Ajai,

Marketing has become so large a discipline that the traditional fringes are always  been extended. We shall see more of this as research progresses.

A basic difference between social marketing and societal marketing exists in the purpose of the marketing effort. Marketers in social marketing aim mostly to transform habits and attitudes from a perceived negative one to a more positive one. To make people shift from eating junk food, which is harmful to health in the long run, marketers target offerings that are aimed at  change in those habits. In Ghana, social marketing aims at encouraging the use of condoms, for an example, to prevent STDs such as aids. Elsewhere it is aimed at discouraging sedentary life stlyes and junk food (Boyland et al. 2011)

The objective of social marketing may not necessarily be profit oriented, but a preemptive network against unnecessary and preventable morbidity, which affects the individual and society adversely. It is not uncommon to see social marketing efforts been central government and donor funded. Societal marketing aims at long term profitability.

Societal marketing may simply refer to the practice where a company attempts to be socially responsive and responsible in the provision of good and services that best suit the needs of its clientele ( Crane and Desmond, 2002). A poorly constructed building that collapses on the inhabitants, a fake drug that has little or no active ingredient etc are not capable of being credited with societal marketing credentials.

It can be said that societal marketing should be profitable and sustainable in the long run. This argument is buttressed by the fact that consumers are discerning in the world today, with many choices available for need satisfaction. The opposite must also apply. Who will continue to patronize shoddy goods?

References

Boyland, E.J., Harrold, J.A., Kirkham, T.C & Halford, J.C.G. (2011) ‘The extent of food advertising to children on UK television in 2008’, International Journal of Pediatric Obesity, 6, pp. 455–461

Crane, A. Desmond, J (2002), “Societal marketing and morality”, European Journal of Marketing, 36(5/6) 548-569

Ajai,

Marketing has become so large a discipline that the traditional fringes are always  been extended. We shall see more of this as research progresses.

A basic difference between social marketing and societal marketing exists in the purpose of the marketing effort. Marketers in social marketing aim mostly to transform habits and attitudes from a perceived negative one to a more positive one. To make people shift from eating junk food, which is harmful to health in the long run, marketers target offerings that are aimed at  change in those habits. In Ghana, social marketing aims at encouraging the use of condoms, for an example, to prevent STDs such as aids. Elsewhere it is aimed at discouraging sedentary life stlyes and junk food (Boyland et al. 2011)

The objective of social marketing may not necessarily be profit oriented, but a preemptive network against unnecessary and preventable morbidity, which affects the individual and society adversely. It is not uncommon to see social marketing efforts been central government and donor funded. Societal marketing aims at long term profitability.

Societal marketing may simply refer to the practice where a company attempts to be socially responsive and responsible in the provision of good and services that best suit the needs of its clientele ( Crane and Desmond, 2002). A poorly constructed building that collapses on the inhabitants, a fake drug that has little or no active ingredient etc are not capable of being credited with societal marketing credentials.

It can be said that societal marketing should be profitable and sustainable in the long run. This argument is buttressed by the fact that consumers are discerning in the world today, with many choices available for need satisfaction. The opposite must also apply. Who will continue to patronize shoddy goods?

References

Boyland, E.J., Harrold, J.A., Kirkham, T.C & Halford, J.C.G. (2011) ‘The extent of food advertising to children on UK television in 2008’, International Journal of Pediatric Obesity, 6, pp. 455–461

Crane, A. Desmond, J (2002), “Societal marketing and morality”, European Journal of Marketing, 36(5/6) 548-569

Yes, the lines are blurred. I tried to sum it up for my clientele at "Use Social Marketing to Align Your Consumers with a Cause" (link below).

... but after reading my column, you might want to clarify exactly what you're asking about, which might help someone also clarify where "societal" marketing fits on the spectrum of confusing similar terms. It sounds like there's a lot of potential for using a multitude of close words interchangeably, maybe incorrectly so.

http://www.growingproduce.com/vegetables/use-social-marketing-to-align-your-consumers-with-a-cause-opinion/

Hai Richard,

I am agreeing to you up to an extent, but it is not interchanging words, just see the new definition of marketing that is, marketing is a societal process, as far as my understanding societal marketing is aimed at an immediate profit, that is we will find a cause and raise money for that cause, that is cause related marketing, that is we will market our products and in the product package/in the promotional advertisements we will write/say that a percentage of the cost of the product will go towards a charity organization against some cause in the society (eg; Rs.1 from every cake of a bathing soap brand will go towards a charity organization), so that product will sell in the market and a percentage of that will go to that charity organization against the cause. So  here the company is making immediate profit but they are giving something back to the society also. But in the case of social marketing the company is not getting immediate profit by providing a sum of money for a charity organization, free heart, kidney surgeries for needy people, anti tobacco campaign etc, but their brand image will go up in the society and they can earn a future profit for their products.

Thanks & Regards,

Ajai Krishnan G

Actually we are agreeing... in my column I talked about 'cause' marketing vs. social marketing. Hadn't heard it referred to as 'societal' marketing, but it works.

Rick

The basic difference between these two terms is that social marketing always tries to promote ideas (not goods) that will benefit both the people and society if they adopt the ideas. But societal marketing deals with goods and services,i.e; companies will provide products that will satisfy customers and will not harm the society & consumers in the long run.  Three basic things of societal marketing; customer satisfaction, welfare of people & society and company profit. 

Societal marketing is business driven , profit oriented for  the organization , Social marketing with its huge significance has proven   there is no  alternative to   public interests  and that  fulfilling thereof  is the warranty of economic welfare and social development.  Social marketing is utilized as an important instrument to settle the interests’ conflict of business and society.  Sharing the world experience, implementing research, events and preventive measures toward  the direction of social marketing, all the mentioned are social demands, which will provide solving of many social problems existing in the 21-st century.        

It has been said that Marketing is a societal process.The for-profit business organisations are also a part of society and that's why besides earning profit, they have certain duties towards the society as well. Whenever they try to earn profit by satisfying customer needs and simultaneously keeping societal interest in mind, it can be said that they are practicing societal marketing.

The aim of Social marketing is to change or maintain people’s behavior for the benefit of individuals and society as a whole. The goal of the Social marketer is to influence social behaviors not to benefit the marketer, but to benefit the target audience and the society in general.

Yaa Manish exactly....but the problem is, the social marketers goal also changes in the long run......becomes profit oriented in the long run, by building social status, there by improving their brand name.......leading to equity......