Purpose - The purpose of the editorial is to accompany this special issue on "Social marketing: social change". Design/methodology/approach - The editorial presents three invited reflections by Philip Kotler, Michael Polonsky and Gerard Hastings. It also discusses the articles in this special issue. Findings - Overall, the contributed papers demonstrate that there are many layers to social marketing. Originality/value - The articles featured in this special issue help to advance social marketing theory as well as offer valuable implications and recommendations for managers, practitioners and policymakers.