"The trade of advertising is now so near to perfection, it is not easy to propose any improvements".
- Samuel Johnson (1759).

Friday, September 3, 2010

“Would you give away your coat?”

So I was doing some research for an assignment for another subject and stumbled upon this and thought it was pretty cool. It is an advertising campaign for a charity called Ong gente Brasil (people Brazil).


Take a look




I think this is a very effective campaign as; we live in and are accustomed to a world filled with technology. Thus the most effective way to break through the advertising clutter and appeal to a large number of people is through electronic means. Even then, it is still difficult to break through the clutter as many advertisers now use electronic methods.


Thus this campaign took to street advertising which always generates high interest among by passers. However, rather than using real homeless people to just stand on the streets shivering, they used virtual homeless people. I think the virtual element added substantially to the success of the campaign as it was more attention grabbing. In addition, it also let the audience know that this was an advertising campaign as opposed to random homeless people asking for coats (which I don’t think would have worked too well, because lets be honest, how many homeless people have you given your coat too?) This allowed Ong gente Brasil to get their message across. Another reason I think this campaign is so effective, is the fact that it involved the audience (encouraging people to donate their coats).


I know a vast majority of not-for-profit organisations are already using electronic marketing, but I think it is necessary for all not-for-profit organisations to use electronic marketing methods if they want to reach a large amount of donors, particularly if they want to target younger donors.

3 comments:

  1. I agree with what you say - technology is the key to reach your audience - so why not for donors? With all the different effects that can be achieved in today's hi-tech world you can employ more techniques to make the advertising as emotional or hard-hitting as you want.

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  2. What I like best in this particular example is that it educates/ enlightens the viewer on a simple way to actually make a difference, without just giving money. I really like that newer technology braodens the range of messages that can be sent. I think that it is important for all not-for-pfoits to use newer technology to communicate all the ways that people can get involved to help their cause.

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  3. Anonymous - Thank you for your comment. I completely agree.

    Richard - I too like that this campaign educates consumers on the fact that dontaing money isn't the only way to help the homeless. In fact i think many homeless people would really appreciate warm clothes or blankets during winter.

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