OgilvyEngage Helps Companies Motivate Socially-beneficial Behaviors

Ogilvy Public Relations has introduced a new global behavior change practice, OgilvyEngage, which aims to achieve a triple bottom line: maximal profitability, employee health and social good.  Along with the launch of OgilvyEngage, the agency also introduced the newest report in its Red Papers™ series; From Cause to Change: The business of behavior, which explores how companies can enhance both business performance and return on investment (ROI) from socially-beneficial behavior change programs.

Using science-based behavior change models and theories to create public health and safety campaigns, OgilvyEngage engage assists consumers and other stakeholders in practicing more socially-beneficial behaviors. These initiatives help people take practical actions such as buckling up, getting screened for colon cancer, making healthier food choices and purchasing insurance. OgilvyEngage has created a proprietary “Dynamics of Change” model, which identifies the kinds of change a company should target for maximal return on investment for the business, individuals, and society.

Christopher Graves, Ogilvy Public Relations CEO suggested that changes in personal behavior, such as attitudes and habits, translate into changes in action that have an overall positive social effect.  Graves stated:

“A company can deepen its relationship with its customers by supporting them in such actions as managing their healthcare, developing better nutrition habits, and protecting their homes and their assets. It’s good for the customer and society and that makes it good for the business.  We think there is a lot of power in that equation.”

Ogilvy Public Relations has offered marketing solutions to several established clients including the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute’s women’s heart health campaign, The Heart Truth®; the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s Screen for Life: National Colorectal Cancer Action Campaign; and the Federal Emergency Management Agency’s FloodSmart flood insurance promotion program. Bess Bezirgan, a corporate communications specialist and Senior Vice President at Ogilvy Public Relations, developed and will head OgilvyEngage.