In 2006, the National Consumer Council launched It's Our Health, the first ever national review of health-related campaigns and social marketing in England. It highlighted the need for a social marketing approach to encouraging positive behavioural change. Commissioned by the Department of Health, as part of its Choosing Health White Paper commitments, the report set out how social marketing can be applied to improve the effectiveness of health promotion at national and local levels.

As a result of these findings, the government decided to develop a National Social Marketing Strategy for Health to ensure that social marketing principles are adopted and systematically applied. One of the key recommendations for implementing this strategy was the establishment of a National Social Marketing Centre.

Formally launched in December 2006, it's the centre's mission, alongside our strategic partners in Consumer Focus and the Department of Health, to build capacity and skills in social marketing at strategic and operational levels.

Our Audience

We are in the unique position of being able to embed and cultivate social marketing within the current policy environment and to date, the public sector - in particular, health - has been the main area of our work. In keeping with our mandate from the Department of Health, our primary 'customers' are those working at the consumer end of health promotion: those in the PCTs, NHS, SHAs, PHOs and local authorities. We are also working with the Chartered Institute of Marketing and the Marketing and Sales Standards Setting Body to codify a set of standards for those offering social marketing consultancy and to inform marketing courses and qualifications.

Our work on developing a network of academics and institutions to embed agreed standards across a range of curricula and courses, will ensure a continued growth in numbers of qualified, knowledgeable, and skilled future practitioners both in marketing and in public health.

We are, however, mandated to work across government and across sectors. This means in effect that we will work with anyone who is either commissioning, or developing, behavioural interventions for a social good.