Up and Out of Poverty: The Social Marketing Solution

Poverty, whether the abject destitute poverty in the developing world, or relative poverty in the developed world, is the scourge of mankind - resulting in wasted lives, unfulfilled potential, disease, and early death. Many experts have proposed methods for reducing poverty, all of which are offered in earnest, and have shown some degree of success (Bottom of the Pyramid, property rights, NGO funding, government funding, direct payments, microfinance, and so on), but none of them has proven to be the magic bullet to solve the problem. Here, Kotler and Lee don't disagree with these other programs, instead, they put them into a framework that has proven successful at everything from selling breakfast cereal to smoking cessation - marketing. By using the marketing framework of the 4 Ps, segmentation, and understanding the customer, solutions can be put into place to maximize benefits for the greatest number of people. As someone with a marketing degree, I understand the concepts, but never thought about using them in a social setting. Anyone interested in poverty or social programs should pick up this book and think about how to apply its contents to their work. I find there are many people who are passionate about social issues, but seem to only scream and yell to make their voice heard. By utilizing the marketing framework to "sell" their ideas, these people can build off the success of hundreds of years and billions of dollars of business experience developing marketing plans. I highly recommend this book as an excellent guide.