I like the WWF. I like Greenpeace too. But probably only because we had brightly coloured window stickers of whales and Pandas in my house as a child. Also Greenpeace have pretty awesome tussles with people at sea, which in my book makes them pirates. And pirates are cool.
Aside from this I can’t say I really interact with charities. There’s too many and there’s probably not a one that isn’t a worthy cause (except anything connected to televangelism, obviously). Perhaps it’s not so much to do with indecision but total disillusion? Actually the last time I remember being touched by a cause was when I was 8 or 9. On seeing Children In Need and being wooed by the paternal charm of Terry Wogan, I felt like emptying out the biggest of my Natwest pigs (which you only got when you saved £100) so that I could donate it to the cause.
Can’t say I’ve had that feeling since, not about Terry, I’ve an enduring love for Terry. Maybe it’s because I’m a cynic, or that I’m selfish in wanting to provide for me and mine before giving to you and yours? I’m not averse to charities fundraising. It confuses me when people display a distaste for a charity organisation doing what it is they do. You can always say no.
But I don’t believe I’m a miser, or even thrifty because although it pains me to say it (and it’s definitely not a good trait) I don’t have much regard for money. I really don’t mind giving it away, I just need a push. I enjoy fundraising too; I’d quite happily throw myself out of a plane, bathe in beans or cycle from Lands End to John O’Groats. So why don’t I? On paper I look like the perfect user profile, but charities just don’t register on my radar.
Only being at Enable has galvanised my apathetic self in to action, I enjoyed growing my Movember mo and doing the conga to Madonna. This speaks volumes about the people I work with but also tells me that charities do need to be in your face to be effective. I’m not talking about interruptive advertising, we all know that’s a pile of whale sperm, but marketing is essential. Clever marketing that makes a dour and serious subject fun. I’m probably preaching to the converted or teaching old people (can I say that?) to suck eggs but it is all about engagement. Give people what they want and they give back
Charities need to cut through the quagmire (for any Family Guy fans that’s a funny image no?) with decisive differentiating strategies. Utilising on and offline to create that elusive engagement. Because there are so many out there vying for your coppers, gone are the days when chuggers (for the uninitiated that’s a portmanteau of "charity" and "mugger") could wave a direct debit under your nose and you’d sign away your £5 to vaccinate the children of Temba.
So, it all boils down to that one genius idea. Well, in part but not the whole. Old formulaic strategies don’t work, there is no tried and tested, not that work across the board. A templated approach will sound the death knell and a horribly drawn out demise for most if not all charities. Each cause should be treated as unique and a plan of attack constructed accordingly.
You need dedicated Strategy (what you want to achieve and who you want to achieve it with), User Experience (making strategic execution as easy as possible) and Creative (engagement and driving the consumer in to action) components. Each individual piece is as important as the whole. To really understand the consumer and their touch points is what it’s all about. Underneath all this need to be solid technologies chosen based on individual project requirements to make the whole shebang work like a dream (see Terry Wogan).
So what about the empathy? I have sympathy for those hapless marketeers who consistently have to deliver the answer to the ‘big idea’ question. In short I have sympathy for my colleagues and the whales. Everybody loves the whales, especially the Japanese. Dolphins too, they’re cool as Chuck (Norris). Cue Terrorvision.
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