by Nedra Weinreich | Feb 21, 2008 | Blog, Cause Marketing, Entertainment, Social Marketing
It’s a sad fact of life that celebrities generally command more attention and adulation than we mere mortals. For better or worse, things that come out of their mouths have more clout (at least among certain audiences) than if we were to say them ourselves, despite our obvious intelligence, talent and impressive job titles. So, the question is how to help celebrities use that clout for good and not just to sell movies.
Andre Blackman pointed me to a video (above) just posted of an interview with American Idol winner Jordin Sparks, who is visiting Ghana right now to help the organization Malaria No More. From what I could tell, she is a perfect spokesperson. She’s articulate, knows her stuff about the topic, is enthusiastic for the cause, is timely (she is the most recent AI winner), and creates an emotional connection with the importance of the work MNM does.
Last week, I attended a panel discussion sponsored by PIRATES (The Print, Interactive, Radio & Television Educational Society) on how Hollywood and celebrities can be a force for good. Panelists included David Michaels, who produces, among other things, the Ribbon of Hope Awards honoring television programming on AIDS; Marcy De Veaux, who consults with media companies on diversity-related issues; and Alison Arngrim, who was the epitome of nastiness for my generation as Nellie Oleson on Little House on the Prairie, but who has redeemed herself as a committed advocate on behalf of people with AIDS, abused children and others.
Some of the key points that were made by the panelists include:
- It’s simply a fact that celebrities wield the power. Alison recounted how she was asked to appear on Larry King to talk about legislation she was advocating. When she offered to bring along experts working on the campaign with her, the show’s producer immediately quashed the idea, saying, “And what show were they on?”
- Sometimes you bring the cameras to the cause with the celebrities, or you bring the cameras to the celebrities with the cause — both are okay and can help you achieve your goals.
- There are “good celebrities” — who understand why it’s important to help your cause and want to get involved — and “bad celebrities” — who are there because their publicist told them to go. But again, both can bring you publicity.
- If you can convince a publicist of the merit of your cause, he or she may be able to deliver their whole stable of celebrity clients, in addition to the one you were originally trying to get.
- Look for people who have been personally affected by your issue to serve as your spokespeople. For example, the actor Peter Gallagher got involved with an Alzheimers organization because his mother had the disease.
- If you bring on a celebrity, make sure he or she is prepared to talk intelligently about your issue. At the very least, provide an index card with key bullet points about your organization and issue.
- If your issue is controversial in any way, your celebrity needs to be prepared to answer questions about whether they are affected by the issue personally. As Alison spoke out about AIDS after the actor who played her TV husband died from the disease, she was continually asked whether she also had AIDS. When she was advocating for legislation to help abused children, she was asked directly whether she had been abused herself (turns out she had, and decided to talk about it publicly at that point).
- Looking for someone to be your organization’s main celebrity spokesperson — as opposed to showing up at a one-time event — is a “headhunting operation.” You need to make sure there is a good fit between the person and the organization.
- Don’t use a guilt trip to convince a celebrity to get involved. Frame it in terms of hope, focusing on the good that person can do and what a great experience it will be. And of course, what’s in it for them?
And how do you get in touch with the celebrity you have decided would be perfect for your organization? You can find information on who represents that person on IMDb Pro (has a monthly fee) or by calling the Screen Actors Guild, which has a service that will provide you with the name of the PR rep for the person you’re looking for. You will receive the most help from the celebrity’s manager or publicist, not the agent.
Working with celebrities is not always easy, but the payoff can be big. Think carefully about whether it fits with your strategy and audience. And if it does, give it a try.
For another perspective on this issue, check out this older post from Citizen Brand that was so good I’ve been saving it until I could use it. And I just learned from Stephen Dann that dead celebrities can also be spokespeople so don’t discount someone just because they can’t actually talk anymore.
Related Posts from Spare Change:
Celebrity Love/Hate
Who Asked Them? Unwanted Celebrity Spokespeople
UPDATE (2/22/08): I just came across this blog from Do Something called CelebsGoneGood. It highlights the good things that celebrities are doing or talking about, and could be a great source for finding out which celebs are interested in which types of causes. And it’s just good to see good news about celebrities for a change.
Technorati Tags: celebrity, marketing, jordin sparks
by Nedra Weinreich | Feb 11, 2008 | Blog, Cause Marketing, Social Marketing
This week’s Carnival of Nonprofit Consultants is brought to you by the letters M and F: M for marketing and F for fundraising. They are two sides of the same coin, using similar tools to reach different goals.
Jeff Brooks at Donor Power Blog says we need to give the people what they want, by creating high expectations of what the giving experience should be and meeting those expectations.
Alexandra Rampy at SocialButterfly ponders the question of whether ‘nonprofit’ is a brand or merely the description of an organization’s tax status.
Paul Jones at Cause-Related Marketing thinks it doesn’t matter whether corporations feel the love when they give, as long as they give.
Beth Dunn at Small Dots makes the case that interactive marketing is recession-proof and therefore ideal for nonprofits, who often face tough times financially, recession or no recession.
Joshua Karlin at Marketing & Fundraising Ideas suggests that the way to get major gifts for your nonprofit is to ask for them. Pretty basic, but not easy.
Jason Dick at A Small Change notes that the way to find those potential donors to ask is to listen to them through research.
Jim Logan at Accelerate Business Group provides insight on how to build loyalty and generate repeat customers, which is definitely applicable to nonprofits though written for a more general audience.
Next week the Carnival will be at Giving in a Digital World, with the theme of “Creating and developing online supporter communities through Web 2.0.” If you would like to participate in the Carnival, submit your related blog post by next Sunday (2/17) via the BlogCarnival form.
by Nedra Weinreich | Dec 20, 2007 | Blog, Social Marketing
Though this story has been out for a while, I just came across it. Hanukkah is not the only holiday whose traditions are under assault by overzealous social marketers this year. Recently, the acting US Surgeon General Steven Galson said that Santa Claus needs to slim down because “[i]t is really important that the people who kids look up to as role models are in good shape, eating well and getting exercise… Santa is no different.”
So, now is Santa going to have washboard abs and jog from house to house instead of riding in his sleigh? The image of Santa is so ubiquitous and steeped in tradition that the thought of someone trying to change what he looks like to turn him into a white-bearded Jack LaLanne is simply ridiculous.
I’m the first person to agree that portrayals of fictional people in popular culture can have an impact on social norms and individual health-related behaviors. That’s what entertainment education is all about, for gosh sakes. But we also have to operate within reality and realize that Santa is Santa and that many people have a strong emotional and nostalgic relationship with the traditional image. Messing with those traditions is asking for trouble and a major backlash against the overall cause of promoting a healthy body size.
Santa is not a role model for kids in the same way that someone like Hannah Montana would be an aspirational character. I don’t think that children want to grow up to be just like Santa one day. (Disclaimer: I did not grow up with Santa in my own holiday traditions, and have no particular feelings for him one way or the other, so I’m conjecturing here.)
Maybe instead of transforming Santa, parents could be encouraged to model healthful holiday behavior around their children. Instead of leaving him milk and cookies, they could have their kids think about some healthy snacks Santa might enjoy. They could take a Christmas day walk as a family or get up and get moving with their kids’ new Wii. Parents should identify the people in their children’s lives (friends/relatives/acquaintances as well as celebrities) who live a healthy lifestyle and have them spend time exposed to those role models. These are things that can positively impact the way kids think about eating and fitness — NOT taking beloved religious/cultural icons and shoehorning them into an image that is the opposite of what they are known for.
Santa can be a role model for generosity and love, but to recreate him into a fitness and nutrition advocate is just ho-ho-horribly misguided.
I hope your Christmas — for those of you who celebrate it — is a happy and healthy one, full of old and new traditions.
Photo Credit: twm1340
Note: Why was the Coca-Cola ad pictured above so effective and iconic? Because it transferred the positive feelings associated with the image to the product. If you change what Santa looks like, you can’t tap into those deep-rooted emotions in the same way.
Technorati Tags: christmas, santa, social marketing
by Nedra Weinreich | Dec 10, 2007 | Blog, Social Marketing
For this week’s Carnival of Nonprofit Consultants, we’re looking back at some of the best campaigns of 2007.
Bryan Miller of the UK Fundraising blog highlights the Crisis “Send a Singer” campaign, which raised one million pounds by encouraging companies to replace their traditional Christmas cards with video e-cards depicting people who had been helped by the charity.
Paul Jones of Cause-Related Marketing is enthusiastic about the “open source cause-related marketing” that General Mills has done with its Box Tops for Education campaign.
Marc van Gurp of the newly launched Osocio site nominated Amnesty International France’s campaign called “Your signature is more powerful than you think.” UPDATED LINK TO VIDEO Unfortunately, the video is no longer available on YouTube, but Marc describes it as “The best from the best art director of the world, Erik Vervroegen, TBWA/Paris.”
The DMA’s Integrator blog provided a wonderful example of a successful fundraising campaign for the Save Darfur Coalition, which raised over $415,000 online. The best part is that the post includes a breakdown of each element of the appeal with the corresponding number of gifts and average amount raised by each approach.
CK showed how effective a commercial can be when it uses “show don’t tell” marketing. Though Durex Condoms are not a nonprofit product, it’s definitely related to social marketing (and the guys dressed up as eager sperm are awfully cute).
Katya Andresen on her Nonprofit Marketing Blog told the story of a pair of sisters who launched their own personal campaign to raise money for the Genesis Home. One of the sisters laid out all the channels and approaches that they used to successfully raise about $10,000.
Anastasia Goodstein of Ypulse talked about the Ad Council’s Delete Cyberbullying campaign back in March. The spots are painful to watch, but elicit exactly the right emotional response in the viewer.
And one of my favorite campaigns this year has been the Florida Department of Health’s “Talk to the 5th Guy” campaign. It’s a humorous take on hygiene and preventing the spread of germs at the workplace. (The premise is that 4 out of 5 people wash their hands — Ben Mitchell is that fifth guy.)
What are your favorite campaigns from this year? Please share them in the comments!
Next week the Carnival will travel to the Donor Power Blog. If you would like your blog to be included in this carnival, go to BlogCarnival.com to submit your post using the form there or send an email to npc.carnival AT yahoo DOT com with your name, your blog’s name and the URL of the post (not your blog homepage). The deadline is usually Friday, 8:00 p.m. ET.
Technorati Tags: carnival of nonprofit consultants, marketing, campaign
by Nedra Weinreich | Dec 4, 2007 | Blog, Social Marketing
As the holiday of Hanukkah starts tonight, a new campaign is urging Jews to skip burning a candle during this Festival of Lights. The Green Hanukkia campaign (a hanukkia, or menorah, is the 9-branched candleholder) was founded by a couple of Israelis who do environmental and PR consulting. They say that one candle produces 15 grams of CO2 when burned completely, and the effect of millions of households lighting so many candles over the eight nights of Hanukkah would do “significant damage to the atmosphere.”
Liad Ortar, the campaign’s cofounder, says, “The campaign calls for Jews around the world to save the last candle and save the planet, so we won’t need another miracle.” They are encouraging Jews who are not religious to avoid lighting the hanukkiah at all. For observant Jews, lighting the candles each of the eight nights of Hanukkah (adding one to the total lit for each night) is a religious obligation – not negotiable.
What effect will this campaign have beyond alienating those who are already wary of the anti-religious slant of many on the left, or pushing those who are on the fence religiously further away from their heritage? If they are going to suggest pro-environmental behaviors that are related to religious observance, telling people to break millennia-long traditions that are part of their deepest values — and will make an indetectable impact — is not the action to select.
How about encouraging people to observe the sabbath and avoid driving and using electricity one day a week? Many observant Jews live one-seventh of their life following the kind of carbon-free lifestyle many environmentalists only dream of. Why not work with organizations like Chabad or the Union for Reform Judaism to promote the idea of taking off one day each week without cars, televisions, video games, or other things that use power? Show how a green lifestyle can fit into a religious life — not how people should drop their traditions to do what you want them to do.
Next thing you know, those darn social marketers will start distributing recipes for how to make latkes and sufganiyot without oil. 🙂
I wish you all a very happy Hanukkah, full of light and miracles!
Photo Credit: chaim zvi
by Nedra Weinreich | Nov 12, 2007 | Blog, Social Marketing
The Marketori Sociali’s PR operations in action.No, I haven’t been on strike in solidarity with the Writers Guild. I’ve been in Sicily undercover to try to learn more after police discovered the secret Mafia code of conduct upon arresting a top mob Godfather. In case you haven’t seen them, the Ten Mafiosi Commandments are:
- No one can present himself directly to another of our friends. There must be a third person to do it.
- Never look at the wives of friends.
- Never be seen with cops.
- Don’t go to pubs and clubs.
- Always be available for Cosa Nostra, even if your wife’s about to give birth.
- Appointments must be respected.
- Wives must be treated with respect.
- When asked for any information, the answer must be the truth.
- Money cannot be appropriated if it belongs to others or to other families.
- People who can’t be part of Cosa Nostra are anyone with a close relative in the police, with a two-timing relative in the family, anyone who behaves badly and doesn’t hold to moral values.
You may not know this, but the Mafia has an extensive (and top secret) social marketing department. And now, after weeks of living under omertà in fear of being exposed (they thought I was just a hitman with poor aim*), I can finally reveal the Marketori Sociali Ten Commandments:
- Do not only promote your product directly to your target audience. A third-party endorsement through word-of-mouth — especially if it is a personal friend — is much more effective.
- Never look at the wives of friends, unless they are the ones who are more influential in the family health and social behavior decisions.
- Never be seen with cops, unless you decide that the behaviors you are promoting are better addressed through policy and enforcement.
- Don’t go to pubs and clubs without market research that demonstrates that those locations are the best places to reach your audience with your message.
- Always be available to create an environment in your casa that will facilitate behaviors like breastfeeding and putting baby to sleep on his back after your wife gives birth.
- Your product must be available in the right time and right place to the right people to get any respect.
- Wives must be treated with respect. The customer is not a moron – she is your wife.
- When asked for any information, the answer must be the truth. Astroturfi and marionetti di calzini are not part of the family business.
- Money cannot always be appropriated in exchange for adopting the product. Sometimes the price will be time, hassle, social disapproval or leaving old habits like offing people.
- People who can’t be part of the Marketori Sociali are anyone who does not understand the audience like a close relative, who does not make an offer they can’t refuse, who does not focus on how they want people to behave, or who assumes that the values of the people they are trying to reach are exactly the same as their own.
Now that I’ve revealed these secrets, I’m going to have to lay low for a while. I’m hoping I won’t find an unexpected surprise on my pillow in the morning.
*Disclaimer: I have not, nor would I ever, take out a contract on another human being nor endorse the whacking thereof.
Photo Credit: liliumjoker
Technorati Tags: social marketing, mafia
Nedra helps nonprofits and public agencies create positive change on health and social issues through social marketing and transmedia storytelling strategies at Weinreich Communications since founding the company in 1995. She helps organizations make a difference for the populations they serve by strategically designing programs that draw on state-of-the-art behavior change techniques, digital media approaches and the power of stories. 
