Geomarketing for Public

Health Impact

An example from PSI Madagascar

by Bram Piot, Solofo Andriaherinosy,

Ary Raoloson, Harivola Randrianjafy

Population Services International

Outline

•What is Geomarketing?
•PSI & Social marketing – 4 Ps
•Metrics, Monitoring, Mapping
•GIS & Geomarketing at PSI
•Madagascar case study:
– Implementation process
– Examples
– Lessons Learned
 Geomarketing
• Geomarketing is the integration
of geographical
intelligence into all marketing aspects

• It is a fairly new discipline within marketing analysis which uses

GI in the process of planning and implementation of
marketing activities, particularly for sales and distribution:

• distribution of customers and their demographics,

• socio-economic factors,
• accessibility,
• infrastructure,
• location of competitors, …

= more efficient promotion and distribution, tailored to local needs:

spatially differentiated marketing strategies
 PSI & Social Marketing
o Population Services International – a leading global health
organization with programs on malaria, child survival, HIV and
reproductive health, and other health areas; in ~65 countries

o Social marketing: the application of marketing concepts and

techniques to influence behavior among a target audience in order to
benefit themselves and society.

Products: condoms, other contraceptives,

mosquito nets, water purification, ORS,
malaria treatment, …
Services: family planning, male
circumcision, safe abortion, HIV
counseling & testing, …
 Metrics, Monitoring & Mapping
o Strong focus on research & monitoring, to inform program
managers and donors

o Identifying target populations, tracking behavioral

indicators, qualitative market research, monitoring product
and service availability and accessibility

o Mapping & GIS gradually introduced from 2004 onwards:

availability coverage, access to products & services
among target groups

o Since ~2009, stronger focus on GIS for planning and

monitoring
 Geomarketing at PSI
• Geomarketing pioneered by Madagascar sales & distribution
team
• GIS increasingly seen as standard component of sales &
distribution activities
• Potential to be used in any aspect of the marketing mix –
Product, Price, Promotion, Place.
• Market segments often correlate with location:
urban/rural, ethnic groups, accessibility &
infrastructure
• Spatial differentiation in epidemiology of diseases

 Location analysis based on the “Place” P should be

a core component of any targeted marketing activities.
 Madagascar Case Study
o Initial concept note on geomarketing in 2006

Objectives = increase the availability of health products,

identifying areas of poor coverage, target health promotion
interventions, and enhance reporting through the use of
geographic information

o Set-up phase: GIS capacity building, purchase of GPS units,

GIS data from national institute of geography

o Systematic mapping of outlets and intervention sites by sales

representatives, researchers, and behaviour change teams

o Solid MIS and dedicated mapping & data management staff

o GIS infrastructure upgraded with more detailed reference

layers and with ArcGIS 10 (2011)
 Madagascar Geography

Coastal plains, …uneven population

central highlands… distribution…

…dense urban vs. remote rural areas

 Malaria LLIN
distribution
Prevention (2009)

Mass distribution
campaign &
sales(2010/11)

Malaria distribution
HIV: Reporting Condom Distribution

Community-based Distribution Commercial Distribution

Condom Outlets, Managing Partners
 Targeted
Condom
Distribution
&
HIV Service
Delivery
 HIV: Condom
Market Analysis
 Lessons Learned
o Successful geomarketing implementation takes time, but is
made possible through a combination of:

o accurate and readily available GIS data,

o socio-demographic & epidemiological attribute data
o comprehensive MIS with geocoded marketing and
distribution data
o adequate software: ArcGIS,
o skilled staff…

… and motivated managers who understand the

value of location-based decision making
 To Conclude…

Using geographic information for planning and monitoring is an

efficient way to increase access to health products and
services among target populations

 Maximize health impact and improve resource

allocation.
Thank you !

More info:

www.psi.org

bram.piot@gmail.com