TARGETING THE MARKETING CAMPAIGNS AGAINST LANDMINES ON PARTICULAR GROUPS OF THE POPULATION

Abstract

Landmines which are left after the war conflicts represent a major threat and real danger in more than seventy countries. It is estimated that today there are approximately 110 million land mines around the world, of which experts annually remove about 100 thousand, while two million new mines are placed at the same time. Besides human victims, landmines have a very devastating impact on the economies of the countries in which they are present, since those countries are generally very poor, with agriculture (as the primary activity of the population) particularly vulnerable from landmines. Marketing efforts against landmines are primarly focused on the warning activities; the main goal is to raise awareness of the population and highlight the dangers of landmines, through education and by giving all relevant informations through the media or through direct contacts. Although landmines are potentially dangerous for the entire population on endangered territory, the focus of the research presented in this paper is on the need for targeting the most vulnerable segments of the population. In that sense, the marketing campaign should be specifically created for the needs of children who are extremely vulnerable regarding effects of landmines; namely, according to the latest data, share of children is close to 50% of all people affected by landmines. In some countries this share reaches 70%, and was growing during the last decade, which is the fact that demands attention and fear. At the same time, this fact is an additional argument and a motive for the mentioned activities regarding warning and education of children who live in the area affected by landmines, including marketing campaigns adapted to their needs, in order of proper understanding of all dangers and all devastating consequences of landmines.