Our history

Formerly the National Social Marketing Centre, The NSMC was originally set up by the UK Government.

Now a Community Interest Company (CIC), we have a global reach, applying social marketing skills, knowledge and experience from around the world to solve behavioural challenges. 

Our unique history, and our status as a CIC, means that we're not just here to deliver great social marketing programmes, but to develop resources and share expertise to spread social marketing best practice as widely as we can.

Established by government 

The UK National Consumer Council's 2006 report It’s our health! confirmed the potential of social marketing to improve behavioural interventions. One of the report’s main recommendations was to establish a ‘National Social Marketing Centre’ to build national and local capacity and skills in social marketing.

Minister for Public Health, Caroline Flint, formally launched The NSMC in December 2006, alongside its founders Ed Mayo, Chief Executive of the NCC, John Bromley of the Department of Health, and Professor Jeff French.

Learning demonstration sites

When The NSMC was launched in December 2006, the field of social marketing was just emerging in England. The NSMC's three-year National Learning demonstration sites scheme, funded by the  Department of Health (DH), England, aimed to capture learning and best practice across a range of health issues and target audiences. 

Ten NSMC-supported pilot projects, based in primary care trusts and local authorities across England, addressed a range of health issues and audiences. Two independent organisations were commissioned to conduct process and outcome evaluations for the projects. 

As well as overall management and coordination of the scheme, The NSMC provided direct guidance and support to the ten project teams throughout the entire planning process, particularly around scoping, development and evaluation. 

• Learning together: from theory into practice (PDF)
• Learning together: practice and progress (PDF)
• Learning together: evaluation and outcomes (PDF)
• Process evaluation summary (PDF)

You can find out more about the projects, including evaluation methods and outcomes for each site  on our online case study database, ShowCase. 

Health equity

In 2010 The NSMC provided technical input to the Marmot Review of the Social Determinants of Health, and worked with the Department of Health (England) and UCL's Institute of Health Equity to identify ways in which social marketing can be used to address the social determinants of health (SDH). 

Find out more about our work on Health Equity, including reports, project case studies and video.