As an agency, we do a lot of work influencing personal behavior. It’s become a specialty. We reduce teen smoking, encourage people to seek treatment for problem gambling and substance abuse. We encourage middle schoolers to eat healthy and exercise.

Tomorrow I’m speaking at the 2009 Prevention Symposium put on by Training Resources a Division of Iowa Behavioral Health Association. The presentation is about communications strategies to reduce underage and binge drinking.

In nearly all social marketing situations the target audience already knows what the right thing to do is. Smoking is bad for you. Gambling too much is bad for you. Drugging is bad for you. Yet people do it. And if you tell them not to, they usually do it more. It’s not rational.

In all cases, the secret is within the target audience. We work really hard to peel back the layers of resistance to find messaging strategies that influence the audience’s thinking. Sometimes in an evolutionary way and sometimes revolutionary, but always in an honest way. Don’t tell a teen they’re going to die as a result of having a drink because they see people drinking who don’t die. Find a way to help them make intelligent decisions and remember always in the end it is their decision. If you respect that, you’ll have more effect changing their thinking.