CEO, Strategic Social Marketing 

Prof. Jeff French is a global thought leader in the fields of behavioural influence, social marketing, social communication, and citizen focused programme planning and evaluation. He has published over 100 academic papers and five books, plus numerous guides and toolkits on these subjects, including the European Centre for Disease Control’s first technical guidance on social marketing. 

Prof. French is a visiting Professor at Brighton University and a Fellow at Kings College London University. He teaches at four other universities on a regular basis. Previously, he was Director of Policy and Communication at the UK Health Development Agency, and a senior civil servant at the UK Department of Health. In 2004, he headed the UK Government review of social marketing, and set up the National Social Marketing Centre in 2005. In 2009, Prof. French became the CEO of Strategic Social Marketing.

Strategic Social Marketing works with Governments, and some of the world’s biggest private companies, including ABInBev and Purina. Prof. French has also worked with international NGOs and global organisations, such as, WHO and the European Centre for Disease Control, as a consultant on the development, implementation and evaluation of programmes that aim to influence positive social and health behaviour. In addition, he is the co-author of the ECDC technical guidance on social marketing planning. 

Prof. French is a member of several national and international policy committees, including the national PHE-sponsored National HIV Prevention Advisory Board. He is also a member of the Editorial Boards of five professional Journals, and a board member of the European Social Marketing Association. 

Jeff has worked in over thirty countries with NGOs, private sector companies, Government departments and agencies, on behavioural programmes related to: health promotion, infection control, transport, road safety, fire safety, drug and alcohol misuse, sexual health, gambling, forestry, environmental issues, public sector responsiveness, sustainable fishing, financial literacy, public sector recruitment, volunteer recruitment, obesity prevention, smoking, school health, animal health and public service re-configuration.

Prof French is a sought-after keynote speaker at international conferences, and he also offers training and mentoring services. He Chairs the Conference Planning Committees for both the European and World Social Marketing Conferences. 

One of his books, "Social Marketing and Public Health: Theory and Practice, 2nd Edition" (2018), was highly commended in the Health and Social Care category of the 2018 BMA Medical Book Awards. Another book he co-authored with Ross Gordon, "Strategic Social Marketing, 2nd Edition" (2019), is a standard text book in the reading list of many universities.