Why is the Problem Description Important?

Quote

"Effective social marketing interventions begin with a clear understanding of the health or safety issue of concern."

Obesity Prevention Coordinators' Social Marketing Guidebook, p. 12

This phase creates the foundation on which to build your social marketing plan. Changes and revisions are often made during the planning process. The problem description provides a framework for you to work with throughout those revisions.

Don't skip this phase! It will help you

Identify the knowledge and information you already have about a problem.
Organize this information into useful categories.
Identify information gaps which will be used to set priorities for formative research.
Save time by establishing a framework to document and support decisions.
Save resources by gathering and analyzing existing data before additional costly data collection.
Foster communication with stakeholders and create opportunities to encourage support, articulate goals, and manage expectations for the intervention.