ASMO fine tunes mass media strategy to increase use of priority health products
Experts at a SHOPS Plus social marketing workshop shared preliminary results from a survey designed to enhance the effectiveness of mass media campaigns that the Afghan Social Marketing Organization (ASMO) uses to promote priority health products.
ASMO, which is the leading social marketing organization in Afghanistan, aims to improve health outcomes by expanding access to quality health products. It relies on mass media campaigns to increase awareness and uptake of maternal and child health and family planning products.
In addition to examining its organizational capacity, behavior change implementation strategies, and financial sustainability, the workshop dissected ASMO’s current mass media campaign and recommended ways to effectively reach target audiences.
The survey collected information on radio and television habits of Afghans in ASMO’s priority regions and found that although ASMO currently uses numerous TV and radio channels to disseminate campaigns, it could actually still reach its target population while saving costs by using fewer channels. The survey also found that some of the campaigns were more effective than others. ASMO will use these findings to inform future campaigns.
ASMO’s products include oral rehydration salts to treat childhood diarrhea, iron folate to support healthy mothers-to-be, contraceptives, and household water treatment solutions. Through persuasive campaigns that communicate messages about its products, ASMO hopes to increase demand for and use of the products.