Case study: A social marketing approach for increasing community coalitions’ adoption of evidence-based policy

Community-Based Prevention Marketing (CBPM) for Policy Development is a unique blend of current streams of thought and action in public health that is responsive to calls for upstream social marketing strategies. It employs a social ecological perspective on change, uses an evidence-based and upstream approach to mobilize people into strategically focused actions, and applies social marketing principles to tailor relevant and feasible policy development at appropriate levels. This model builds upon and extends a number of strands of research in prevention, policy development and evaluation, and coalition action for policy implementation that complements work being done by universities, their community partners, and other research and community groups that are concerned with stemming the rise of obesity and other ‘wicked’ health problems. The results of the pilot test are described and have been incorporated into the development of a web-based training site to help coalitions and their research partners adopt CBPM-Policy Development to address their public health problems. However, not every coalition is ready to engage in CBPM-Policy Development. This process requires a well-functioning coalition, a strong leader, and access to marketing research experts.