Mediaboss Marketing

Ireland has one of the lowest breastfeeding rates in the world. With just 37 per cent of mothers breastfeeding on discharge from hospital, baby formula sales are booming. But is the advertising of this product here sufficiently regulated? Some campaigners think not.

Irelands lax adoption of advertising codes to curb the marketing of breast milk substitutes is normalising formula feeding and misleading parents, says Baby Feeding Law Group Ireland (BFLGI). Members include individuals and breastfeeding support organisations Cuidiu, La Leche League and Friends of Breastfeeding.

Our big concern is there are a lot of unethical marketing practices and what we would consider to be predatory marketing practices, says BFLGI member Liz OSullivan, a dietician, lecturer in nutrition and mother of two. Even where there is legislation to protect families, it is really poorly enforced.

The legislation OSullivan refers to is based on the WHOs International Code of Marketing of Breast-milk Substitutes. Introduced 40 years ago this year, it was designed to stop commercial interests from undermining breastfeeding. Unicef describes the code as a response to infant-feeding industry marketing activities that were promoting formula feeding over breastfeeding, in turn leading to dramatic increases in maternal and infant morbidity and mortality.

The health of babies was too important for the usual market rules to apply. The codeasked all governments to legislate to prevent commercial interests from damaging breastfeeding and the health of their populations.

The benefits of breastfeeding are numerous. Breastfed children have a lower incidence and severity of many illnesses, including respiratory and urinary tract infections, gastroenteritis, diabetes, and childhood cancers, according to aLancet report, Breastfeeding in the 21st Century (2016). In mothers, breastfeeding was found to help prevent breast cancer and reduce the risk of ovarian cancer and diabetes. The WHOs website says breastfed children perform better on intelligence tests, too.

Separately, a long-term study in Brazil, published in Lancet Global Health in 2015, traced nearly 3,500 babies from all walks of life and found that those breastfed for longer scored higher in IQ tests as adults. Many other factors contribute to IQ, researchers and critics stressed, but their study did try to rule out the main ones such as the mothers education, family income and birth weight.

A majority of countries, including Ireland, have enacted legislation to implement at least some of the code to help safeguard the benefits of breastfeeding. In its most recent analysis of legal measures in place, the WHO, Unicef and the International Baby Food Action Network found that 25 countries scored 75 or above out of 100 and were considered substantially aligned with the Code. Irelands score, however, was just 39. BFLGI wants to see a greater adoption of the code in Ireland to restrict how baby formula is advertised.

There are few products whose packaging is required by law to tell you the alternative to buying them is actually better. Cigarettes and alcohol spring to mind, and infant formula is also one of them. Pick up any brand and it is required by law to say breast milk is better. Formula companies must state the superiority of breast milk on all of their marketing materials, which they duly do.

However as the free alternative of breast milk reduces market share, their marketing strategies, curtailed by the code, have become fairly inventive.

The code is strongest in relation to newborns. In Ireland, companies cant actively market formula for babies up to six months but are adept at getting around it, says OSullivan. They bolster brand awareness by heavily promoting similar products such as follow-on milks.

You are not allowed to have promotions or offers on stage one infant formula, but any ads you have for your stage-two formula are nearly advertising your stage-one by default because the product looks exactly the same. The only difference is the number, OSullivan says.

According to Gerard Hastings, emeritus professor of social marketing at the University of Stirling, while companies are prohibited legally from communicating about first milk, their tack is to promote baby milk formula as the best thing after maternal milk. His research, Selling second best: how infant formula marketing works, published in Globalization and Health, includes interviews with former baby milk formula industry marketers.

The formula companies are adept at creating a brand affinity without mentioning a product, one marketer says. When [corporation name] market infant formula, they do need to tiptoe a bit around stuff before 12 months, but they still do all sorts of things. They dont talk about product at all, its like, Call our advice line, Join our baby club, no mention of a product, so you can market without talking about a product. This approach gets around regulation and makes enforcement difficult.

Building long-term relationships with mothers through baby clubs and care lines is a way to reach them without breaking the code. In his research, Hastings quotes one marketer saying a particular formula company was always on a quest to identify women who are pregnant for the first timebecause how a woman feeds her baby is how she is likely to feed her subsequent babiesfirst-time mothers are the holy grail.

Technology and analytics is supercharging these efforts. Tell the company your babys due date when signing up to their baby club and you will receive emails timed to your stage of pregnancy.

The labelling of formula is covered by the code too. Packaging cant include pictures of infants or other pictures or text which may idealise the use of the product, it says. But the enforcement of this, is problematic, says OSullivan.

If you look at the products, they have teddy bears, a picture of a cot, a mammy goat and a baby goat. One logo has a love heart on it, another looks like a mum holding a baby, another has a shield. All of these things look like they are idealising the product, but the Food Safety Authority of Ireland says they are not..

The end goal of our group is to change legislation, she says. Whereas now we restrict the promotion of products to babies up to six months, we would love to see that up to 36 months. But even if Irelands adoption of the code is expanded, it wont be enough, she says. Its the monitoring and enforcement that really need to be fixed.

Still, if the benefits of breastfeeding are so compelling, why do so many Irish parents find themselves in the supermarket formula aisle? To be fair to formula companies, it cant all be down to their advertising. They see themselves as providing parents information about feeding options and offering choice.

The fact is, Irelands low breastfeeding rates are out of whack. Nationally, 63.8 per cent of women here initiate breastfeeding at their babys first feed. This compares with rates of 90 per cent in Australia, 81 per cent in the UK and 79 per cent in the US, according to the Irish Maternity Indicator System 2019 national report. On discharge, just 37.3 per cent of mothers here are breastfeeding.

Separate research as part of the ESRIs Growing Up in Ireland study (2014) asks mothers who did not initiate breastfeeding why. Almost 49 per cent said formula feeding was preferable(though the statistic does not shed light on why it was perceived as preferable). Some 17 per cent cited inconvenience/fatigue and a further 18 per cent cited reasons including difficulty with breastfeeding techniques, soreness, not enough milk and problems feeding a previous baby.

While the HSE has an Infant Feeding Policy for hospitals and community health professionals, as well as the mychild.ie website for parents, campaigners say support for breastfeeding is underfunded and voluntary breastfeeding groups run by mothers are left to fill the gaps.

There are just 20.5 dedicated lactation consultant posts across Irelands maternity hospitals and units, with another 10 operating in the community. This is in a country that recorded 55,959 births in 2020. With more than 8,000 births a year, the National Maternity Hospital at Holles Street in Dublin has just two full-time and two part-time lactation consultants. Recruitment for 24 more lactation consultant posts is due to start this year, the HSE says.

For broadcaster, UCDlecturer and mother of two Aoibhinn N Shilleabhin, the feeding of Irish babies is being left up to the market. By not adequately supporting mothers who want to breastfeed, she says, we are providing a steady supply of customers to a multimillion-euro industry.

N Shilleabhin became interested in the topic when, on the birth of her second child last year, she became part of a new health area after moving house: All of a sudden I had access to a public lactation consultant. Her child was born with a tongue tie and a toot, and this support, though online during the pandemic, made all the difference.

With regard to breastfeeding her first baby, who was also born with a tongue tie, N Shilleabhin says shewas ready to give up on day four. That time, a visit from a public health nurse experienced in breastfeeding, enabled her to continue to breastfeed exclusively for six months.

When mothers, in particular first-time mothers, dont get timely support in their areafor often fixable issues, breastfeeding can come to a painful and sometimes traumatic and guilt-ridden halt.

Between women unsupported to breastfeed and insufficient regulation on how formula is advertised, formula companies have inordinate influence in how babies are fed, according to N Shilleabhin. My point is that we really shouldnt be leaving it up to private industry, whose bottom line is profit, to tell you what the best thing is for your child.

The argument is not breast versus bottle, she adds.We absolutely need formula; some women cant breastfeed, some dont want to breastfeed. There are very many reasons we need formula, we just dont need it advertised so blatantly.

OSullivan agrees. For me its nothing to do with individual parents who use formula, its the stealth of the marketing. I have the biggest problem when someone wants to breastfeed, but doesnt get the advice and support they need or gets undermined by marketing which says its time to move on from breastfeeding.

Sabina Higgins, wife of president Michael D Higgins added her voice to the debate in August. At an event to promote breastfeeding, she called Ireland a pathetically low place when it comes to the number of children being breastfed. She said neglecting public awareness of the importance of breastfeeding was irresponsible, while the aggressive marketing of breast-milk substitutes by commercial interests continues to undermine breastfeeding.

When it comes to Irelands relationship to baby formula, it really is complicated. Three of the largest producers of infant formula in the world, Danone(which produces Cow & Gate and Aptamil), Abbott and Wyeth have manufacturing facilities in Ireland, sourcing milk supplies directly from Irish dairy processors. Irish nutritional powder exports, which includes infant formula, are valued at 929 million, according to Bord Bia figures. The body even titled a 2018 infant formula branding drive Billion Dollar Baby.

We have a big infant formula culture here because we produce so much of it, says OSullivan. We have a massive conflict between the Department of Health and the Department of Agriculture. Changing the code may ultimately be a problem of political will.

National Breastfeeding Week is October 1st-7th.On October 4th the National Womens Council of Ireland, in partnership with Baby Feeding Law Group Ireland (BFLGI) will host a public webinar on the need to provide greater choice and supports to women around breastfeeding. See eventbrite.ie/e/feeding-the-future-shared-responsibility-tickets-171998781987 *

* This article was amended on September 18th, 2021

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Aoibhinn N Shilleabhin: We shouldnt leave it to industry to say whats best for your child - The Irish Times

Engagement on LinkedIn has been steadily rising over the past few years, with the platform regularly posting record levels of engagement, as shared in parent company Microsofts quarterly results.

Given this, its worth considering the potential of LinkedIn interaction for your brand, and how you can use the platform to connect with relevant audiences, and fuel professional community in the app.

It wont be everyone, of course, and you do have to measure the value of reaching the right people for your business versus the amount of time spent. But staying in touch with the latest niche trends, and understanding the evolving LinkedIn discussion, can play a role in boosting your branding performance, and building your broader digital presence.

So how do you do it what are the best ways to tap into LinkedIns engagement growth for your business?

We recently spoke to Ting Ba, the Group Product Marketing Manager for LinkedIn Organic & Paid Marketing Solutions, to get some more insights into how brands can make best use of the platform.

Q: LinkedIn has seen two years of ongoing growth in user engagement. What are some of the key trends youve noted that have sparked more interaction among LinkedIn members?

TB: With different regions of the world in different phases in the pandemic, one thing is constant - everyone is desperate for community.

People are looking to have conversations about challenges, lessons learned, and to share advice with one another. Were in the midst of having one of the greatest conversations about the world of work, discussing the Great Reshuffle and what it means for the ways we approach the work we do each day.

Conversations like this, and so many other movements for change, are sparking even greater interaction among LinkedIn members.

Q: LinkedIn groups remain a seemingly underused resource do you have any tips on how brands can utilize LinkedIn groups to best effect?

TB: Its important to build a trusted space for thoughtful conversations, and meaningful relationships in your group.

Where possible, you need to empower members to ask questions, exchange knowledge, and create opportunities.

Keep these things in mind as you grow your LinkedIn group:

Q: What are your key tips for deepening engagement within LinkedIn communities?

TB: There are several ways to deepen engagement, but three of our top tips include: consistency, add value, and encourage a two-way dialogue.

Q: What are some examples of brands/individuals that are succeeding, in your opinion, at community building on LinkedIn?

TB: Building a sense of community has never been more important, and we saw a 35% increase in public conversations happening on LinkedIn in Q4FY21 vs Q4FY20 with brands engaging with their audiences in various ways, including images and live streams.

From The Female Lead, a small London-based nonprofit, that generated more than 6,800 reactions and over 180 comments when they shared a powerful image depicting women standing together to better the world for all women, to NASAs live stream of their launch, which led to over 7,000 comments and more than 14,000 reactions.

Q: If you were starting out with a company Page, what would be your top focus elements to begin your brand-building process?

TB: Our Getting started formula is simple: complete your Page, invite followers (until you reach 150), and start posting and engaging daily.

This is the recipe for kick-starting the success of your Page, and getting it to grow organically. We have a built-in Completion meter for Page admins just starting out to follow and make sure their Page is optimized. From there, youll want to start diving into your analytics to understand whats resonating with your audience, and test different ways of engaging your audience, whether with Stories, Polls, Articles, or Live Events, to name a few.

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Pro Tips: LinkedIn Shares Advice on How Brands Can Tap Into Rising Engagement on the Platform - Social Media Today

Sydney, Sept. 15, 2021 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- E-Web Marketing, a Sydney-based results-driven, holistic, digital marketing agency, is sharing tips on how to utilize social media and Google Ads and integrating them together to maximize their effectiveness.

E-Web says that a holistic approach to online marketing means utilizing multiple channels and using them in tandem to boost each other, increasing visibility and impact across all of them. To cite a real-world example of the impact that a focused, multi-pronged strategy can bring, NewsCred, one of the worlds leading marketing orchestration platforms, used LinkedIn Sponsored Updates to net a 1600% return on ad spend. The key, according to E-Web, is to treat social media and paid search as if they are two sides of the same coin and then playing to each of their strengths while splitting resources so that they complement each other.

Social media channels can be used as a free A/B testing platform to figure out catchy headlines and taglines that resonate the most with the target audience. Twitter is a great place to gauge engagement and then use the messaging that works best on a more focused social media network such as LinkedIn. Digital marketers can also investigate trending topics that can be personalized to the brands core service. Trending topics can be turned into potentially attractive content that can be the first hook that funnels newer customers in. Marketers have to constantly track ROI and stay cognizant of which demographics are responding to their efforts the most and then fine-tuning the message to appeal to that demographic to maximize ROI. Tools such as Facebook Audience Insights should not be treated as their own bubble and instead, its findings should be leveraged to boost engagement on other platforms.

Another observation that arose from E-Web's social media advertising efforts was that the brand aesthetic should be consistent across marketing channels. This includes the visual assets that are used on each social media profile, the tone of the headlines, and the promise of its core services. Customers should be confident of the brand when they come across it on any of its social media platforms. Any potential disconnects that stray from the brands core message should be eliminated.

PPC advertisements such as Google Ads can be used to hop onto trending topics and contextualizing the trends to match the services that the company is offering. Many major players use this strategy to drastically increase their follower counts that in turn kicks off organic growth on their social channels. Companies can also look for the topics that are of most interest to their target demographic and then make content that explicitly answers the pressing questions of their potential customers. The quality content also has to be supplemented with a call to action that compels readers to share it with others who might find it useful. Companies have to facilitate the sharing of their content by making available social sharing buttons that make it easy to share the content through social media.

PPC advertisements can also be used to supercharge remarketing efforts considering that customers that are already aware of a brands existence are a precious resource that has to be efficiently utilized to get the most ROI for ones marketing efforts. A skilled digital marketer proficient in Google Ads management and Facebook Ads management could display PPC ads to previous visitors and nudge them towards signing up or finding out more about the companys services. Email lists are another useful tool that can be used to create a targeted list of potential clients, including those who the company needs to bring back for repeat business. Remarketing can also be used to bring back customers who may have visited a site such as an eCommerce store and may have quit with an abandoned cart.

Interested customers can find out more about E-Web Marketing and its services by contacting it at the phone number (02) 8413 6409. They offer a range of services such as digital marketing consulting, web & software development, Google Adwords management, social media advertising, content marketing, and email marketing.

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For more information about E-Web Marketing, contact the company here:

E-Web MarketingSam Shetty1300 785 122press@ewebmarketing.com.auSuite 701, South Tower, 1 Railway St, Chatswood NSW 2067

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E-Web Marketing Offers Tips On Making Social Media And Google Ads Work Together - GlobeNewswire

Philstar.com

September 16, 2021 | 9:47am

MANILA, Philippines Looking for a credible and reputable digital agency for your digital marketing needs these days?

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Along those projects come great experience but knowledge as well in the field of Internet marketing, programming, design and public relations

For one, Influencer Republik exists based on its core values and beliefs that are hinged on valuable traits that are a rare find among similar agencies these days: positivity in thinking, innovation that fits the work intended for a specific kind of client, honesty, including transparency in working with agency teammates and clients for better agency-client relationship building.

There's also education to know the market and its nuances, discipline for more efficiency in getting the job done, results-oriented mindset to meet the objectives and goals of the client, family-oriented thinking for better work cohesion, loyalty for reputation buildingand teamwork, coupled with discipline, to achieve success in the most efficient manner

We may be a new agency in name but our work ethic and history of successful projects speak about what Influencer Republik is in the field of internet marketing and social media advertising, says Joven Cueto, chief executive officer of Influencer Republik.

Our goal is to create first that ripple in the pondand eventually make waves in the digital public relations and social media marketing and advertising sphere, where our work will speak for us and not the other way around, he added.

Influencer Republik employs various strategies that provide the framework for a brands digital strategy such as social media marketing, internet advertising, development and design, content marketing, influencer relations, and consulting and education.

Around 10-15 years ago, communications were as straightforward as possibleno ifs, no butsjust to cut the message across to the reading and listening public.

However, with todays social media that totally changed the way the world communicates, it may not be the same as before anymore. Today, socialmedia marketing involves careful crafting of communications that are mostly tailor-fit to a specific audience based on age, gender, economic status, geography and a host of other factors that need not be ignored to create a powerful social media message.

Today, measuring the effectivity of communications, if it was able to convey the message it needed to be conveyed, is systematically and scientifically measured through metrics and other forms of data analytics to quickly and efficiently determine if the market was able to receive the message of a brand loud and clear and more importantly if the message will resonate in the minds of the targeted audience.

As an agency, we are moved to create strategies depending on what the audience is interested and like, with a proven track record of designing campaigns based on what the audience wants. We have created campaigns in the fields of arts and entertainment, business and finance, even lifestyle areas like home and parenting, health and fitness, fashion, beauty and personal care, food and drinks, shopping, fashion, even automotive, Cueto said.

We can devise online content that caters to specific and targeted audiences that will draw them in based on clients objectives, he concluded.

To know more about Influencer Republik and its range of services and how they can help you in your brands goals, visit influencerrepublik.com and Influencer Republik social media pages on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter and Pinterest.

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Create that positive influence in social media marketing, advertising with Influencer Republik - Philstar.com

WASHINGTON--(BUSINESS WIRE)--The Pleasure Project is pleased to announce the launch of the Pleasure Fellow Scheme. Chosen from countries around the world, the 12 Pleasure Fellows will advocate for sexual and reproductive health and rights (SRHR) and provide expert and diverse outlooks on pleasure which account for different cultures, societies, and geographies. The Fellows hone their skills as pleasure advocates during a series of pleasure training seminars. Once completed, each Fellow receives funding sponsored by The Case for Her, Misscheifs and DKT International to carry out their pleasure-positive missions as newly mentored pleasure champions.

Did your sex education mention the real reason people have sex? Did it get you ready for your sex/relationship life? The most common answer to these questions globally is no. For too long sex education has focused on all the terrible things that might happen to you after sex, like death, danger and disease. However, people are more likely to trust important sexual health information if we also acknowledge the truth: sex can feel good, says Anne Philpott, founder and CEO of The Pleasure Project. In 2004, I noticed a complete absence of pleasure in conversations around sexual and reproductive health, so out of frustration I started The Pleasure Project, advocating for a pleasure-positive approach. Were confident our 12 Pleasure Fellows will make desire and wellbeing central to sex and sexual & reproductive health conversations by creatively spreading the message that pleasure is key throughout the ten countries they hail from including Chile, the Philippines, and Kenya, to name a few. At the Pleasure Project, we are committed to putting the sexy back into safer sex.

Given DKT Internationals history with controversial, pleasure-positive mass media campaigns, like the 2013 DKT Pakistan Josh Condom advertisement, the global organization welcomed the opportunity to support the Pleasure Fellow Program and hosted a session with the Fellows on how to overcome controversy. Both DKT and The Pleasure Project share the belief that pleasurable sex is a human right vs. fear and over-medicalization of sexual health and wellness. In addition, evidence proves that talking about pleasure also allows people to make safer choices in their sex lives and choose what to say yes or no to. In keeping with the World Association for Sexual Healths recent 2021 declaration, sexual pleasure is a central part of the human experience and personal well-being and should exist free from discrimination, coercion, and violence.

DKT is proud to partner with The Pleasure Project in this exciting and important work, says Chris Purdy, CEO of DKT International. To have effective conversations around contraception and safe sex, we must talk with consumers about why they have sex in the first place. No one ever called their partner on Sunday morning to ask about how their reproductive health life was last night. The Pleasure Fellows will help remind the reproductive health community about this truth.

Ultimately, the Pleasure Fellows will bring 12 new global voices and perspectives to a pleasure-positive approach, building upon the growing pleasure wave. For more information, watch the 12 Fellows in action on The Pleasure Project website here: https://thepleasureproject.org/pleasure-fellows/

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 underserved countries throughout Latin America, Africa, and Asia.

About The Pleasure Project:

The Pleasure Project is the leading global voice on pleasure based sexual health. Since 2004, The Pleasure Project puts the sexy into safer sex, because sex education is rarely sexy and erotica rarely safe, with the aim of getting sex educators comfortable talking about all aspects of sexual health and to embrace desire, joy, happiness, and pleasure when it comes to sex education.

The Pleasure Project has just been awarded the World Association for Sexual Health Award for Excellence and Innovation in Sexuality Education 2021.

Pleasure Based Sexual Health Definition

A pleasure-based approach is one that celebrates sex, sexuality and the joy and wellbeing that can be derived from these, and creates a vision of good sex built on sexual rights. It focuses on sensory, mental, physical and sensual pleasure to enable individuals to understand, consent to, and gain control over their own bodies and multi-faceted desires. Well-being, safety, pleasure, desire and joy are the objectives of a programme with a pleasure-based approach. This approach measures empowerment, agency, and self-efficacy by whether or not an individual has been enabled to know what they want, and can ask for it, and request this of others, in relation to their sexuality, desires and pleasure.

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DKT International and The Pleasure Project Launch 12 Global Fellows to Advocate for Sexual and Reproductive Health and Rights - Business Wire