Reponse to Sandra Sims

List-Schmist?

Sandra Sims had a comment on the recent post about the Muscular Dystrophy Association’s “e-Shamrock” campaign. Her points were so interesting that rather than respond to her via Blogspot's clumsy comments system, I thought I'd post directly to the blog.

Sandra's comments are here in italics, followed by my response.
“This is an interesting update to the paper icon campaigns. When Chili's did their campaign for St. Judes at their restaurants last year they had an online site where you could create a pepper and print it out, though they didn't charge for it. So that ability, with a donation, would be another good suggestion.

MDA could have also added to Honor/Memory of component by sending an email to the person it was made in Honor/Memory of.

I think your points about it going viral and the fact that MDA builds a list are two of the campaign's strongest points.

Though the question is how strong is that list? If the people are donating low amounts and possibly doing so only because a celeb endorses it, are they really good potential repeat donors?”

Hi Sandra:

I think you're spot on here and your suggestions for improving the MDA's campaign are good. Thanks for your comments.

To your point about the strength of the list resulting from the campaign: I would argue that the MDA must segment their e-Shamrock list, rather than dumping it into their master list.

If they do that... and don't try and over-solicit it... the list could do just fine for them over the years.

That's because there's so little cost in soliciting via the Internet. It's not like direct mail where the package might cost a dollar and the postage is another $.22 cents, give or take. In that paradigm, you eventually stop sending solicitations to people who once sent you a $10 check.

Once the system is in place, the cost of soliciting a donor is basically free and even the transaction cost would be just pennies. Even the biggest charities pay a few pennies for printing their paper icons.

In this paradigm even a donation of $1 is meaningful.

Best wishes,
Paul

Comments

Anonymous said…

Hey Paul,
Am loving your blog & group. It has certainly inspired me to start my own blog. I have you on my blogroll at www.m-cause.com

all the best,
Ryan

3/26/2008 2:24 PM

Anonymous said…

Great point on segmenting. Thanks for the response-post. ;)

4/24/2008 3:04 PM

Batting Your Eyelashes at Prescription Drug Cause Marketing

I’m a little chary about making sweeping pronouncements, but I believe I've just seen the first cause marketing promotion in the U.S. involving a prescription drug. The drug is from Allergan and it’s called Latisse , “the first and only FDA-approved prescription treatment for inadequate or not enough eyelashes.” The medical name for this condition is hypotrichosis. Latisse is lifestyle drug the way Viagra or Propecia are. That is, no one’s going to die (except, perhaps, of embarrassment) if their erectile dysfunction or male pattern baldness or thin eyelashes go untreated. Which means the positioning for a product like Latisse is a little tricky. Allergan could have gone with the sexy route as with Viagra or Cialis and showed lovely women batting their new longer, thicker, darker eyelashes. But I’ll bet that approach didn’t test well with women. (I’m reminded of a joke about the Cialis ads from a comedian whose name I can’t recall. He said, “Hey if my erection lasts longer than ...

Cause Marketing: The All Packaging Edition

One way to activate a cause marketing campaign when the sponsor sells a physical product is on the packaging. I started my career in cause marketing on the charity side and I can tell you that back in the day we were thrilled to get a logo on pack of a consumer packaged good (CPG) or even just a mention. Since then, there’s been a welcome evolution of what sponsors are willing and able to do with their packaging in order to activate their cause sponsorships. That said, even today some sponsors don’t seem to have gotten the memo that when it comes to explaining your cause campaign, more really is more, even on something as small as a can or bottle. The savviest sponsors realize that their only guaranteed means of reaching actual customers with a cause marketing message is by putting it on packaging. And the reach and frequency of the media on packaging for certain high-volume CPG items is almost certainly greater than radio, print or outdoor advertising, and, in many cases, TV. More to ...

Chili’s and St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital

I was in Chili’s today and I ordered their “Triple-Dipper,” a three appetizer combo. While I waited for the food, I noticed another kind of combo. Chili’s is doing a full-featured cause-related marketing campaign for St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital. There was a four-sided laminated table tent outlining the campaign on the table. When the waitress brought the drinks she slapped down Chili’s trademark square paper beverage coasters and on them was a call to action for an element of the campaign called ‘Create-A-Pepper,’ a kind of paper icon campaign. The wait staff was all attired in black shirts co-branded with Chili’s and St. Jude. The Create-A-Pepper paper icon could be found in a stack behind the hostess area. The Peppers are outlines of Chili’s iconic logo meant to be colored. I paid $1 for mine, but they would have taken $5, $10, or more. The crayons, too, were co-branded with the ‘Create-A-Pepper’ and St. Jude’s logos. There’s also creatapepper.com, a microsite, but again wi...

Cause Marketing

Search This Blog