The Myth of the Marketing ‘No-Brainer’

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By Julie Wright, President

Over the past 20 years, I’ve often heard people ask for the ‘no-brainer’ marketing idea. Two weeks ago, it was an entrepreneur with a national retail product looking for a PR ‘slam dunk.’ And two days ago it was the nonprofit executive overseeing a multi-million dollar fundraising campaign who scoffed at the notion that marketing dollars should be budgeted for her organization’s social media program.

This thinking is a dangerous delusion: There are no marketing no-brainers, slam dunks or results without a commitment of time, resources and, yes, budget.

How can I be so sure? It’s pretty obvious to me: If it were that easy, we’d all be millionaires and every nonprofit would be well-funded.

It takes a lot of hard work and money to understand your target market’s needs, reach them with your messages and keep those messages top of mind so that they think of you when they are ready to buy or donate.

Social media may have low barriers to entry but that doesn’t mean that making it work is free. Far from it. Like press coverage, engaging your target audience via social media means you need to earn their attention—earn, as in “to receive as return for effort and especially work done or services rendered.”

Entrepreneurs underestimate the investment required in time, attention and dollars to earn both their market’s attention and its business. This myth may be a big reason that roughly half of all businesses fail within five years.

Nonprofits need to keep their cause “top of heart” with donors all year round through storytelling and sharing. Imagine how donors will feel when reading a yearend appeal letter when they know how hard an organization has been working all year round. Their heart is already open to the appeal.

Return on investment from marketing activities requires strategies, systems and the people in place to see them through. The first step to marketing success is letting go of the idea that there’s a slam dunk, no-brainer or result to be earned without any investment.

Making a Difference

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By Grant Wright, CEO

At (W)right On, there are principles by which we operate that we call our Core Values. They’re how we roll, or try our best to.

Written some years ago, they have evolved a bit, sometimes to add greater clarity and sometimes to simply articulate a new Value that through experience was realized to be there all along.

It’s # 3 – “We are inspired by our clients” - that prompted me to write this today. Well, part of its precept actually: “We choose to work with people who and organizations that are visionaries, leaders and changing the world for the better…”

This notion largely relates to another belief, that life is short and there are far more great things to do than we have time (a precept of Value # 13 – “We act with a sense of urgency.”) So at (W)right On, while remembering the bills that still need paying and all other things being equal, when we can turn our team’s capabilities toward maximum good, we should, and do.

While we have other great stories and outcomes for our visionary for-profit clients, over the years there have been numerous not-for-profit organizations we’ve been privileged to support. Currently, these include Toward Maximum Independence, The Roddenberry Foundation, New Haven Youth & Family Services and Tri-City Hospital Foundation, to name just a few.

Toward Maximum Independence is a nonprofit agency with a long standing reputation for “best practices” in providing personalized assistance to people with disabilities enabling them to live, work and participate in their communities. The positive attitude and work they and those they assist do everyday is extraordinary, and personally inspiring.

The Roddenberry Foundation, founded and chaired by Rod Roddenberry, son of Star Trek creator Gene Roddenberry, for its part has a vision of supporting efforts to expand new frontiers for the benefit of humanity.  Focused on the four pillars of the Environment, Science & Technology, Humanitarianism and Education, its Roddenberry Center for Stem Cell Research at Gladstone Institutes was established one year ago. A couple weeks ago, Dr. Shinya Yamanaka, who divides his time between Japan and the Roddenberry Center, was awarded the Nobel Prize in physiology or medicine for his stem cell research discoveries. How cool is that? And how profoundly privileged is (W)right On to help carry on the Star Trek legacy established by Gene Roddenberry so many years ago?

New Haven Youth & Family Services is yet another organization making a difference. Established in 1967 and having helped more than 15,000 families to date, today New Haven is transforming lives for at-risk adolescent boys through an innovative education model that supports troubled youth, guiding them from despair to hope. Every young person they help not only helps them and those around them, but helps the community today and for the long term. It’s truly win-win.

Tri-City Hospital Foundation was established in 1964 with a mission of inspiring community health and wellness through support of Tri-City Medical Center. Recently I had the opportunity to trial for a few minutes Tri-City’s incredible new da Vinci Robotic Surgical System in part made possible by the Foundation. Humbling, to say the least. (No human or anything else was harmed in the process!) And while Tri-City helps thousands every year, it made a difference in the life of Caleb, and through a new law and its own ‘Code Caleb’ now other newborns that you should read about.

Each of these organizations I do injustice by mentioning them so briefly, and there are many others. I hope you’ll take a moment to check them out, and in a world all-too-focused on pop culture, or the latest talking head on what used to be legitimate news channels, think about what really matters to you.

There are many worthy organizations, and I hope we hear from you on the above or any of the other great things you know of going on around us.

And if you’re curious what the rest of WOC’s Core Values are, shoot me an email at gwright@wrightoncomm.com.

Marketing with a Mission

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By Rebecca Chappell, Account Executive

Last week I attended the 14th Annual Cause Conference, the West Coast’s largest cause partnership event featuring experts in cause marketing, nonprofit resource development, community relations, new media technology and corporate social responsibility.

The term ‘cause marketing’ refers to a type of marketing involving the cooperative efforts of a for-profit business and a nonprofit organization. In the equation, the business benefits by fulfilling its Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) while the nonprofit benefits from direct financial support and increased visibility for its cause.

Consider the annual ‘Save Lids to Save Lives’ program initiated by Yoplait and Susan G. Komen for the Cure. Launched 13 years ago, the partnership has since raised $30 million for breast cancer outreach programs across the country. Overlooking Komen’s recent troubles in the press, what has contributed to the longstanding success of the Save Lids campaign? A white paper recently published by Incite, a company that presented at the Cause Conference, examines Six Pillars of Effective Cause Marketing:

1. The Cause Must Align With Your Brand

For your cause marketing campaign to be successful, you must ensure the mission of the cause or your nonprofit partner properly aligns with your brand’s mission. Komen champions women’s breast health, Yoplait supports a healthy lifestyle. Voila!

2. Find Your Voice

Ensure your cause marketing efforts reflect the tone and voice of your overall brand and that messages are shared with your consumers in a way they like to receive information. Be careful to avoid cognitive dissonance.

3. Be Transparent and Authentic

Tell your consumers exactly how your cause marketing partnership works. How much money will the nonprofit receive? How will the sponsor donate? How can the consumer act?

4. Be Relevant and Intentional

Connect emotionally with your consumers and consistently engage them. This might include featuring the stories of individuals who benefit from your campaign on your website or social media channels.

5. Reach People Where They Are

Understand when and where your target audience will be most receptive to receive your cause marketing message. For example, is your demographic likely to attend sports events, reside in a senior living facility or eat healthy foods such as yogurt? Take your message to your audience.

6. Measure Success with Strong Calls to Action

Before your cause marketing campaign launches, define what success will look like. Use a hard number versus a goal like ‘to drive awareness.’ Do you want 10,000 new donors? 2,000 new email subscribers? And don’t forget to report the success of your campaign to educate and ‘close the cause marketing loop’ for your consumers.

(W)right On’s nonprofit clients will agree: doing good business is just good business. If you’re a business owner looking for a cause to represent, just look to your own values and follow your heart!