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Marketing Communications andSustainable Development in Africa

By Dr. Ikechukwu Nwosu

Abstract

This paper examines the search for reliable sustainable devel-opment models and approaches. It is also a re-exploration of oldbut persistent questions in the development equation: What isthe role of communication in the development process, and howcan marketing strategies be integrated with other promotionalmethods to engender sustainable development? It shows thatdevelopment communication literature is replete with researchreports, models, case studies and "thought pieces" which de-monsrate that communication and the mass media are vitalcomponents of the development process, especially at theawareness creation level and with integrated multimedia ap-proaches. Some works point out that at the attitude, opinionand behaviour change levels, the effects of communication andthe mass media may not be much. The employment of integratedmarketing communications in sustainable development proj-ects is recommended.

Dr. Ikechukwu E. Nwosu is Associate Dean, Faculty of BusinessAdministration, and Coordinator, MSC, Public Relations Programme,University of Nigeria, Enugu, Nigeria.

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La Sensibilisation du Publica rimportance de la

Communication et leDeveloppement Soutenable

en Afrique

Par Dr. Ikechukwu B. Nwosu

Resume

Ce chapitre est consacre a l'analyse de la Recherche des modelesde developpement qui soient fiables et soutanables. On re-examineegalement une vieille question qui revient sans cesse dans laformation de l'equation du developpement: Quel est le role de lacommunication dans le processus du developpement soutenable?On s'efforce de demontrer que la litterature de la communicationest pleine de rapports, de modeles, d'etudes sur des cas particuli-ers, ainsi que d'autres "bonnes pensees", qui mettent a l'evidencele fait que la communication, et les masses media, constituent unaspect non negligeable du processus de developpement. Celas'avere notamment indiscutable au niveau de la sensibilisation dupublic, et dans l'application des approches multimedia integrees.L'image qu'on retient a la fin de cette communication c'est quemagre le changement des attitudes, de l'opinion et du comporte-ment a tous les niveaux, les effets de la communication et desmasses media resteront toujours non fiables, a moins qu'ils nesoient intimement integres aux institutions sociales, pour fonc-tionner en harmonie avec les autres agents de la societe.

Dr. Ikechukwu E. Nwosu est le Doyen Assistant de la Faculte duCommerce et de l'Administration. II est egalement le Coordinateur, MSC,du Programme des Relations Publiques, a l'Universite de Nigeria, Enugu,au Nigeria.

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Introduction

Since development scholars like Everette Rogers (1976) andothers proffered, in different ways, the need for the emergenceof new development paradigms through reconceptualization ofthe existing ones which were considered inadequate, the searchfor new approaches to socio-economic development has contin-ued unabated. Jo-Ellen Fair (1986), Andrew Moemeka (1994),Bella Mody (1991) and a host of others have come up with par-ticipatory development paradigms which emphasize the devel-opment of people's critical abilities in their cultural or socialmilieux, through their self involvement, self determination andreadiness for self-involvement of their knowledge, attitudes andpractices in the so-called KAP tradition, and with developmentagencies acting as facilitators of these processes. The emphasisof the participatory paradigms, therefore, is on the people orcommunities themselves, and what they can do to improve thequality of their lives, with development support systems onlytrying to facilitate this process.

Everette Kleinjans (1975) seemed to have captured and sum-marized the message of this new or "alternative" developmentparadigm quite clearly when he wrote that:

Creativity from within is the only answer, for development essentially isnot a matter of technology or gross national product, but the growth ofa new consciousness, the movement of the human mind, the upliftingof the human spirit, the infusion of human confidence.

Today, in addition to all these, the current development "warcry" seems to be that of the need for the achievement of"sustainable development" at all levels and in almost everycontinent. Sustainable development stripped of all complexi-ties, is all about human beings and their survival in theirenvironment. It can simply be described as the adoption or ap-plication of development approaches that are sensitive to manand his environment. Kamia Bhasin (1991) was thinking alongthese lines when he stated that "development has been a project

to conquer nature, rather than to live in harmony with it." Hewent further to point out that non-sustainable developmentparadigms "have been disastrous because they were based onobsessions with materialistic acquisition, obsession with eco-nomics and with profit and power." The search for reliablesustainable development paradigms, based on the above thoughtprocesses, must therefore continue.

There exists in the development communication and generalcommunication literature some studies and scholars who ques-tion the above no-effect or minimal effect findings and conclu-sions. These scholars have called for the adoption of newresearch approaches which they believe will yield more positiveresults on the relationship between mass communication anddevelopment. Godwin C. Chu (1994) has, for instance, recentlyattacked the empirical and quantitative approaches adopted bythose studies that consistently report these minimal effects.According to him:

To put it unkindly, the decades of empirical research and sophisticatedstatistical analysis seem to have dissected trees in great detail, but havesomehow missed the forest. Partly because of its reliance onquantitative methods, research within what Rogers calls the dominantparadigm has rarely gone beyond the individual mode of analysis, andthis has not been able to shift Its attention to problems of socialtransformation and cultural change as major theoretical concerns ofdevelopment.

He suggests the replacement of such empirical quantitativeapproaches with longitudinal studies of the social and culturalimpact of communication, which he believes will yield morepositive results.

Unfortunately, Chu's use of the longitudinal studies ap-proach he suggested above in a study he conducted in ruralTaiwan in 1992 did not yield significantly different results withrespect to communication impact. This study, which lasted forfourteen years and applied a before-and-after comparison lon-gitudinal approach using the same respondents, reported "sig-nificant changes in cultural values, attitudes and social rela-tions among the respondents." For instance, after the develop-

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ment communication campaign, according to him, people be-came less superstitious, childbearing practices had become lessstrict, there were more favourable attitudes towards women, lifein the village became less personal and there was an unmistak-able increase of political interest among the villagers.

But quite unfortunately and significantly, Chu and hisresearch associates, like the quantitative empiricists they criti-cized, also reported that "The role of mass communication as acontributing factor (to all these changes) was found to bemarginal" (Chu and Chaffee, 1992: Chu and Chi, 1984). Thismeans that these changes may again have been more as a resultof other societal factors, and possibly their interaction withother types of communication, just as in those past studies theycriticized.

Even though Chu and his associates tried to discount theirreported low influence scores of mass communication in theirrural Taiwan study, it seems safe for us to still hold on to the factthat the knowledge (whether from the quantitative, critical,administrative, qualitative or the longitudinal studies) stillseems to be the mass communication and mass media effectsare still generally limited at the level of attitudinal, opinion andbehavioural changes.

This is why the search for new ideas, new knowledge and newapproaches on the role of various types of communication in de-velopment must continue unabated, as we intend to do in thispaper. Here, we intend to examine one specialized aspect ofcommunication known as marketing communication. We in-tend to examine its relationships and possible applications tosustainable development efforts, using essentially a critical,analytical, prescriptive and applicatory approach. Our basicassumption here is that it is necessary for us to fully understandthe possible influence of all types of communcation develop-ment before we can hope to come up with fully holistic andintegrative approaches to the research and practices in all typesof development and in different development contexts. Ourthesis in this paper is that before marketing communication canhave real influence on the development process and before this

influence can be understood, we need to explain and reconcep-tualise the concept of marketing communication as it is cur-rently used. The task of this paper is, therefore, mainly toexplain and conceptualise this concept, and move on from thereto critically examine its possible applications to sustainabledevelopment efforts. We shall start with the explanation of thetwo major concepts in this paper, sustainable development andmarketing communication.

Explaining Sustainable Development

Even though sustainable development is relatively new concept,there are now many standard definitions of the term. As earlyas 1971, UNESCO used its Man and the Biosphere (MAB)programme to draw attention to a new approach to developmentthat stressed the role of man as a major environmental force, aswell as the need for an integrated interdisciplinary, rather thanmulti-disciplinary, approach to development (Von Droste, 1987,PP-4-7).

The General Assembly of the United Nations threw more lighton the concept of sustainable development when it adopted in1988 a broad framework to guide national action and interna-tional cooperation on policies and programmes aimed at "achiev-ing environmentally sound development" (Hornick 1988). At thesame UN forum it was also agreed that sustainable developmentacross the globe must include, or make allowances for futurityand equality. This UN broad framework, it must be noted, wasbased on a report presented by one of its agencies, the UnitedNations Environmental Programme (UNEP). That report wasentitled Environmental Perspectives to the Year 2000.

But perhaps the organization that laid the most importantfoundation for our understanding of the concept of sustainabledevelopment was the Bruntland Commission. In its reportentitled "Our Common Future," this commission stated that thecritical objectives of sustainable development must includepreserving peace, reviving growth and changing its quality,remedying the problems of population growth, conserving and

enhancing the resource base, reorienting technology, managingrisks and merging environment and economics in developmentdecision making. Pearce, et al. (1989) put the BruntlandCommission's conception of sustainable development mostsuccessfully when they stated that the commission holds thatwith this approach to develop, "it is possible to follow a path ofeconomic development for the global economy which meets theneeds of the present generation without compromising thechances of the future generations to meet their needs." This isperhaps one of the most popular definitions of sustainabledevelopment.

For example, Mike Young (1992) adopted the above positionin coining up with what he described as the three E's ofsustainable development, which are environmental integrity,economic efficiency and equality pursuance which is defined toinclude present and future generations' interests and needs. Tohim, sustainable development must include thorough consid-erations of justice, rights and obligations in all their ramifica-tions.

One other description of sustainable development that isworthy of note is its relationship to our derivation from the fieldof economy. In fact, sustainability is another word for resilience,which is indeed an ecological concept that tries to explain theprocess by which ecosystems respond to environmental changes.One current definition of the terms that is ecologically orientedis the one offered by the World Conservation Strategy. To thisorganization, "for development to be sustainable it must notinterface with natural functioning of life support systems ornatural ecologically processes and equilibria" (Crump, 1991).

Another point that must be noted in any attempt to under-stand the meaning of sustainable development is the attempt bysome experts to distinguish between sustainable economicdevelopment and other conceptions of the concept. One of suchexperts, Barbier (1978) has for instance defined sustainableeconomic development as applied to the Third World as beingdirectly concerned with increasing the material standard ofliving of the poor at the grassroots level, which can be quanti-

tatively measured in terms of increased food, real income,educational services, health care, sanitary and water supply,emergency stocks of food and cash etc; and only indirectlyconcerned with economic growth at the aggregate, commonlynatural level. He went further to explain that the primary objecti.e. of economic sustainable development, is "reducing theabsolute poverty of the world's poor through providing lastingand secure livelihoods that minimize resource depletion, envi-ronmental degradation, cultural distortion and social instabil-ity."

Two other explanations of sustainable development thatcannot be neglected are the ones that try to tie it to thesustainability of natural resources, and those that point outthat it is a concept that applies to both developing and developedcountries. Goodland and Ledoc (1987) lead the way in thenature resources perspective in the theory and practice ofsustainable development. According to them, sustainable de-velopment implies using renewable natural resources in amanner which does not eliminate or degrade them, or otherwisediminish their usefulness for future generations. It also impliesusing non-renewable (exhaustible) mineral resources in a mannerwhich does not unnecessarily preclude easy access to them byfuture generations. In addition, according to them, it impliesdepleting non-renewable energy resources at a slow enough rateso as to ensure the high probability of an orderly societaltransition to renewable energy sources. And sustainable devel-opment's applicability to even the developed countries waspointed out by the World Commission on Environment andDevelopment in 1984, when they stated that sustainable devel-opment has become a goal not just for the developing nations,but for industrial ones as well.

And even more importantly, it is significant to note that inspirit and practice, the new concept of sustainable developmentis in accord with the now widely accepted participatory or people- oriented approach to development which emphasizes workingwith the people to achieve development objectives instead oftrying to deliver development goodies to them through unin-

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volved development agencies. Mustafa Tolba (1987) stressedthis point when he explained that sustainable developmentencompasses the notion of people centered initiatives withhuman beings as the key resources in the concept; the idea ofself-reliant development within natural resource constraints;help for the very poor who may be forced to destroy theirenvironment in order to feed or survive; and the great issues ofhealth control, appropriate technologies, food self-reliance,clean water and shelter for all.

Finally, the review of the literature on sustainable develop-ment shows that there are now emergent strategies for achievingsustainable development objectives. Among the popular onesare those suggested by Young (1992). According to him, the firststrategy involves our learning to maintain the three dimensionsof environmental quality—ecosystem functioning, soil, waterand air quality and landscape amenity. He also suggested theadoption of conservation of resources such that less demand ismade on new virgin resources. He has also suggested that thestrategy of maintaining future options be adopted to ensuresustainable development. This includes ensuring such thingsas avoiding pollution of our rivers in order to preserve their usefor future generations. The next suggested strategy is stoppingpopulation growth or at least putting it under control so as toreduce population pressures on the environment like depletionof forests to make way for houses, factories, roads, and farms(Pearce, et al, 1991).

Having examined the concept of social development in manyways, let us now explain and reconceptualize the marketingcommunication concept before explaining how it can be appliedto achieving sustainable development objectives.

Explaining and ReconceptualisingMarketing Communication

There are, at the moment, at least three dominant conceptionsof the marketing communication which any sustainable devel-opment communicator who wishes to apply its techniques in

doing his job must be familiar with. Two of these conceptionsare conventional ways in which many marketing communica-tors have looked at, understood and applied the concept fordifferent purposes. The third conception is relatively new andis indeed a modification of the old or conventional thoughts onmarketing communication. We shall examine them one by onestarting with the first of the conventional conceptions of market-ing communication, which we shall call communication-in-marketing approach to understanding and application of mar-keting communication.

The Communication-in-Marketing Scenario

In the above first scenario, communication is seen as being anintrinsic part of every aspect of the marketing process, includingthe social marketing process. In other words, communicationis seen as a part and parcel of the marketing mix, which is bestdescribed as the 4Ps +S model of modern marketing. In thismodel which usually in practice begins with the consumer, 4Psand S refer to product, price, place or physical distribution, pro-motions and after-sale services. This can be diagrammaticallyrepresented thus:

CONSUMERS ->4Ps + S -> CONSUMERS

In development communication terms the consumers at thebeginning and end of the above diagram represent the targetaudiences or "consumers" of the development communicationmessages. The product "P" represents the development idea,innovation, change or project we want the target audiences toadopt in a transactional exchange or in a participatory manner.The price "P" refers to whatever sacrifices they make: inconven-iences, discomforts or deprivations they may go through intrying to participate in the development communication proc-ess; the place "P" refers to the channels through which they canbe exposed to the development communication message inorder to participate or share in it; the promotional "P" refers to

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any deliberate effort to make them aware of the communicatednew development policy or project and adopt or embrace it. The"S" refers to post-project contacts or follow-up activities.

In this first conventional understanding and application ofmarketing communications in development and offer efforts, itis recognized that the above described five components of themarketing mix must interact and blend well through effectivecommunication before positive results can be expected. Suchcommunications are also expected to be from the perspective ofdata already gathered about the consumers or target audienceto ensure their participation or involvement in the entire proc-ess.

But even more importantly, each of the 4Ps and the S mustcommunicate some information if the development communi-cation objective is to be achieved by using this model ofmarketing communication. This means that crucial two-wayparticipatory communication decisions must be made in han-dling any of the critical components of the model.

The product or "P" component in the model as we describedit developmentally above, for instance, can be used to commu-nicate specific utilitarian, psychological and symbolic satisfac-tion values to the consumers or target audience. A newagricultural innovative technology or equipment that is beingintroduced to some farmers may also be presented not only asa facilitator of the farming process, a sure contribution to theeradication of the food crisis in Africa, but also as a symbol oflasting achievement in the fanning community concerned. ThePrice or "P" component can be used to communicate a sense ofpatriotism, hard work, development consciousness, care orconcern for the community's progress and readiness to makesacrifices towards this.

In like manner, the place "P", as we explained it developmen-tally above, can be used in development projects or programmesto communicate easy accessibility to, or availability of, the de-velopment project, material, equipment or idea being promotedthrough conflicting communication processes. And the Promo-tions "P" in the model is indeed made up of activities or practices

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that are essentially communication-based and include adver-tising, public relations, publicity and other promotions. So, thedevelopment communicator that wants to apply this model ofmarketing communications (the communication-in-marketingapproach), will not find it difficult to understand the place ofcommunication at this promotional level of the application ofthe model. As we noted, the "S" component of the model refersto after-sale services in conventional marketing, and to post-project or follow-up actions in terms of development projects. Itcan be used to communicate the fact that the developmentagent or agency is not an uninterested and uninvolved "seller"of new development ideas, policies or projects; but rather aconcerned and caring individual or institution that is interestedin knowing how the target audience is using the "sold" innova-tive idea or material. This is what the participatory developmentand sustainable development version of it we examined earlierdemand from development agents, agencies and communica-tors.

Furthermore, it is important to point out that this firstscenario in the application of marketing communication todevelopment recognizes that the concept and practice of mar-keting, when stripped of all technicalities is really by definitiona transactional relationship between the marketer or "seller"(development agency) and the consumer (or target audiences, indevelopment communication). As we know, such a transac-tional relationship cannot take place or be effective withouteffective communication. Marketing has been defined as amanagement process responsible for identifying, anticipatingand satisfying customer requirements profitably (Jefkins, 1985,p.4). A close look at this definition, of course, shows that it isalmost a near impossibility to identify, anticipate and satisfycustomers' needs or requirements in the marketing processwithout interacting with the customers in one way or the other,and through one form of communication or the other. For thedevelopment communicator who wishes to apply techniques ofthe marketing communication approach to development, themessage is clear: that he is on safe ground. Other marketing

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experts seem to also concur, because Philip Kotler (1991, p.6)for instance, has defined marketing as "the set of humanactivities (including development communication and socialmarketing) directed at facilitating and consumating exchanges."The exchanged item could be money, materials, project ideas orinnovations.

And Charles Schewe (1987) seems to have aptly tied up thespirit and major message of this first scenario of marketing com-munication for the development communicator when he statedthat:

The entire marketing mix cooperates as a communication system. Itcommunicates a position in the marketplace, an angle that is usuallydifferentiated from those of competing products (or projects). Eachmarketing activity combines with the others to create that effect. At thesame time, each individual marketing action is a communication in andof itself.

At this point, we must observe that in Africa, the message ofthis first scenario on marketing communication seems to bebetter understood and utilized by commercial marketers sellingproducts and services. Social marketers and developmentcommunicators in government and development agencies ornon-commercial organizations seem to be still oblivious of thepotency of this marketing. This anomalous trend needs to bechecked, because social marketers, development communica-tors and other officials in Africa need to properly understandand apply this communication-in-marketing approach as partof their strategies in participatory development efforts aimed atsuch things as ensuring that their citizens adopt democraticprinciples, new agricultural innovations and other desired sus-tainable development activities. Let us now move to the secondscenario on marketing communication.

The Marketing Communication=Promotions Scenario

This scenario can be described as the "MarketingComrnunication=promotions" perspective. Here, some experts

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erroneously equate marketing communications with the pro-motional "P" in the 4Ps+S model of marketing we describedearlier. Viewed this way, marketing communications becomesreduced to just another name for the promotional supportsystem in any type of marketing process, including the socialmarketing under which development communication fits. (Bakeretat, 1983: 113-165).

But as can be seen from the contents of the first scenario orperspective we examined earlier, and the third or integratedmarketing communication perspective we shall examine later inthis paper, this is an overly narrow conception of marketingcommunication. It is better seen as the application of moderncommunication principles and practices to modern marketingto make it more functional, wider and more useful to nonproduct or non-commercial types of marketing activities, whichincludes social marketing or development-oriented marketingefforts. This scenario, in fact, reduces the full import of market-ing communication by overly restricting it to the use of one ortwo of the popular promotional tools, like advertising, propa-ganda, publicity, promotions and direct marketing, and strip-ping it of the exchange and transitional elements that make ita useful and generally applicable concept that can be bymarketers and non-marketers alike.

This scenario is therefore definitely inadequate, and notrecommended to social marketers and development communi-cators in Africa and other developing areas. For one thing,developed countries like the United States and Britain, who arethe leaders in marketing communications, have since replacedthis myopic conception of marketing communication with themore effective, up-to-date, integrated marketing communica-tions approach. We shall now examine this under the third sce-nario in our attempt to reconceptualize the marketing commu-nication concept to make it more useful for participatory sus-tainable development.

The Integrated Marketing Communication ScenarioIntegrated Marketing Communication (IMC), in all its various

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dimensions and ramifications, constitutes what might be rightlydescribed as the new direction or new dimension in marketingcommunication practices and applications to commercial andnon-commercial marketing efforts, including participatorydevelopment projects. Still open to various interpretations anddefinitions because of its relative newness, IMC can safely bedescribed as an inevitable response to the new challenges posedby the promotional "P" in all marketing related activities by thedemands of product, service and social marketing in the 1990'sand beyond. In this sense, therefore, we can conceptually andoperationally describe IMC as "Promotions-Plus." In other words,we believe that IMC can best be understood as a deliberate,systematic attempt to contextually expand the traditional orconventional promotional strategies or activities (e.g. advertis-ing and public relations) and integrate them with other market-ing communication activities to facilitate the achievement ofdefined marketing or social marketing objectives.

These other marketing communication activities include:event marketing, direct response marketing, direct media buy-ing and brokerage, media review write-ups, promotions plan-ning, in-house ad/PR services, corporate communicationsincluding corporate advertising, trade promotions, consumerpsychology or consumer insights, graphic designing and crea-tivity, "sixth sense" applications or strategic vision and so on.The list and opportunities or practices are inexhaustible, butlargely depend on such factors as the marketing situation orcontext, the budget or appropriated fund, marketing objectives/plans, and the product or service being marketed.

The IMC is such a veritable tool to the modern social marketerand development communicator that there is now hardly anymajor marketing or development campaign whose objectivescan be reasonably achieved without carefully selecting, inte-grating and applying the most appropriate conventional andnew marketing communication or promotional tools to facilitatethe social marketing and development processes. The selectedmarketing communication activities, in order to be effective,

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must be planned and executed as holistic activities in whicheach acitivity is seen as a whole related to other larger wholes.None of the activities must be seen as an isolated or compart-mentalized unit which hardly or marginally touches the otherunits in the larger whole.

It is encouraging to note at this point that the IMC "fever" isgradually but steadily catching up with progressive Africanpromotions and development communication practitioners andexperts. For instance, Nigeria's ZUS Bureau Agency Chief, whowas for many years the Managing Director of Lintas Advertisingin Nigeria, is reported as stating that IMC has a bright future inNigeria. To him, IMC is "a combined way of communicating withconsumers such that the techniques of advertising, publicrelations, publicity, sales promotions etc. are used together toachieve marketing goals. It is non-dependence on (any) one itemof the promotion mix in marketing" (Okigbo, 1992:9).

Another Nigerian promotions, advertising and direct market-ing giant that is reported to be an adherent of the new directionsin marketing communications as enunciated by the IMC "move-ment" is Cornelius Tay of Direct Marketing Limited. We are,however, much more interested in his timely and insightfulwarning that IMC is not likely to flourish or grow normally in adeveloping country like Nigeria in the present situation in whichthe number of people who are adequately trained to handle itsintricacies and special demand is still very limited. As far as heis concerned, "availability of the necessary expertise will be thecritical path to the future of the IMC" (Okigbo, 1992:10). Wecannot agree more. And this is why we must recommend at thisjuncture that intensive workshops be urgently organized forpractitioners of marketing communications and developmentcommunications in all African countries. This will not only helpto create the necessary awareness needed for the growth of thesenew directions on marketing communications, but will help toproduce an increased and efficient corps of IMC adherentsneeded to revolutionize marketing and development communi-cations practices in these countries. In addition, we recommendthat the departments of marketing and mass communication in

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the institutions of higher learning in these countries be made toexpand their course offerings in the area of marketing commu-nication, to include all the dimensions of the new IMC. Thepresent situation in which most of these institutions still offerisolated courses in the narrow areas of advertising and publicrelations, which are sometimes taught under one course unit,must give way and be replaced with the different autonomousIMC courses.

Applying IMC to Sustainable Development

Having explained and reconceptualized the old conventionalconcept of marketing communication in the preceding sectionsof this paper, we can now go ahead to explain more directly howit can be applied to sustainable development efforts in Africa. Itmust be noted, however, that throughout the reconceptualiza-tion process in our earlier discused First and Second perspec-tives or scenarios on marketing communication above, we hadoffered some tips on how the general concept of marketingcommunication can be applied to participatory and sustainabledevelopment. Essentially, the thrust of our suggestions hadbeen that marketing communication strategies and techniquescan be used to strengthen development communication effortsin Africa and other developing areas. It is our belief that, ifproperly understood and applied, marketing communications,especially its IMC variant, will help to reduce the marginalfindings usually reported in the development communicationsliterature on the contributions of communication to the achieve-ment of development objectives.

In addition to the applicatory recommendations we havemade in the earlier sections of the paper, we would like to makethese further recommendations which address objectively howIMC can be applied to development communication projects inAfrica. Firstly, we suggest that the earlier discussed strategiesand techniques be used to combat the adverse effects of the olddevelopment approaches, which the new sustainable develop-ment paradigm we extensively explained earlier has drawn our

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attention to. For example, the IMC concept of "Demarketing"can be used to participatorily achieve attitudinal changesamong African citizens who still engage in development-relatedand other activities that deplete the environment.

IMC should also be used as one of the weapons to achieve theobjective of persuading or helping African governments andother development agents to realize the importance of embrac-ing the messages, practices and development approaches of thesustainable development paradigm. But as we pointed out ear-lier, for all these and a lot more to be achieved, the IMC concept,spirit, philosophy and practices must become well developedand embedded as a development communication concept inAfrica.

Beyond all these, specific components of the IMC strategy canbe employed in specific sustainable development communica-tion efforts, provided it is not used as an isolated practice, butas part of a grand IMC long-term or short-term plan. In thisregard, event marketing strategies can, for example, be used tomarket community festivals, anniversaries and other suchevents that are development-oriented. This will no doubt befound to be a veritable tool for mobilizing social support forparticipatory and sustainable development. Events marketing,which often takes the form of sponsoring major events fordifferent communities and groups, can also extend to sponsor-ship of masquerade festivals, local wrestling matches and suchcultural events that will create forums for sharing of develop-ment information and explaining participatory and sustainabledevelopment ideas or projects to various target groups.

Similarly, public relations, as an aspect of the IMC phenome-non, can help to build the much-needed goodwill, mutualunderstanding and acceptance between sustainable develop-ment agencies and agents and their targets. It will also help de-velopment agents analyze community problems and issues, andadvise their headquarters and donor agencies appropriately.Public relations will, in addition, contribute in no small way tothe building and sustenance of the right corporate reputation,personality, identity and image for organizations involved in

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development efforts in Africa. Many crisis situations that arisein the development process, either within the development or-ganizations or between them and their target publics, can beaverted or properly managed through the application of publicrelations plans and technologies and as part of the IMC mix.

What about the advertising component of the IMC strategy?It is also applicable in development communication and sus-tainable development efforts. The most useful forms of adver-tising for these development purposes will be the variants of itthat fall under development advertising, social-responsibility orpublic service advertising and institutional advertising. Adver-tising should not be seen in this context as a mere tool forproduct or service marketing that is narrowly aimed at profitmaximization. The scope of modern advertising is much morethan that.

The same is true of the field marketing and direct marketingaspects of the IMC phenomenon. Field marketing, which refersto personal selling, should not be used to market goods andservices. It can be used in sustainable development efforts tohave regular direct contacts with the target publics or audiencesin all development projects. Its sampling and merchandisingtechnique can, for instance, be used to introduce new innova-tions like new drugs or health practices, or demonstrate theefficacy of a new farming implement to the beneficiaries of ourdevelopment projects. In like manner, in African countrieswhere the mailing or postal system is fairly developed, the directmarketing component of the marketing communication mix canbe used to send sustainable development messages directly tospecific segments of the target publics of a project. These peoplecan then be later contacted for face-to-face interactions andexchanges of ideas in the participatory development tradition.

Consumer research, which is an important component of theIMC, can also be used in sustainable efforts. We had made areference to it earlier in this paper. It seems necessary to restatehere that consumer research techniques are quite indispen-sable for the collection of right and sufficient data on the targetaudiences of our sustainable development projects. Such data,

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as we know, help us to plan and communicate more effectivelywith these target audiences and so ensure maximum participa-tion by them in the development process. This is the same withwhat has been described as consumer insights, by some expo-nents of the IMC strategy.

Finally, the application of packaging and other visual designprinciples, which are essential parts of IMC, are indispensableto development communicators, for achieving sustainable de-velopment objectives. Good application of packaging and visualprinciples helps to give identity to sustainable developmentagencies and projects.

Conclusion

The opportunities provided for the development communicatorby the IMC version of the reconceptualised model of marketingcommunications are too many and varied to be given elaborateor exhaustive treatment in this paper. However, the onesexamined above should give enough insight for the resourcefulsustainable development communicator to guide him or her inthe further search for more knowledge and practical techniqueson this subject matter. If we have achieved that purpose in thispaper, then we are more than gratified.

IMC is a new fast-growing and developing area in marketingand mass communication. Sustainable development is also arelatively new and fast-growing area in development studies.We all have a duty to contribute to the growth of these new andimportant areas of professionals' practice. And the best place tostart in making this contribution is with ourselves, our estab-lishments, our communities and our countries. As the popularcliche goes, charity begins at home. If we enhance these newtrends and truly understand their principles and applications,we are more likely to better persuade others to also embrace

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them and put them to practice in the interest of our personal,professional, natural and continental developments and in thetrue sense of sustainability of our attainments.

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