Me... Paul Jones... in the Company of Seth Godin, Malcom Gladwell and 97 Other "Visionaries"

This blog received notice yesterday that it has been named "100 Best Blogs for Those Who Want to Change the World" by the website Bestuniversities.com.

That puts me in the company of Gladwell, Godin, the U.N., Kiva.org, Treehugger.com, and dozens of others.

From the opening paragraph:

"The world is full of visionaries and people who want to make a difference in the world, and many of those people share their knowledge online through their blogs. Whether you want to change the world through environment, humanitarianism, business, or any other way, there’s a blog out there that can offer you guidance and inspiration. Read on, and you’ll find 100 blogs that can help you change the world."

If I was H.L Mencken, or Twain, or even Groucho Marx, I'd write something snarky right now about 'not wanting to be a member of a club that would have me for a member.'

Instead, I'll say thank you, Bestuniversities.com. That's very nice!

Comments

Rick Larsen said…

Paul: Congrats. I know firtshand of your unique and valuable insights and I also know you work very hard at being good at what you do. You desrve this.

4/09/2009 10:54 AM

Paul Jones said…

Hi Rick:

Thanks! That's very generous.

Congrats right back to you and operationkids.org for the successful fundraiser you produced last Fall that enabled the arrests in March of 14 people on charges of trafficking in child pornography.[http://bit.ly/4da3kq]

Anything that we can do to halt this terrible scourge is the right thing.

Warm regards,
Paul

4/09/2009 11:07 AM

Part 2: How Chili's Used Cause-Related Marketing to Raise $8.2 million for St. Jude

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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-Related Marketing with Customer Receipts

Walgreens and JDRF Right now at Walgreens…the giant pharmacy and retail store chain with more than 5,800 stores in the United States and Puerto Rico… they’re selling $1 paper icons for the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation (JDRF). This is an annual campaign and I bought one to gauge how it’s changed over the years. (Short list… they don’t do the shoe as a die cut anymore; the paper icon is now an 8¾ x 4¼ rectangle. Another interesting change; one side is now in Spanish). The icon has a bar code and Jacob, the clerk, scanned it and handed me a receipt as we finished the transaction. At the bottom was an 800-number keyed to a customer satisfaction survey. Dial the number, answer some questions and you’re entered into a drawing for $10,000 between now and the end of September 2007. I don’t know what their response rate is, but the $10,000 amount suggests that it’s pretty low. Taco Bell’s survey gives out $1,000 per week. At a regional seafood restaurant they give me a code that garner...

Cause Marketing

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