Charity and the Modern World

If you take a walk down the main shopping street of any major town in the UK, you will hear this familiar phrase: "Excuse me mate, can you spare a few minutes...?" before you switch to ignore and the rest becomes white noise as you recite tried and trusted get out excuses - "Sorry, I'm just on my way to..." or "I'm running late for..." - mantras that really mean "you're not having my cash and I don't care what it is for".

My younger brother is a student, so naturally Facebook keeps directing me to photographs of him in ridiculous states of fancy dress. When I challenge him as to why he brings shame on the family name on a public forum, he usually states: "it was for charity". "OK, what charity was it for?" I ask, ""I dunno, cancer or something" comes the reply.

These are just two of the problems that all charities face in the modern climate where they are all competing for the same headspace in the youth market. People have neither the money nor time to be coerced when not on their own terms; they have become savvy to a blanket approach. If an organisation does manage to make a connection, in the second instance in a very basic and un-emotive way, their individuality is lost into the cluttered messaging of rival charities clambering for attention.

Connections

Amplify are experts in making the right connections with audiences, which is a method that charities need to adopt in order to have meaningful relationships and dialogue with the soundbite generation. They need to generate interesting dialogue and content for their audience, servicing the youth market's need to have continual entertainment, as well as encouraging and prompting much needed responses to their activity.

Christian Aid recently appointed ex-PlayStation marketer, Katrin Owusu, to help create their sub-brand, Ctrl.Alt.Shift, a proposition designed to engage 18-25 year olds in global development issues. The intention was not to ask for money, but to make people aware of issues that are relevant to their own lives, and in turn become an active voice against those issues.

Ctrl.Alt.Shift recognised that they aren't competing with other charities for their audience's attention, but any brand that is targeting youth headspace. "We want them to wear Ctrl.Alt.Shift in the same way that they would wear their favourite brands, an iPod, the Nike swoosh - something that they feel says who they are. The fact that they are doing 'good' is almost incidental, they are becoming politicised via their engagement with Ctrl.Alt.Shift and taken on a journey that will lead them to a real understanding and engagement with the issues, and empower them to change their world" says Owusu.

It is an approach even Macmillan, who focus primarily on helping people dealing with cancer, terminal cancer patients and their families, have accepted - they must appeal to people beyond those directly affected. Clara Avery, Head of Supporter Insight & Development at Macmillan Trade Marketing and Customer Insight at MacMillan, says "we now do more work around product and proposition development for people in their mid-30's and I think there'll be lots of opportunities for us to talk about how we can successfully engage them through experiential to generate income."

The Fame Route

Traditionally once a charity has identified the need to appeal to a mass audience, their first reaction is to get the endorsement of a celebrity in order to appeal to their young fans, to encourage them to think 'If she feels this then I should too'. The danger in doing this random tagging of the charity with a name without reason is that seems contrived and the audience is too shrewd for this.

Embrace lead singer Danny McNamara is involved with Versus Cancer, a charity which was local and involved issues close to his heart. He feels that "If they dress you up and get you saying things that the charity has given you to say then people will see through it. Hopefully charities are getting smart and realising if you want celebrity endorsements then they shouldn't put people in situations that they don't feel comfortable with."

It could be suggested that celebrities sign up for charity work as a way of keeping in the public eye but there are hundreds of examples where their work is done under the radar. Shynola are acclaimed animators whose clients read as a who's who of music but they rarely seek limelight. Despite this one of their members, Chris Harding, became a mentor to a young filmmaker for Ctrl.Alt.Shift. He said, "If I have time and I feel I have something useful to offer then I am inspired to help".

So what is the answer when we live in a celebrity-obsessed culture? Without the press coverage generated by celebrity association how will a charity break through into the public consciousness, when the UK is the most saturated charity market? Particularly when the success stories can be found readily such as Joanna Lumley taking the Gurkhas plight to the House of Commons vote and Jade Goody's death sparking huge awareness of cervical cancer and the importance of smear tests.

Despite these success stories there is a case that can be argued that states celebrity advocates flatten the debate and remove the nuances of the charity. Does sending a Leona Lewis out to Africa to report of the 'real people' she has seen really make an impact or have we seen and heard it all before? Does this become white noise in the same way that we block out the charity worker who tries to stop you on the street?

Versus Cancer is not unique in combining issues with music but one area where they excel is by making every single person who supports them part of the "line-up", alongside their idols. When anyone registers on the site they get a unique badge that shows how quickly they 'got on board'. Music fan and charity supporter Becky Richards is listed at badge number 62, seven ahead of McNamara. Versus Cancer recognise that every supporter counts and that you are side-by-side with the stars in your support of the cause.

Versus Cancer opt for the tried and trusted method for stepping out the shadow of door knocking and tin rattling - music. Bob Geldof kick started this with Live Aid - arguably the most famous charity event of all time - with a message of "give us your ***ing money". Simple but effective.

In the modern climate, despite the ailing music industry, the live market is booming and this is reflected in the number of charity gigs - Teenage Cancer Trust, OxJam, Love Music Hate Racism... the danger is that this again becomes yet another gig with no reinforcement of the issues in focus to an audience that is captive and receptive to the messaging.

Forward thinking

New approaches must be adopted to develop the brand advocacy that is required. One route is through allowing the content and messaging to be dictated by the audience you are trying to reach. In the case of Ctrl.Alt.Shift "people submit their own content allowing us to bring the issues from the outside in. We are getting people to decide what they believe is wrong in the world" says Owusu. Ctrl.Alt.Shift then provide the opportunity to showcase that talent through film, art, photography, with events, competitions to work with established names and online heroing of their work. This gives incentives to contribute their own opinion in an environment that reinforces the over-arching key messaging and issues.

The t-shirt brand Jake's of Soho was started to raise money for Jake, a little boy with cerebral palsy. To the casual shopper this is not a message that is forced down their throats nor is it hidden as a trick into giving either. They operate a simple model that says "if you like this t-shirt then buy it. It just so happens you'll also be helping children lead a better quality of life." They have also benefitted from celebrity endorsement with David Beckham, Chris Moyles and Simon Pegg being supporters. Where Beckham and fashion are concerned it is such an important part of his personal marketing that you don't get him wearing your clothes unless they make him continue to look one of the coolest men on the planet.

So...

With these success stories there is a common theme; all the charities have looked at their audience and considered what makes their audience tick. With 100 other charities queuing to speak to your audience a few days, hours or minutes after you have had your shot, it is important to ensure the conversation is in a language that will be understood, in an environment that is comfortable and totally on their terms. If charities to do this fail then they might not have lost them forever, but the white noise will be filtered out.

 

• View all articles
• Next article
• Previous article