Partnerships as strategy in macro-social marketing

National government programmes tackling complex social problems have adopted a macro-social marketing approach, with resultant campaigns increasingly containing a partnerships element. However, a lack of academic literature regarding partnerships in macro-social marketing exists, particularly the ‘why’ of partnerships in national behaviour change interventions. Using a case study methodology, data were collected through three methods (participant observation, document analysis and semi-structured interviews) and analysed using thematic analysis. This paper offers a greater theoretical understanding of why partnerships are used in national social marketing programmes. The findings uncover a new way of conceptualising partnerships in macro-social marketing: holistically as a strategic concept that supports system-wide behaviour change. The findings further reveal that, as a concept, partnerships can play a strategic role in the long-term development and delivery of solutions to tackle complex social problems. Two types of partnerships - strategic partnerships and signposting (tactical) partnerships – are identified and defined.