Sanitation Marketing:

Where Are We now?

Jacqueline Devine

Senior Social Marketing Specialist, World Bank

World Social Marketing Conference

April 21, 2013, Toronto

Session Objectives

Highlight sanitation marketing as an emergent

application of social marketing

Illustrate challenges and promising practices

Attract more social marketers to this field!

The Global Sanitation Crisis

2.5 billion without access to safe sanitation of

whom:

1.1 billion defecate in the open (86% rural)

(Source: WHO/Unicef, JMP, March 2012 update)

Poor sanitation as a determinant of poverty

and stunting

Increased global attention:

Renewed high level commitments

Media coverage on the rise

WSP’s Theory Of Change for

Scaling Up Rural Sanitation

Strengthen Enabling

Environment

Generate Demand for Improved Sanitation

Strengthen Supply for Improved Sanitation

Learning and Knowledge

4

Definition of Sanitation Marketing

…the application of the best social and commercial marketing practices to change behaviors and to scale up the demand and supply for improved sanitation, particularly among the rural poor

Key Milestones

Early initiatives in Vietnam and Benin

Rural sanitation marketing programs now in some 15

countries

Presentation at WSMC Brighton 2008

Development of behavior change framework SaniFOAM

Growing knowledge sharing:

AusAID SanMark Community of Practice

Tool kits and guidance

Challenges

Complex product and technology mind-set

Weak and fragmented supply chain

Low demand influenced by:

Social norms

Competing priorities

Beliefs and misconceptions

Lack of awareness of options

Reaching the poor

Promising Practices: Product

Applying Human Centered Design

Focus on benefits and

features, not technical specs

Allows for reduction in

production costs

Enables scale through

standardization

Facilitates business

expansion or creation

branding opportunities limited by

presence of “copy-cats”

Promising Practices: Place

Improving Business Models

Quasi-franchising model of

enterprises around a product

Multi-stakeholder platforms at

local level

Potential for mainstreaming

into government programs

Branding, franchising arrangements, achieving

100% household coverage

Promising Practices: Price

Addressing Affordability

Strengthening linkages

between suppliers and

informal savings groups

Targeted “smart” subsidies

National alliances and public-

private partnerships

changing dominant mindset and discourse

from poverty to affordability

Promising Practices: Promotion

Appealing to Non Health Drivers

Pride, dignity and social status emerge as

more important drivers than health

http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=Coz31h-1XVM

Centrally developed, locally implemented

tools

leveraging sufficient funding for adequate

reach and dosage

Conclusions

Many challenges stem from having limited control

over the 4ps

Complementary expertise needed:

Business development/advisory services

Financing

Large scale success stories still to come

www.wsp.org/sanmarketingtoolkit

Acknowledgements

This represents the work of WSP’s global scaling up

rural sanitation program in Tanzania, India, Indonesia,

Cambodia and other countries. Thanks to Ajith Kumar,

Ari Kamasan, Jason Cardosi, Yolande Coombes, and

many others.

Contact

Jacqueline Devine

jdevine@worldbank.org