A report by the National Social Marketing Centre, commissioned by the DoH, has proposed sweeping changes to the department's communications. These would have far-reaching implications for the way the government tackles issues such as obesity, smoking and alcohol abuse.
The report claimed the DoH takes a short-term approach to marketing and is insufficiently focused on the consumer. It also argued that based on current marketing activity and spend, the government would struggle to meet the targets of the 'Choosing Health' White Paper.
Key proposals outlined in the report include a shift of focus onto long-term strategies to change behaviour, and the development of more partnerships with the private sector to help deliver targets.
Last week it emerged that the DoH is in talks with Sainsbury's about a joint campaign starring Jamie Oliver aimed at encouraging families to eat together.
Other recommendations in the report include the implementation of greater co-ordination across DoH activities, and of consumer-behaviour measures to assess the success of campaigns. It also suggested that the COI set up a dedicated social marketing roster.
The DoH said the report was 'useful' and that the recommendations would be applied to future activity. 'We commissioned the report because we recognised we needed to change the way we run our campaigns,' said a spokeswoman.
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