Back in 2010, 17 Triggers started with the belief that if marketing could be used to sell beer and cigarettes, it could also be used to help people live healthier, happier lives. Their work received global recognition, some calling them experts in ‘behavior change communication’ (BCC). Unfortunately as time went on, they began to see that social marketing and BCC were not enough to really trigger significant change. Marketing for good causes was simply not enough. Clients didn’t just need great TV commercials and ad campaigns; they needed a whole new way of thinking.

Anyone who has ever tried to keep a diet, quit smoking or start exercising knows seeing a poster wouldn’t trigger them to change behaviors. So why would they expect a Cambodian farmer to see a poster and suddenly adopt new farming practices? After a few too many broken projects, they realized what was missing – no one was looking at projects from a user or system perspective. Projects were often designed from the ‘top down’, far away from the field. Assumptions in strategies and work plans went untested. Local insights to problem solving were rarely discovered. More than anything else, programs assumed the biggest hurdle to behavior change was that beneficiaries “lacked awareness”, when, often, the main stumbling block lay in the services provided. What would happen if they treated beneficiaries as consumers who simply wanted better services? Could they solve problems with customers themselves? Could they change programs before they tried to change the masses? Could they create delightful customer experiences for the development aid world?

So this is them. They don’t change behaviors by raising awareness alone, they change behaviors by making systems, services and programs remarkably better.