Mediaboss Marketing

WASHINGTON(BUSINESS WIRE)Much like Europe after World War II, political instability in war-torn countries, social and economic upheaval, religious constraints, and large refugee populations from Ukraine, Syria, Turkey, Saudi Arabia, Egypt, Libya, and Somalia set public health initiatives like family planning significantly back or completely unavailable. Clinics close and doctors move ondespite such challenges, DKT International, one of the worlds largest providers of family planning, HIV/AIDS and safe abortion products and services, steps in to fill a growing unmet need as a critical provider of condoms and other contraception.

Often, in times of conflict, the right or ability to access family planning is one of the first things women lose, says Chris Purdy, CEO of DKT International. Its every womans right to choose when and if to have children, and envision a world where every child is wanted, which speaks directly to the goals of FP2030 to enable women and girls to have access to affordable modern contraceptives.

In addition to access to condoms and other forms of contraception, The World Health Organizations (WHO) new guidelines on abortion care aim at protecting the health of women and girls to help prevent over 25 million unsafe abortions that currently occur each year. Being able to obtain safe abortion is a crucial part of health care, said Craig Lissner, acting Director for Sexual and Reproductive Health and Research at WHO. Nearly every death and injury that results from unsafe abortion is entirely preventable. Thats why we recommend women and girls can access abortion and family planning services when they need them.

DKT WomanCare, DKT Internationals innovative production and distribution arm of sexual and reproductive health products, continues to ensure top-quality contraceptives and safe abortion products are more available, accessible, and affordable in over 90 countries around the world.

The recent devastation in Ukraine and the inflation of goods and services we are experiencing around the world is extremely disconcerting, as the impact on developing countries is even more severe driving up the prices of necessities. We have already seen the cost of transport and petrol increase and expect this disruption to impact critical access to sexual and reproductive health products around the world, said Jacques-Antoine Martin, Managing Director of DKT WomanCare.

DKT WomanCare will continue to create structural, long-term solutions to systemic challenges, like product financing and donor dependency, by engaging in innovative partnerships and distribution models to put downward pressure on pricing, adds Purdy.

DKT has plans to expand to other markets in the region and is laying the groundwork to respond to a range of challenges facing women of reproductive age in markets like Iraq, Lebanon, Jordan, and Palestine. For example, the Jordan office will initially provide IUDs, condoms, and MVA abortion kits.

Supporting women in choosing a better future for themselves, especially in places where there are social and political conflicts, is what drives our mission, adds Purdy. And we will continue to ensure access to family planning triumphs even amidst differences in culture, economics, politics, gender, and religion.

About DKT International:

Since 1989, DKT Internationals core mission has been to provide safe and affordable options for family planning and HIV prevention through social marketing in 90 underserved countries throughout Latin America, Africa, and Asia. In 2021, DKT generated 54.2 million Couple Years of Protection (CYPs) through the sale of more than 901 million condoms, 111 million cycles of oral contraceptives, 20 million emergency contraceptives, 19 million injectables, 1.9 million implants, 4.7 million IUDs, 5 million medical abortion (MA) combipacks, and 300,000 manual vacuum aspiration (MVA) kits.

Contacts

DKT International

Dara Shlifka

dara@gcomworks.com

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DKT International Helps Maintain Global Access to Family Planning Despite Conflict and Inflation of Goods and Services - - Portada-online.com

How can state and local governments, which are facing a talent crunch due to numerous workplace trends, attract new workers and retain the best of the ones they now have?

When employees leave state and local government jobs, they often cite retirement, advancement at another public employer, and a lack of competitive compensation as the top reasons for leaving, according to their exit interviews.

Likewise, when HR Directors at state and local governments were asked about the competitiveness of their compensation and benefits packages, 92% say that the benefits package is competitive, yet just 60% say that the compensation offering is competitive, according to the same report.

Today, major generational shifts are happening that immediately impact government agencies. With Baby Boomers retiring, there is a major loss of institutional knowledge within many agencies; and Millennials currently make up just 27% of the public workforce. Clearly, public employers need to make investments in talent attraction and retention now.

With the ongoing labor shortage driving up compensation, it is unlikely that public sector employers are going to be able to compete for talent on compensation alone. This means that state and local government employers need to get more creative in order to attract new recruits and retain existing employees. Here are several examples of what the most innovative public employers are doing:

Public employers should outline what they want to be known for in the marketplace. For example, do you want your agency to be known as one that highlights employees work/life balance or focuses on the jobs purpose and impact? Do you want a workplace that can be depended on to promote veterans transitions or the re-entry of mothers? Or, do you want to offer strong career advancement and development and stability and security?

To start the process, the hiring professionals within these agencies should ask their long-time, most productive employees why they stay. Then, analyze the employee experience through the lens of a productive, engaging, and enjoyable work experience. Next, understand the experience your competitors are offering, and engage in a social marketing strategy through story-telling to communicate your agencys unique value proposition. Indeed, public sector candidates interact with prospective employers an average of 7.4 months prior to being hired.

For example, the state of Indiana used social channels on LinkedIn page to triple the level of prospective candidates awareness of available positions, according to LinkedIn.

Remember to highlight purpose and meaning in your social narrative. For a public service job to allow an employee to contribute to something larger than oneself is a big reason why employees choose their jobs and stay with their employer across generations. Because serving the public needs is the mission of the local and state government, highlighting purpose is a logical first action to take to attract and retain employees.

To compete with private sector, government agencies should consider these innovative ways to increase the value of employment:

The use of employee and employer feedback is an often underused tactic to help retain key employees. Some of the ways the public sector employers can retain their most valuable employees by leveraging feedback, include:

Conduct stay interviews In todays competitive labor market, employers more than ever need to keep an eye on how employees, especially high performers, are feeling. Stay interviews, which help managers understand why employees stay and what might cause them to leave, are a mechanism for doing so.

During these less-than-30-minute conversations, managers ask standard, structured questions in a casual manner. Asking certain questions can help employers understand what are the specific aspects of each employees role and workplace that keep them engaged, what are each employees career and life goals, and how the manager can support each person in achieving them. Further, these interview may shed light on what factors might tempt certain employees to leave.

Upskill existing employees by investing in digital professional development One of the top factors of employee retention is the availability of learning opportunities. With many options of online learning platforms available to employers, its relatively easy for employers to invest in upskilling and offer a plethora of options for skills development for their employees. For example, the state of Missouri improved employee satisfaction by 54% by investing in LinkedIn Learning for its employees.

Promote and hire by valuing power skills over technical skills To meet the agility demands of knowledge workers today, power skills, such as self-awareness, and understanding power dynamics, collaboration, leadership, communication, and cultural competency, are often the unspoken requirements for high-performance team culture.

These skills are critically important for todays employees, from Millennials to Gen X to Baby Boomers, and any who rate purpose and meaningful work as top factors when considering a job at a government agency or public sector employer.

Excerpt from:
Innovations for local and state governments to attract and retain workers - Thomson Reuters

Nine in 10 people (91%) across APAC and Japan (JAPAC) believe it is not enough for businesses to say they are prioritising environmental, societal, and governance (ESG) - they need to see it in action and proof. According to the study "No Planet B" by Oracle and Pamela Rucker, CIO advisorfor Harvard Professional Development, even though half of the respondents (50%) believe businesses can make more meaningful changes on sustainability and social factors than individuals or governments alone, 75%are fed up with the lack of progress by businesses to-date.

Close to three in four (74%) respondents wouldbe willing to cancel their relationship with a brand that does not take sustainability and social initiatives seriously, with 72% saying that theywould even leave their current company to work for a brand that places a greater focus on these efforts. On the other hand, 89% said that they would bemore willing to pay a premium for their products and services if organisations canclearly demonstrate the progress they are making on environmental and social issues, along with 87% and 86% who said they would work for and invest in such companies respectively.

Close to nine in 10 respondents (89%) also believe businesses would make more progress towards sustainability and social goals with the help of AI, while 66% believe that "bots will succeed where humans have failed".

Human bias and operational challenges are holding businesses back

Almost 93% of business leaders believe sustainability and ESG programmes are critical to the success of their organisations. Around nine in 10 business leadersbelieve sustainability and societal metrics should be used to inform traditional business metrics, and 92% want to increase their investment in sustainability.

Yet business leaders face major obstacleswhen implementing sustainability and ESG initiatives. Obtaining ESG metrics from partners and third parties (39%), a lack of data (37%) andtime-consuming manual reporting processes (35%) were some of the common barriers cited by business leaders.Nonetheless, business leaders want to step up on their sustainability and social efforts as they help increase productivity (42%), strengthen the brand (40%) and attract new customers (37%).

The study also revealed that business leaders will trust bots over humans alone to drive sustainability and social efforts, with 91% saying organisations that use technology to help drive sustainable business practices will be the ones that succeed in the long run. Almost all of them (97%) also admitted thathuman bias and emotion often distract from the end goal.

About nine in 10 (94%) business leaders would trust a bot over a human when it comes to making sustainability and social decisions.

Some of the most common reasons cited include bots being better atcollecting different types of data without error (48%), makingrational, unbiased decisions (46%) andpredicting future outcomes based on metrics and past performance (45%).

On the flip side, business leaders also said that humans are still essentialto the success of sustainability and social initiatives as people are better at implementing changes based on feedback from stakeholders (51%); educating others on the information needed to make decisions (48%), and making context-informed strategic decisions (45%).

Juergen Lindner, senior vice president and CMO, global marketing SaaS, Oracle said thatit has never been more critical for businesses to invest in sustainability and ESG initiatives as people are looking for decisive action and are demanding more transparency and tangible results.Business leaders understand the importance, yet often have the erroneous assumption that they need to prioritise either profits or sustainability. The truth is this is not a zero-sum game. The technology that can eliminate all the obstacles to ESG efforts is now available, and organisations that get this right can not only support their communities and the environment, but also realize significant revenue gains, cost savings, and other benefits that impact the bottom line," he added.

Theevents of the past two years have put a spotlight on sustainability and social efforts, with 81% of respondents saying thatthe events over the past two years have caused them to change their actions and95% saying thatsustainability and social factors have become more important than ever. Among them, establishinghealthier ways of living (53%), saving the planet for future generations (49%) and helping to create more equality around the world (49%) were among the commonly cited reasons for wanting to makeprogress on sustainability and social factors.

However, 94% of respondents believe society has not made enough progress. Common attributes cited by respondents include increased emphasis onshort-term profits over long-term benefits (43%), people being too busy with other priorities (40%) and people being too lazy or selfish to help save the planet (37%)

The findings for this study were based on a survey conducted between 25 February to 14 March 2022 with 11,005 global respondents, among which 4,000 were from JAPAC.The survey explored attitudes and behaviors of consumers and business leaders towards sustainability and social efforts along with the role and expectations of artificial intelligence (AI) and robots in ESG efforts.

Related articles:Mixed progress in SG green transformation, sustainability manager role on the riseStudy: Singapore's SMEs need a lot more help in creating sustainable practicesAPAC firms' sustainability progress 'inconsistent', plans remain performativeWhat works better in advertising: Guilt or hope?

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Study: Will bots succeed where humans have failed in brand sustainable pushes? - Marketing Interactive

Whether you like it or not, influencers run the world. Personal training? Product recommendations? Fashion advice?Look no further than thehost of influencers that have become consumers be-all and end-all source for anything and everything. They may not be qualifiedbut does anybody really seem to care? The global influencer marketing industry is expected to grow to approximately US$24.1 billion by 2025 and, evidently, this new wave of social marketing is showing no signs of slowing. With all this power comes opportunity. Enter the virtual influencer, a digital persona that encompasses everything that the traditional influencer is, minus the inevitable scandal and burnout. In other words, a way for brands to have their cake and eat it too.

Managing the virtual influencer from an organisational standpoint

Are cartoons really going to take over the advertising world? In short, no. This is because behind the virtual influencers attractive appearance, clever remarks, and winning personality stands an entire team of skilled professionals. The virtual influencer may be a futuristic being, but, like today's music, it requires old-school techniques to render and manage.

Already there are over 150 virtual influencers in existence, with this figure expected to increase as influencer marketing spending for 2022 grows to a forecasted US$15 billion. From an organisational standpoint, the formula is simple and no different from managing a celebrity or politician: production + social media management = virtual influencer.

Virtual influencers should continuously be seen as a production effort, requiring a skilled team of CGI designers, 3D animators, storyboarding artists, copywriters, production and set designers, clothing and wardrobe producers, music producers, photographers, videographers, andas with every influencer or model in this day and agea healthy dose of Photoshop. See? Virtual influencers are human too.

Social media management for virtual influencers would be no different than any other branded initiatives, with tasks such as brainstorming relevant topics and social handles, and community management from a quick-strike standpoint on anything that is newsworthy or triggers the personality of the virtual influencer remaining at the forefront of management. In other words, the management of a virtual influencer follows the same classic approach of the traditional influencer.

Many may be wonderingthen whats the point? Besides avoiding scandal and controversy, the virtual influencer behaves on an as-needed basis, unlike a physical influencer which has to produce content almost daily. Rather than sharing every meal they eat in a day, the virtual influencer focuses on content that aligns with their point of view and therefore requires a much lower level of storyboarding, copywriting, and content creation compared to traditional influencers.

The golden ratio for virtual influencers

Is it a bird, a plane, superman? Close. While it isnt superman, the virtual influencer is the modern-day superhero for any brand. When we deconstruct the virtual influencer, the concept of its creation becomes far simpler. From the development side, something that will be integral for every brands virtual influencer is the creation of a personality. Just as every real-life influencer follows somewhat of an act and establishes a distinct personality through their content and aura, this needs to be accomplished with the virtual influencer.

The million-dollar question is,how can brands skip the trial-and-error period and perfect the virtual influencer from the get-go? Contrary to popular belief, the success of a virtual influencer does not rely on the way it is rendered. The core feature that will define a good or bad virtual influencer is its own definition of self. Who are you? What do you represent? What are your beliefs? Without a well-defined personality and character, the virtual influencers appearancewhether it is cartoonish, virtual, or hyper-realbecomes irrelevant.

The second feature of the so-called golden ratio for virtual influencers is self-awareness. Like any physical celebrity, virtual influencers can become too fake. For this reason, many are failing. The hyper-real, virtual beings with avant-garde hair and makeup and bizarre behaviours may be capable of garnering gossip, but they have failed to capture an influencer audience that would want to engage with the virtual influencer in a meaningful way. Virtual influencers should be looked at as a long-term investment rather than a trendy fad to succeed.

Like us, virtual influencers need to constantly level up

We live in the age of technologywhile the 20th century had the moon landing, the 21st century has the metaverse. It goes without saying that as technology upgrades, virtual influencers can be upgraded as well. From photo and video quality to producing 3D videos which are currently very expensive for virtual influencers, technological advancements will really only affect the aesthetic appearance of your virtual influencer and their content.

If your virtual influencer is focused on being hyper-real or uber-futuristic, then only time and technology will offer you the ability to heighten this experience. A word of advice? Dont put all of your eggs in one virtual basketthat is, dont base the success of your virtual influencer solely on appearance because technology doesnt evolve as fast as consumer sentiment does. Virtual influencers need to be consistently upgraded to uphold their personalities and worldviews. This is the key to remaining relevant and realistic. Take US virtual influencer Lil Miquela, whose global success and massive Instagram following (3.1 million) is credited to her transformative and ever-changing story and personality.

For brands, rendering a virtual influencer is an opportunity to graduate from the traditional influencer while continuing to wield their global influence. Just like the mobile phone in the 90s, the virtual influencer appears daunting and futuristic. The reality? Just like for any human being, authenticity remains at the core of their success.

Humphrey Ho is managing director of Hylink USA.

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Deconstructing the virtual influencer | Analysis - Campaign Asia

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