite provocative to
certain Singaporeans. Taking into account all these potential reasons for participation
apprehension, the best solution going forward for a team is to revise campaign messages
so that these fears will be addressed (see Mattson & Lam, 2016).

Campaign messages were not convincing enough

Lastly, audiences may respond unfavorably if campaign messages were not convincing
enough. The messages may have been unconvincing because the issue portrayed did not
seem like an urgent, serious, or relevant matter. Recall in Study Unit 2 that the campaign
issue should appear sufficiently threatening so that audiences would take action (Witte
& Allen, 2000). Audiences may also have reacted poorly because the messages were not
appealing enough. Therefore, a team in such circumstances should revise messages so that
efficacy and emotional appeals are included (Mattson & Lam, 2016).

SU3-39
COM388 Executing a Campaign

2.3 Revise, Report, or Repeat

The previous section discussed the possible responses that audiences may have. The
section also discussed what course of action should be taken by a team if the campaign
objective was met. More often than a successful campaign, however, is a campaign that
does not meet its objective. Such a scenario is unsurprising and one should not be
discouraged that the objective was not met. Instead, the team can choose to take another
shot at campaigning again. This process involves revising the messages, reporting the
progress, and repeating the campaign.

Revise

When the campaign objective is not met and audiences responded unfavorably, there is a
good chance that the campaign messages were not effective enough. If a team decides to
have another shot at campaigning, it will be necessary to revise the messages. The team
may have to return to as far back as the formative research phase, SWOT analysis process,
and reassess the community (refer to Study Unit 1). Then, the team will need to redesign
messages using the strategies discussed in Study Unit 2. This time, however, the focus
would be to revise messages based on the feedback received from audiences and from
the lessons learned during the tracking and monitoring of audiences. Not only should
the team avoid repeating the same mistakes/flaws, the team should also improve the
messages, making them more persuasive and effective than before.

Report

A team should always inform supporters and affected populations regarding the progress
of the campaign. Such a report should be done even if the initial campaign effort seemed
to have failed. This is because however much the campaign may seem to have failed,
there would have definitely been progress of some sort; even the awareness that was
raised as a result of the campaign would be considered progress. Furthermore, a report
of the campaign effort – whether it failed or not – could be useful for scholars and other
campaigners to learn from (e.g., Pless, 2007). Besides, reporting progress would be a

SU3-40
COM388 Executing a Campaign

responsible thing to do. This report could be integrated in the revised campaign messages,
or it could be done separate from the revised messages.

Repeat

The final step in this process is to repeat a campaign effort. That is to say, to embark on
another campaign movement with the newly revised strategy and messages. During the
movement, the team will once again track and monitor the responses of audiences. If the
responses are favorable and the audiences support the campaign, the team should pat
themselves on their backs for a job well done. Of course, the team must do the important
task of informing supporters and affected populations regarding the progress or change.
If the responses are unfavorable and the audiences do not support the campaign, the
team can choose either to quit and withdraw, or continue looping back to re-strategising
and redesigning messages. A team can choose to continue this looping process until the
objective is finally met, or when the team decides the situation is a stalemate and that
withdrawal is the best option (Mattson & Lam, 2016).

Lesson Recording

Timing & Legalities, and System Theory

Lesson Recording

Possible Responses (What to Do)

SU3-41
COM388 Executing a Campaign

Summary

In this Study Unit, we discussed the types of media that a team could use to disseminate
campaign messages. Then, we considered issues regarding timing and legalities. We also
explored the ways in which a team may track and monitor responses of audiences toward
the disseminated campaign messages. Lastly, we discussed how a team should act as a
dynamic system and how they should react to audiences’ responses. A vital lesson can be
learnt from all these discussions – a great deal of effort and discernment is necessary for
a campaign team to be successful.

Therefore, after you finish this course and have gained the knowledge of communication
campaign planning, do not be mistaken that the knowledge alone will suffice! Instead,
remember that effort and discernment are also important for your own campaign
endeavours in the future.

SU3-42
COM388 Executing a Campaign

Formative Assessment

1. What is one benefit of using traditional media such as radio and TV to disseminate
campaign messages?
a. Costs involved are often inexpensive
b. Audiences can respond very quickly
c. Audiences are segmented into various categories
d. Audiences are well-networked

2. If your campaign wants to target the elderly in Singapore, which of the following
channels do you think would be most effective?
a. English magazines
b. Social media
c. YouTube
d. Newspaper

3. What is a major disadvantage of using poster ads or pamphlets?

a. There are many competing messages
b. They can be produced quickly and inexpensively.
c. People may be distracted and miss the message
d. There are many competing messages. In addition, People may be distracted
and miss the message

4. What is one disadvantage of using traditional media for campaigns?

a. Editorial restrictions
b. Particularly accessible for the elderly
c. Legitimacy
d. Very costly for audiences

SU3-43
COM388 Executing a Campaign

5. What is a potential problem with using social media for campaigns?

a. Audiences are well-networked
b. Social media are expensive to use
c. The campaign may miss out on publicizing to the elderly community
d. Social media are inaccessible

6. What is a potential problem with using blogs for campaigns?

a. Blogs are not user-friendly
b. Blogs are waning in popularity
c. Readers can post feedback
d. Blogs are boring

7. What is NOT an advantage to using new media for campaigns?

a. Massive number of users
b. Increases the demand for team members to respond quickly
c. Slacktivism
d. Increases the demand for team members to respond quickly and Slacktivism

8. When is the best time to launch a campaign?

a. Low competing factors, high supportive environmental factors
b. Low competing factors, low supportive environmental factors
c. High competing factors, low supportive environmental factors
d. High competing factors, high supportive environmental factors

9. According to System Theory, __________ refers to the idea that an objective can be
achieved through many different approaches.
a. Holism
b. Requisite variety
c. Equifinality

SU3-44
COM388 Executing a Campaign

d. Negative entropy

10. According to System Theory, __________ refers to the propensity for a closed system
to decay and die.
a. Negative entropy
b. Holism
c. Requisite variety
d. Equifinality

11. What may be a reason for unfavorable responses from audiences?

a. Lack of information
b. Participation apprehension
c. Campaign messages were not convincing enough
d. Lack of information, participation apprehension and campaign messages were
not convincing enough

12. What is the one thing that any campaign must do – whether or not it succeeded in
its objective?
a. Revise campaign messages
b. Re-strategize the campaign
c. The team should report any progress or changes made to affected populations
d. The team should inform policymakers of its next project

SU3-45
COM388 Executing a Campaign

Solutions or Suggested Answers

Formative Assessment
1. What is one benefit of using traditional media such as radio and TV to disseminate
campaign messages?
a. Costs involved are often inexpensive
Incorrect. Publicizing through traditional media usually involves significant
costs. Refer to Study Unit 3.

b. Audiences can respond very quickly

Incorrect. Response speed for traditional media is typically slow. Refer to
Study Unit 3.

c. Audiences are segmented into various categories

Correct. The segmentation can help you target specific audiences. Refer to
Study Unit 3.

d. Audiences are well-networked

Incorrect. Audiences are well-networked only for social media. Refer to
Study Unit 3.

2. If your campaign wants to target the elderly in Singapore, which of the following
channels do you think would be most effective?
a. English magazines
Incorrect. English magazines will reach out to some elderly, but there are
many elderly who do not read English. Therefore this may not be the best
approach Refer to Study Unit 3.

b. Social media

SU3-46
COM388 Executing a Campaign

Incorrect. Most elderly are not proficient with social media. Refer to Study
Unit 3.

c. YouTube
Incorrect. YouTube is picking up among the elderly in Singapore, but
currently there are still many elderly folks who still do not know how to
access it. Refer to Study Unit 3.

d. Newspaper
Correct. This is a medium that many elderly folks are familiar with. Refer
to Study Unit 3.

3. What is a major disadvantage of using poster ads or pamphlets?

a. There are many competing messages
Incorrect. This is true, but there is another disadvantage too. Refer to Study
Unit 3.

b. They can be produced quickly and inexpensively.

Incorrect. This is actually an advantage. Refer to Study Unit 3.

c. People may be distracted and miss the message

Incorrect. This is true, but there is another disadvantage too. Refer to Study
Unit 3.

d. There are many competing messages. In addition, People may be distracted

and miss the message
Correct. There is only a small window of opportunity to catch people’s
attention. Refer to Study Unit 3.

4. What is one disadvantage of using traditional media for campaigns?

a. Editorial restrictions

SU3-47
COM388 Executing a Campaign

Correct. Indeed, since you do not own the media outlet, you will have to
play to the demands of the editor. Refer to Study Unit 3.

b. Particularly accessible for the elderly

Incorrect. This is one of the advantages. Refer to Study Unit 3.

c. Legitimacy
Incorrect. This is one of the advantages. Refer to Study Unit 3.

d. Very costly for audiences

Incorrect. Most traditional media are free or very inexpensive (e.g., TV, radio,
newspaper). Refer to Study Unit 3.

5. What is a potential problem with using social media for campaigns?

a. Audiences are well-networked
Incorrect. This is actually an advantage. Refer to Study Unit 3.

b. Social media are expensive to use

Incorrect. Social media are typically free to use. Refer to Study Unit 3.

c. The campaign may miss out on publicizing to the elderly community

Correct. Most of the elderly are not proficient with social media. Refer to
Study Unit 3.

d. Social media are inaccessible

Incorrect. Social media are accessible, particularly in Singapore. Refer to
Study Unit 3.

6. What is a potential problem with using blogs for campaigns?

a. Blogs are not user-friendly
Incorrect. User interface depends on you. Refer to Study Unit 3.

b. Blogs are waning in popularity

SU3-48
COM388 Executing a Campaign

Correct. It is no longer as popular as it was back in its heyday. Refer to

Study Unit 3.

c. Readers can post feedback

Incorrect. Feedback is not necessarily bad. Refer to Study Unit 3.

d. Blogs are boring

Incorrect. It is your responsibility to make a blog interesting! Refer to Study
Unit 3.

7. What is NOT an advantage to using new media for campaigns?

a. Massive number of users
Incorrect. This is actually an advantage. Refer to Study Unit 3.

b. Increases the demand for team members to respond quickly

Incorrect. This is a problem, yes. But there is another problem too. Refer to
Study Unit 3.

c. Slacktivism
Incorrect. This is a problem, yes. But there is another problem too. Refer to
Study Unit 3.

d. Increases the demand for team members to respond quickly and Slacktivism
Correct. The speed increases the demand to do things faster. Slacktivism
is a token display of support that does not translate to actual action. Refer
to Study Unit 3.

8. When is the best time to launch a campaign?

a. Low competing factors, high supportive environmental factors
Correct. This is the most opportune time because there is least resistance
and most support. Refer to Study Unit 3.

b. Low competing factors, low supportive environmental factors

SU3-49
COM388 Executing a Campaign

Incorrect. It is possible to launch a campaign in this scenario, but it is not the

best scenario. Refer to Study Unit 3.

c. High competing factors, low supportive environmental factors

Incorrect. High resistance is never good. Refer to Study Unit 3.

d. High competing factors, high supportive environmental factors

Incorrect. High resistance is never good. Refer to Study Unit 3.

9. According to System Theory, __________ refers to the idea that an objective can be
achieved through many different approaches.
a. Holism
Incorrect. This is one of the properties of a dynamic system, but this is not
the answer. Refer to Study Unit 3.

b. Requisite variety
Incorrect. This is one of the properties of a dynamic system, but this is not
the answer. Refer to Study Unit 3.

c. Equifinality
Correct. Yes, equifinality suggests there are multiple ways to achieve a
goal. Refer to Study Unit 3.

d. Negative entropy
Incorrect. This is one of the properties of a dynamic system, but this is not
the answer. Refer to Study Unit 3.

10. According to System Theory, __________ refers to the propensity for a closed system
to decay and die.
a. Negative entropy
Correct. Closed systems tend to die off. Refer to Study Unit 3.

b. Holism

SU3-50
COM388 Executing a Campaign

Incorrect. This is one of the properties of a dynamic system, but this is not
the answer. Refer to Study Unit 3.

c. Requisite variety
Incorrect. This is one of the properties of a dynamic system, but this is not
the answer. Refer to Study Unit 3.

d. Equifinality
Incorrect. This is one of the properties of a dynamic system, but this is not
the answer. Refer to Study Unit 3.

11. What may be a reason for unfavorable responses from audiences?

a. Lack of information
Incorrect. This is one reason, but there are more! Refer to Study Unit 3.

b. Participation apprehension
Incorrect. This is one reason, but there are more! Refer to Study Unit 3.

c. Campaign messages were not convincing enough

Incorrect. This is one reason, but there are more! Refer to Study Unit 3.

d. Lack of information, participation apprehension and campaign messages

were not convincing enough
Correct. A team needs to re-strategize in such situations! Refer to Study
Unit 3.

12. What is the one thing that any campaign must do – whether or not it succeeded in
its objective?
a. Revise campaign messages
Incorrect. This is not necessary if the campaign met its objective. Refer to
Study Unit 3.

b. Re-strategize the campaign

SU3-51
COM388 Executing a Campaign

Incorrect. This is not necessary if the campaign met its objective. Refer to
Study Unit 3.

c. The team should report any progress or changes made to affected

populations
Correct. Even if there is “failure”, there will be some sort of progress – and
that is important. Refer to Study Unit 3.

d. The team should inform policymakers of its next project

Incorrect. This is not necessary; in fact, no one does this. Refer to Study Unit 3.

SU3-52
COM388 Executing a Campaign

References

Albarran, A. B., Anderson, T., Bejar, L. G., Bussart, A. L., Daggett, E., Gibson, S., ... Way,

H. (2007). “What happened to our audience?” Radio and new technology uses

and gratifications among young adult users. Journal of Radio Studies, 14(2), 92-101.
Barboutis, C. (2013). The birth of radio broadcasting: The matrix of science, technology

and communication in the western world. Radio Journal: International Studies in

Broadcast & Audio Media, 11(2), 155-168.

https://doi.org/10.1386/rjao.11.2.155_1

Baym, G. (2005). The Daily Show: Discursive integration and the reinvention of political

journalism. Political Communication, 22(3), 259-276.

https://doi.org/10.1080/10584600591006492

Boyd, D. M., & Ellison, N. B. (2007). Social network sites: Definition, history, and

scholarship. Journal of Computer-Mediated Communication, 13(1), 210-230.

https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1083-6101.2007.00393.x

Caers, R., De Feyter, T., De Couck, M., Stough, T., Vigna, C., & Du Bois, C. (2013).

Facebook: A literature review. New Media & Society, 15(6), 982-1002.

https://doi.org/10.1177/1461444813488061

Dibben, N., & Williamson, V. J. (2007). An exploratory survey of in-vehicle music

listening. Psychology of Music, 35(4), 571-589.

https://doi.org/10.1177/0305735607079725
Guenther, M. (2011). Magazine publishing in transition: Unique challenges for multi-

media platforms. Publishing Research Quarterly, 27(4), 327-331.

https://doi.org/10.1007/s12109-011-9244-1

Guttman, N., & Salmon, C. T. (2004). Guilt, fear, stigma and knowledge gaps: Ethical

issues in public health communication interventions. Bioethics, 18(6), 531-552.

https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1467-8519.2004.00415.x

SU3-53
COM388 Executing a Campaign

Kaplan, A. M., & Haenlein, M. (2010). Users of the world, unite! The challenges and

opportunities of Social Media. Business Horizons, 53(1), 59-68.

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.bushor.2009.09.003

Kratzke, C., Wilson, S., & Vilchis, H. (2013). Reaching rural women: Breast cancer

prevention information seeking behaviors and interest in internet, cell phone,

and text use. Journal of Community Health, 38(1), 54-61.

https://doi.org/10.1007/s10900-012-9579-3
Kristofferson, K., White, K., & Peloza, J. (2014). The nature of slacktivism: How the social

observability of an initial act of token support affects subsequent prosocial action.

Journal of Consumer Research, 40(6), 1149-1166.

https://doi.org/10.1086/674137

Mattson, M., & Lam, C. (2016). Health Advocacy : A Communication Approach. Manhattan,

NY: Peter Lang.

McQuail, D. (2010). McQuail's mass communication theory. California: Sage.

Merry, M. K. (2010). Blogging and environmental advocacy: A new way to engage the

public? Review of Policy Research, 27(5), 641-656.

https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1541-1338.2010.00463.x

Miller, K. (2012). Organizational communication : Approaches and processes (6th ed.). Boston,

MA: Wadsworth, Cengage Learning.

Pickerill, J. (2001). Environmental internet activism in Britain. Peace Review, 13(3),

365-370.

https://doi.org/10.1080/13668800120079063

Pless, I. B. (2007). A chronology of failed advocacy and frustration. Injury Prevention,

13(2), 73-74.

https://doi.org/10.1136/ip.2007.015776

Shim, J. W., & Paul, B. (2007). Effects of personality types on the use of television genre.

Journal of Broadcasting & Electronic Media, 51(2), 287-304.

SU3-54
COM388 Executing a Campaign

https://doi.org/10.1080/08838150701304852

Wallack, L., & Dorfman, L. (1996). Media advocacy: a strategy for advancing policy and

promoting health. Health Education & Behavior, 23(3), 293-317.

https://doi.org/10.1177/109019819602300303

Witte, K., & Allen, M. (2000). A meta-analysis of fear appeals: Implications for effective

public health campaigns. Health Education & Behavior, 27(5), 591-615.

https://doi.org/10.1177/109019810002700506

SU3-55
COM388 Executing a Campaign

SU3-56