This resource corresponds to Day 1.

Adapted from Success Stories: National WIC Breastfeeding Promotion Project, on the Social Marketing Institute Web site at http://www.social-marketing.org/success/cs-nationalwic.html

The National WIC Breastfeeding Promotion Project repositioned the traditional health benefits of breastfeeding to emphasize a new product benefit—familiar bonding from birth. The emotional price of breastfeeding was identified as embarrassment and conflicts with active lifestyles. To reduce these prices, a counseling program was developed to help mothers work through individual constraints. The place strategy targeted hospital environments as well as homes. It focused on key intermediaries such as professional associations. Media, as well as grassroots advocacy, comprised the bulk of the promotion strategy, with media stressing a congratulatory tone and communicated through family spokespersons. After a year of program implementation, breastfeeding rates in hospitals increased from 57.8% to 65.1%.

• Determination of program goals. The four goals established for the program included increasing breastfeeding initiation rates; increasing rates of breastfeeding duration among WIC participants; increasing referrals to the WIC program for breastfeeding support; and increasing the general public's knowledge and support for breastfeeding.

• Identification of target population. The targeted population for the campaign was organized into three separate audiences. The primary target audience was composed of pregnant Anglo, African, and Hispanic American women who were either enrolled as WIC participants or who met the income eligibility requirements. The secondary audience consisted of individuals who might influence the primary target population, such as the mothers, husbands and boyfriends of pregnant women, prenatal health care providers, and WIC staff. The general public was also included as the tertiary audience in order to affect change in the established social norms and prevailing public perception regarding breastfeeding.

• Formative research. Formal development of the campaign began with the collection of consumer information needed to segment the population, identify important factors limiting breastfeeding, and define the methodology to effectively promote breastfeeding. Some of the important research objectives included identifying the perception of breastfeeding and bottle-feeding held by the primary and secondary target groups; identifying the factors that motivate and deter the primary target group from breastfeeding and the secondary and tertiary target groups from encouraging women to breastfeed; and identifying effective information channels and spokespersons for promoting breastfeeding among WIC participants. Qualitative and quantitative research data was then collected from the ten pilot states through a series of observations, interviews (personal and telephone), surveys, and focus groups using the primary and secondary target audiences.

Marketing Plan Development
Results from the formative research were used to develop a marketing plan, including detailed objectives and goals for the project, the specific audiences and behaviors to be targeted, and the strategies for addressing the factors associated with promoting breastfeeding. The marketing plan was created using the conceptual framework of the 4 Ps (product, price, place, and promotion), and included a specific strategy for each area to distinguish the product (breastfeeding) from its competition (formula bottle-feeding).

• The product strategy defined breastfeeding by describing both its health and the emotional benefits, and by emphasizing the special, loving bond the mother will share with her child. In contrast to the traditional public health approach of addressing breastfeeding as a medical health decision, breastfeeding was repositioned as a way for a family to establish a special relationship with their child from the very onset of its life. With the slogan "Loving Support Makes Breastfeeding Work," program materials were created to explain the supportive role family members and friends can play in encouraging a new mother to breastfeed.

• The pricing strategy entailed minimizing or eliminating the deterrents or "perceived costs" of breastfeeding for new and prospective mothers. The strategy called for targeting the women who doubted their breastfeeding ability or who felt breastfeeding was embarrassing or conflicted with their active lives and relationships. To address these perceived costs, public education materials were created for each targeted group of women, and a counseling program was developed for health care providers to assist them in identifying common misperceptions and helping mothers work through them.

• The placement strategy for the program focused on reaching the various environments in which mothers and their friends and relatives obtain infant care information. Education materials were developed to reach mothers and relatives in their homes; and together with the World Health Organization and the UN Children's Fund, Best Start program staff took steps to make hospital environments more supportive of breastfeeding mothers. Partnerships with other breastfeeding promotion organizations and professional associations were established through the FNS' Breastfeeding Promotion Consortium to further institutionalize and disseminate the program.

• The program's promotion strategy entailed promoting the WIC breastfeeding project using a variety of methods and through a broad range of outlets, including: legislative, policy, and organizational development; media and grassroots advocacy; professional training and education, peer counselor programs, and direct marketing and advertising. The strategy also called for developing a campaign message that would use emotional appeal, convey a positive, congratulatory tone, and would be communicated through family spokespersons.