6 Months: Just breastmilk

Summary

We've all heard development professionals say: we are not selling a product, we are trying to change behaviours. But persuading a consumer to try and continue to use a new product means introducing a new habit too, from starting to smoke, to buying a 4x4, or using breast milk substitutes (BMS). What should SBCC practitioners take from the integrated campaigns that market these brands? What should we leave? And how can we compete with their big budget, multi-channel approaches? Save the Children, UNICEF, Alive & Thrive and Bridge encountered such challenge when uniting to counter the growth of breast milk substitute marketing and adoption in Myanmar. Through the example of our award-winning work over the last year, we present multimedia tests and interventions from mother and supporter commitment tools, gamified learning quizzes on film and in app and influencer marketing. Supporting these are data from longitudinal tests over mothers engaged by the integrated campaign over 6 months, and quantitative testing partly modeled on brand saliency 'pulse tests'. The presentation and these interactions aim to demonstrate how a brand can connect these dots in a single integrated platform for personal, community and mass-media SBCC. With this, we present our experience of the sustainability benefits of such a brand, which facilitated private sector involvement, co-option by further development organisations and adoption by the government.

Background/Objectives

In Myanmar, 5% die before reaching five. Optimal breastfeeding has the greatest potential impact on child survival, yet under 38% exclusively breastfeed to 6 months. Surveyed mothers recalled formula slogans over breastmilk's benefits. When asked who uses formula, they chose women appearing modern, urban, rich aspirational. Just 3 in 5 knew '6 months', and 82% believed 'exclusive' included food, water or formula. Under 16% felt their husband supported their feeding choices, and a third felt nobody did. Our objective was to increase exclusive breastfeeding rates by integrating easy, aspirational awareness with personal, digital and community interventions promoting supportive behaviours.

Results/Lessons Learned

Awareness -1.9m+ Social engagement (>15-40 female population of target cities) -18.2m reach (2.5x adult population) -$197k PR value in 151 publications -27,000 app downloads -More saliency in three months (19% unaided|60% aided) than all but three formula brands Supportive norm -16% -> 45% mothers who felt supported by their husbands increased -30% -> 18% mothers who felt nobody supported them -35 influencers joined our six celebrities, through TV, radio and 4.5m followers for no fee. -Myanmar's largest retailer displayed in store to 8.9m+ customers -Myanmar's largest bank looped films in over 500 branches -Both announced their first breastfeeding rooms Outcomes -1 in 4 mothers giving birth in target cities were activated -64% increase in exclusive breastfeeding rates over 6 months Lessons to present -The difficulty of measuring and attributing cause -BMS response -Managing a shared brand

Discussion/Implications For The Field

Since launching #6la brand grew beyond this, as other international organisations commissioned extensions from Eastern Shan to the Rakhine IDP camps. This has culminated in Ministry of Health & Sports adoption, with integrated campaigning through a supportive social norm planned nationwide. At the core of the campaign was a simple intervention: asking mothers and those who most shape their social norm to pledge commitment at the most relevant time. It is the multiplying effect of integrating this intervention with a supporting campaign, brought together under a common transferable brand that we believe is of most interest.

Abstract submitted by:

Donald Eastwood - Bridge

Andy Nilsen - Save the Children