Poor strategy, inadequate research and badly-conceived objectives are among the main reasons that campaigns hoping to achieve social good fail.

That was the headline result of a study published in Social Marketing Quarterly that drew on a survey of 100 marketing practitioners and experts.

Why it matters

Social good campaigns were once the preserve of governments and non-profits, but many brands are now involved in this space as part of their purpose-driven campaigns. And making sure of success is not just a matter of dollars and cents, but of positively impacting people’s lives.

The main causes of failure...