Want to know what Responsible Marketing is about but don’t have the time to read our white paper on the topic?
Well, here’s “The 7 Keys to Responsible Marketing in 2 Minutes,” featuring the characters you’ve grown to love (or hate) in our Responsible Marketing web shorts.
There ya go—with a video that short, now everyone has time to learn about Responsible Marketing. Share away. 
It’s Blog Action Day!
The purpose of Blog Action Day is to create a worldwide discussion regarding an important issue. This year, it’s poverty.
For this post, I wanted my post to meet three criteria:
So on September 15th, I asked the readers of this blog to answer the question How can business help the poor?
I offered a bounty for ideas and examples: for everyone that contributed at least one idea or example that made the Top 10, Outsource Marketing would donate $20 to a food bank of each respondent’s choosing.
I received so many good ideas, I expanded the list from 10 to 25.
Without further ado and in no particular order, here are—
25 ways your business can help fight poverty
St. Clouds restaurant in Leschi (Seattle, WA) holds a monthly cooking project for the homeless. Each month, the restaurant invites the community to come to its kitchen bringing whatever food they can spare…St. Clouds provides the proteins. Together they cook custom gourmet meals for the homeless, who could never afford such a meal. These are delivered to 200 people at five shelters and a tent city around town each month.
Promotion of the event has been strictly via word-of-mouth.
This is a unique, very cool local outreach that is, in my opinion, truly an act of kindness.
Eric Weaver
This year GE in Italy supported “Pane Quotidiano” (means “daily bread”), a charitable association founded in 1898 in Milano to help feed the poor. In 1908 the association was “formally” established and, on June 4th, celebrated a 100 years of feeding the less fortunate.
The contributions donated on this occasion were used to publish a picture book documenting the lives of the association’s guests. The book was sold in libraries for donations. Additionally the association was also able to buy a new truck need to collect the food that everyday businesses and/or distributors give away because in excess or approaching the expiration date. It was touching and great to be part of this initiative!
Beatrice Sarni
Check out Connect Ethiopia. An organization started by business in Ireland. It’s goal is to create business links between companies in Ireland and Ethiopia and use business and trade to develop poor countries.
Michael O’Sullivan
Hands on — I’d offer.
I’ve found that the best reality of working authentically, to contribute in a reflectively meaningful way — meaning fully — is to do it your self; hands on, live, being in the space, contributing eye to eye. Rather than dropping some capital — what can you do, in the telling of your story that is live to them, live for you. It’s a life, it’s a live, it’s alive.
You’re in that circle, you’re doing the work, making the contribution — and it’s real. No financial smoke that distances you from the reality.
You’re there.
Do something and you’ve got the passion to spread the word. Write a check and the instant of giving dissipates in an instance, as well. Do both and deliver it by hand and do some work at the same time! The ring is reflective, the song is sung true and the circle of giving and heart fullness is unbroken.
Beauty full.
Tim Girvin
You can help the poor by telling everyone in your company to donate some time and volunteer at the local food bank.
Margaret
In most low income areas, there is little opportunity or access to jobs that pay a decent wage, provide health care, or allow for flexible schedules.
Poor people don’t need a one time handout – they need access to jobs, personal and professional education, and proper diet, to ensure they can sustain the responsibility of providing for themselves.
If businesses truly want to help they should start:
Rochelle Robinson
Any firm could have a blog on their webpage. This activity will also be of commercial interest of the firm as people will talk about what is happening on the webpage and return to look what happens next. The firm choose a project. The project of the month: Like in the television programme, “The secret millionaire” they go to a poor area and find a project, where some good people dedicate their lives to help other people.
On the blog they present those people and open an account to wich people can make donations and write comments, ideas or even offer to join to give a helping hand. It is after this possible to follow this place and the people, who work there by clicking on the link. But each month a new project is presented with a picture on the webpage. But still it is possible to follow links to former projects of the month.
Pia Hede
Boeing is holding a special employee drive for the month of September. They are matching triple for each e-giving dollar. Funds go to local organizations who provide supplies to local food banks and meal programs in the Puget Sound. This is a great incentive for employees to give to the program.
Arden B.
Numbers 9, 10 and 11 were contributed by Jovan Pollard
Caleb Chang contributed an impressive list on his own, and contributed numbers 12-24
In 2008-09, the global mandate for Rotarians is to Make Dreams Real for the world’s children
If a business has a rewards program for their customers, allow reward program member to donate their points to local charities or international causes
They get it. Their “Girls Today, Leaders Tomorrow initiative makes a real difference.
You can do this actively participating in the conversation here and other blogs talking about this subject.
Bring up poverty at home, work, the gym, your coffee shop—everywhere.
And by all means, please post this on all your social sites and forward a link to this article to everyone you know in business.
Because getting people talking is what Blog Action Day 2008 is all about.
If you have more ideas or examples of ways business can help fight poverty, share them in the comments below.
The Responsible Marketing Blog will be participating in Blog Action Day on Wednesday, October 15th.
Here’s what it’s about:
First and last, the purpose of Blog Action Day is to create a discussion. We ask bloggers to take a single day out of their schedule and focus it on an important issue.
By doing so on the same day, the blogging community effectively changes the conversation on the web and focuses audiences around the globe on that issue.
The video that was produced to encourage bloggers to participate does a nice job explaining what this is all about:
Blog Action Day 2008 Poverty from Blog Action Day.
I’d like our post to be extremely useful.
I use the word “our” because we’re going to write it together.
To me, useful would be a solid list of real world examples of businesses, large and small, doing things to help the poor.
And instead of doing a search, I’d like the examples to come from you, the readers of The Responsible Marketing Blog.
Here’s a little incentive to make it interesting:
No, it’s not for you!
Outsource Marketing will donate $20 to the food bank of your choice on your behalf if your example or examples makes the top 10 list in the Blog Action Day post.
It doesn’t have to be your company, it can be any business you’ve seen that’s doing some good for the poor. The more detail, the better.
Even if your example doesn’t make the top 10, I will also link to the comments from this post so all ideas will be shared.
Let’s build this together!
Where have you seen business helping the poor?
Comment below to participate.
Please forward this post to a friend, post it on your social networks and circulate it around your office. The more examples the better!
There’s something new at Starbucks, but it’s not on the menu and it doesn’t cost a dime.
The GOOD Sheet, a weekly “graphical exploration of some of the major issues facing us in this election season and beyond,” appeared in all Starbucks nationwide yesterday.
The goal of the GOOD Sheet is to stimulate conversation during this all-so-important election season regarding real issues that really matter.
It’s being produced by the folks at GOOD, “a collaboration of individuals, businesses and nonprofits pushing the world forward.” Their website, videos and magazine are at once visually and intellectually stimulating. I’ve subscribed to GOOD magazine for over a year now and have enjoyed some fascinating articles regarding the environment, health care, China, education and more.
Issue No. 001 focuses on Carbon Emissions. Here’s the inside spread:
Distributing GOOD is a wise move for Starbucks:
The GOOD Sheets will be available for the next 11 weeks.
All this GOOD can’t hide the fact that Starbucks stock has been in sad shape for a few years now.
Do you believe social good can play a role in helping the company rebound?
Comment below to weigh in.
There are seven keys to Responsible Marketing.
Most would agree the first four keys are necessary just to do marketing right:
The three keys necessary if marketers want to gain the respect and trust of customers and do the right thing are:
Some have told me they believe Responsible Marketing is marketing infused with equal parts logic and heart.
And without heart, does creativity, strategy and everything else loses its relevance?
Do you believe marketing needs a heart to be effective?
Comment below to weigh in.
Image: Frank Chimero Illustration & Design, via AdPulp.
Each month, we share marketing articles, links and information with the Friends of Outsource Marketing. This month, we added “podcast” to that list.
My partner Bill Boyd has done quite a few podcasts for clients, and decided it was time to do one for us.
Click play below to listen:
[audio:http://homepage.mac.com/bill_boyd/Patrick%20Byers%20-%20Responsible%20Marketing%20-%20042508%202.mp3]
Can you help me answer a few questions?
1. Do you like an audio format?
2. If no, how can we change it to make it better?
3. If yes, what is your desired frequency for podcasts?
Thanks for your help.
That’s what some major advertisers want you to think, according to a recent article in Ad Age.
In Advertisers: Men are Not Idiots, Glenn Sacks and Richard Smaglick argure that advertisers often default to men as “irresponsible fathers and lazy, foolish husbands,” and that’s a bad decision.
They cite a number of sources including a 2005 Leo Burnett “Man Study” that found that 4/5 of men surveyed felt they were portrayed incorrectly (where’s the ‘authenticity we keep hearing about?) and an incredible response to a host of articles and campaigns on the topic.
Sound like a Responsible Marketing backlash?
Smaglick is an advertising critic and the founder of the media-watchdog organization Fathers and Husbands. His advocacy group was founded in 2003 “in response to the increasing prevalence of negative representations of fathers, husbands and men in the mass media.”
Last year, it turned its attention to Arnold Worldwide claiming their ads for Fidelity bashed men. You’ve probably seen the Fidelity ads, as well as advertising for Radio Shack, Royal Caribbean, Nicoderm CQ, Truth and Jack Daniel’s. I know, interesting client mix.
For the most part, I haven’t had a problem with Fidelity’s advertising over the years. They are usually humorous, but not over the top.
Then I watched this video that combines a number of Fidelity’s ads:
I admit, seeing these ads end-to-end reveals a theme that isn’t flattering if you are father or a husband.
The last ad in the series features a woman in the lead role. It’s empowering on a number of levels, and taken on it’s own is worthy of real praise.
The contrast is palpable, isn’t it?
I know, we men are easy targets, but has Fidelity (and many other advertisers) taken it too far? Considering some of the challenges you men face today, is portraying fathers in this way socially responsible?
Or is this just innocent fun?
I’d love to hear your thoughts on this.
Please comment below to weigh in.
The response to my post regarding Blow Energy Drink yesterday was a hearty two thumbs down. So, I can only imagine what you might think of Meth Coffee.
From their homepage:
Dear Agent,
I am dispatching to you a sample of smooth and highly seismological coffee bean substance. Try this new flammable specimen, but distribute with caution.
METH COFFEE, a volatitherepeutic beverage, IS FORMULATED after chemical confetti and wakes zombies, f*%#s with perfectionists, straightens drunks, rattles teetotalers, revs vandals in search of impetus, brightens house chores AND CUTS BOREDOM LIKE A GODDAMN RAZOR.
Their two minute ad follows. It’s all about shock value, so viewer discretion is advised:
As you might expect, they are getting a ton of media coverage, from Business Week to ABC News to High Times.
Is it just me, or does it seem like the folks at Blow Energy Drink Mix and Meth Coffee are trying to one-up each other?
Other than the enviable buzz (pun intended) and word of mouth these companies are generating, do they have any redeeming value?
What say you?
