Viral change and social marketing

Author and presenter:
Gary Burroughs
Lincolnshire Tobacco Control Strategy Manager, Lincolnshire Community Health Services, Phoenix NHS Stop Smoking Service, UK

Abstract
We have and are currently exploring new and more innovative delivery models to facilitate the roll out of more effective and efficient social marketing to support NHS Lincolnshire achieving its very challenging Dept of Health 4-week quit targets. The key challenge was to persuade healthcare professionals, 4-week quitters (champions) in Lincolnshire, increasing the referral rate of smokers into the Phoenix NHS Stop Smoking Service. One of these innovations is Viral Change.

In a nutshell, Viral Change is the alternative to slow, painful and unsuccessful management of change in organisations. The traditional model is linear: big change needs a big set of initiatives cascaded down via big communication programmes. In Viral Change, a small set of behaviours spread by a small number of people through their networks of influence create massive behavioural tipping points, translated into new routines and ‘cultures’ (new ideas established, new ways of working, new process adoption, new culture). Viral Change is about creating an internal epidemic of success in whatever way we have pre-defined success. And yes... it works.

Phoenix NHS Stop Smoking Service has seen a 40% increase in quits against the previous year (at Q3) and are well on their way to achieve the most challenging targets in the East Midlands in 2009/10

Source of funding: NHS Lincolnshire – As part of our Phoenix NHS Stop Smoking Service commissioned budget

Declaration of interest: none