Cause Catalysts

Movement Building 101: The First Follower

April 5, 2010 — 1 Comment

I’ll be honest: I watched this YouTube clip many months ago and saw it as a fun diversion and nothing more. I let the context (it was titled “Guy Starts Dance Party”) control my reading of it.

I applaud Derek Silvers for seeing it so astutely as a three-minute lesson in successful movement building.

The most profound lesson Derek draws is how to take care of the first follower: “The first follower is actually an underestimated form of leadership in itself…it takes guts to stand out like that…the first follower is what transforms a lone nut into a leader….if you are the type that is standing alone like the shirtless guy, remember the importance of nurturing your first few followers as equals so it’s clearly about the movement, not you.”

The first follower is also the first cause marketer — he takes the movement public and invites others to join. Interestingly, after that moment, the public is really following the lead of the first follower, not the original visionary leader.

In Social Marketing, Social Movements Cause Catalyst, Leadership, Movement Building, Social Marketing, Social Movements, TED, The First Follower, YouTube

Guest Blog: Calling Off the Battle of the Sexes

April 4, 2010 — Leave a comment

I was invited to contribute a piece at WomensConference.org for their “Guys Who Get It” April special feature on a topic of my choosing.

I’ve been thinking a lot lately about how the ancient ideas of human virtue are being forgotten in our culture. I believe this is negatively affecting relationships between men and women, making it harder for us to understand each other and forcing us to live out more separate, more extremely gendered lives than ever before.

So I decided to go for it. The piece is entitled “Rethinking the Evolved Man”. You can find it here. Let me know what you think.

In Guest Blog Maria Shriver, The Women's Conference, Virtue

Promoting Purpose Pays Off

March 31, 2010 — Leave a comment

Yesterday, BrandWeek reported on yet another survey that showed that consumers are continuing to warm up to the idea of supporting companies for their good corporate citizenship.

The survey results don’t surprise me, but I am shocked by Scott Osman’s clumsy “olive branch” analogy for corporate social responsibility practices.

CSR and cause marketing are not about companies offering after-the-fact peace treaties with the consumers they have been warring with for years.

That is a cynical and inauthentic use of cause marketing.

To be successful, a company must practice social responsibility because they want to inspire, enlist and engage audiences to join an important cause from the outset, not because they want pacify and bait consumers into buying more products from a brand they’ve already been disappointed in.

In Branding, Cause Marketing, Corporate, Social Marketing Audiences, Brand, Cause, Cause Marketing, Corporate Social Responsibility, Engage, Enlist, Inspire, Purpose Motive

What Do Drugs, Guns & Kids Have in Common?

March 21, 2010 — 1 Comment

The Body Shop wants you to know that they are all “sold on a street corner near you.”

Last week, The NY Times Media Decoder Blog shined a spotlight on the Body Shop’s campaign against the exploitation of children through sex trafficking, and I was impressed by the retailer’s comprehensive approach to issue advocacy.

In addition to issue research and the aggressive advertising campaign, the Body Shop also sponsored a film screening and panel discussion on the child sex trade.

In Advertising, Cause Marketing, Corporate, Social Marketing, Social Messages Advertising, Branding, Cause Marketing, Communications Strategy, Issue Research, Social Impact

Spokescreatures v. Spokespeople

March 20, 2010 — Leave a comment

In the wake of the Tiger Woods scandal, Forbes takes on the question — do spokescreatures like Tony the Tiger make better brand ambassadors than spokespersons like Tiger Woods?

No easy answers to that question, but I thought the point that Greg DiNoto, chief creative officer at Deutsch NY, made about spokescreatures being able to use the “DNA of the brand” played out nicely in the article. Particularly, here:

In Branding, Corporate Brand Ambassador, Branding, Spokescreatures, Spokespersons

An App for Commerce, Causes & Karma

March 10, 2010 — Leave a comment

CauseWorld, a free mobile app (iPhone and Android) recently featured — well, everywhere — but notably on the NY Times Bits Blog, lets people earn “karmas” by shopping at participating stores and then allows them to cash in those good vibe points as charitable donations to select non-profit organizations like American Red Cross, Global Giving, Room to Read, Livestrong and the Jane Goodall Institute.

The app smartly enables people to share their CauseWorld activity to their social networks, which provides an incredible promotional boost to all involved — the stores, the corporate sponsors and especially the non-profit organizations involved.

In Corporate, Non Profit, Social Marketing, Social Media, Social Messages, Social Technology Causes, CauseWorld, Foursquare, Mobile Applications, Social Media, Social Technology

The Importance of Being Well Branded

March 8, 2010 — 1 Comment

I came across this picture on Greg Mankiw’s economics blog where he deemed this “Economics in One Picture”.

I can agree with that. But it also strikes me as a perfect visual proof of why good branding — the kind that builds a deep emotional connection with audiences — is so important.

So, what was Caroline’s mistake? It was this: she made her value proposition (the reward) only about the money.

In Social Messages Branding, Economics, Feel the Value, iPod, Reward

A Quick Inventory of Cause Marketing

February 20, 2010 — 1 Comment

Most marketers now credit American Express with originating, in 1983, “cause marketing” as we know it today — the complex amalgam of corporate, charity, celebrity and cause brands, all coming together to engage consumers with social change campaigns.

AmEx’s original campaign raised $1.7 million for the restoration of the Statue of Liberty and Ellis Island, and it was also good for business. During the three month campaign, card usage increased by 28% and the new card holders increased by 17%.

Cause marketing campaigns have come a long way since then, and the whole practice has been amplified by social media.

In Cause Marketing, Corporate, Social Marketing, Social Media American Express, Cause Brand, Cause Marketing, Celebrity Brand, Change Campaign, Charity, Corporate Brand, Social Media

BMW Adding “Some Humanity” to Its Brand

February 15, 2010 — 1 Comment

Writing about BMW’s new “Joy” campaign in the Wall Street Journal on Saturday, Alex Kellogg picked up on a trend in how cars, particularly luxury vehicles, are being sold right now. Car makers are eschewing messages focused on power, performance and status in favor of ones emphasizing safety, value and humanity.

In Advertising, Corporate, Social Marketing, Social Messages Advertising, BMW, Emotional Connection, He-Cession, Humanity, Joy, Joy Is Maternal, Marketing, Purpose Motive, Technology, Ultimate Driving Machine, Wall Street Journal, Win Over Women

The Search for Google’s Heart is Over

February 12, 2010 — Leave a comment

On any given day of the week, I have Gmail, Google Reader, Google Calendar, Google Tasks, Google Voice and Google Docs all opened up in separate tabs within my Google Chrome browser. That browser opens up to Google Search.

I use these Google products every day because they are enormously helpful tools. They are smart, simple, straightforward and well-designed widgets.

While most brands would kill to have just a couple of strong consumer touchpoints, Google is blessed with dozens of popular branded products used every day by millions of people.