Behavioural economics, social marketing and JOGGing at the European Social Marketing Conference

Just back from the European Social Marketing Conference in Rotterdam where Behaviour Workshops asked delegates the provocative question “Behavioural Economics - Friend or Enemy of Social Marketing?” Thanks to everybody who came along for joining in the debate - our slides, plus all the other conference presentations will soon be posted on the ESMA site http://www.europeansocialmarketing.org/.   

Overall, this was a thought provoking and stimulating get-together, with a wide range of interesting speakers and well attended with delegates from most European Countries, plus some from much further afield – including South Africa, New Zealand and the US. Unsurprisingly, the largest contingent was from The Netherlands, where social marketing underpins many interesting and well evaluated programmes such as JOGG – an innovative programme that encourages young people (0-19 years) to lead healthy and active lives.

Coincidentally, the BBC todaycarries the news that Public Health England is urging children to drink waterinstead of sugary drinks – not just to stave off obesity, but also because of rising rates of tooth decay caused by all that sugar. No doubt, the Dutch JOGGers would approve – and we don’t have any excuses: every conference delegate came home with a handy JOGG water bottle!