SELF-EVALUATION

The challenge of the brief was to encourage ActionAid's older supporters to say Bollocks To Poverty and make a massive difference by giving £5 a month, i.e. just 17p a day to ActionAid's work.

From my primary research I understood the very reason behind pure unselfish altruism; that most people give to charity not as an expression of the virtue itself, but as a selfish gesture of a feel-good factor.

I had trouble finding out facts and figures about how much ActionAid does for the Bollocks to Poverty campaign. I emailed asking a few questions and they were kind enough to reply and address my request to send me their Annual Review, which held plenty of information; Real people and real stories.

I compared prices of household items like bananas, apples, band-aids, pencils, beer, cigarettes, etc. with what and how much it could buy in under-developed nations and realised there was a huge difference. A gift of just 17p a day is all it takes to start changing lives in the poorest countries in the world. I dabbled about with simple images and text and developed a set of 3 posters showing these comparisons. I wanted to screenprint these posters to give them a personal touch. However, I messed them up the first time and due to the lack of time I couldn't try again. I wish I had managed my time better and will keep this in mind for the future.

I felt that I needed to expand my campaign to beyond just the 3 posters. I was very inspired by 'A Blind Call'; a very smart social campaign in Belgium, taking advantage of technology. It directs all mis-dialled calls to a special number that when dialed donates the cost of the call to a charity organization. I wanted to take this opportunity to expand my work into media that I hadn't explored before. I advanced my campaign to a Daily SMS worth 17p to go towards ActionAid that people could sign up for.

OVERVIEW

PROJECT STATEMENT

In order to answer the brief, I have created a campaign that is spread over 3 mediums. The first is an iPhone application

Keeping in mind that the target audience mostly comprises of students and young professionals, and are aware as well as extremely fond of mobile technology, I have devised an iPhone application that they may use if they wish to donate to

ActionAid. For the part of the audience that does not have access to an iPhone, there is Text-Donation.

To promote the campaign and to make the audience aware, I have created a poster based on the design of the iPhone

application. I have kept the imagery very simple and to-the-point.

The basis for the design is a general comparison of the value of 17p in our everyday lives with that of its value in the lives of the people belonging to poorest countries where ActionAid works.

This campaign aims to convey the message by using minimal imagery and text. The colours and typeface were provided by ActionAid in their project-pack.

RATIONALE

The target audience for the Campaign includes the youth of UK. They are Young Professionals and Students. They do not have large disposable incomes but regularly spend on food, groceries, stationary, phone-credit, cosmetics, toiletries,

alcohol, cigarettes, take-away and junk food. They are skeptical and avoid negative emotion at all costs. They are not aware of how giving to charity is helpful. They are not aware of where their money goes and how it is spent. They are always technologically up-to-date and extremely tech-savvy.

To appeal to this particular audience, I have chosen a modern and upcoming method of advertising, i.e. mobile advertising, where they will not feel any pressure to give to charity. I wanted to speak to as many viewers as possible and because it is a charitable cause, there is no harm in reaching even outside the chosen target audience. Mobile advertising has been

rapidly growing in the past few years and research says that Mobile Advertising will Grow 45% in 2010 to $3.8B. Donating by text message is an easy and simple way for customers to give to charity and this change will make it more attractive. This is one of the best ways for reaching today's teens.

iPhone sales have increased more than 10-fold since it was first released. The 90,000+ applications make it all the more user friendly and it is one of the most desirable pieces of technology today. iPhone applications are extremely easy to use and enable the user to do millions of tasks at just one tap at the screen.

The poster is a medium of promoting the campaign. I have kept the imagery clean and uncomplicated and the text is

minimal. The tone of voice is indirect and I have been careful that it is not patronising. I have used ActionAid’s official

colours and typeface.

The message of the campaign is such that it does not beg or force, yet it delivers the message clearly. It makes the

audience think and draw comparisons in their own head, thus, encouraging them to think about giving up the £5 a month.

STRATEGY/MEDIUMS

The chosen media for advertising this campaign are

Mobile technology

1. iPhone application

2.SMS (text) donation

and 3. Posters

New Final Poster

The new poster is in the form of a calendar, based on the iPhone application and the concept of regular giving. It is very simple with simple colours.

Text-Donation

The SMS/Text donation part of the campaign doesn't really have a design or any visual elements to it...except that it will be mentioned on the posters.

Supporters can text 'BTP5' to 55555 to donate £5 to ActionAid each month. (easy text and number to remember)

iPhone application coming along good..

Here's a few shots from the iPhone application storyboarding:

Campaign revised

Mobile advertising seems the way to go. So, I'm going to design a campaign which is mainly handled through mobile technology.

The campaign will have 3 parts:

1. iPhone application

2. Text-donation for non-iPhone users

3. Informative poster, also showing comparison of the worth of 17p in Developed countries with that in poorest countries Under-developed or Developing countries.

Muscular Dystrophy Campaign

Co-incidentally, there is another organisation which helps lead the fight agains muscle disease, who also have a £5 a month Regular Giving campaign. They too mention how £5 a month works out to only 16p a day.

"Regular income helps us plan for the future, as our work needs long term income to sustain it. A really effective way to support our work is by a monthly direct debit. For example, just £5 a month – around 16p per day – can fund around two hours of research a year. Please give whatever you can."

http://www.muscular-dystrophy.org/

COMIC RELIEF

Good question. Here's the short answer:

Our mission, thanks to our comedy heritage and the fantastic relationship we enjoy with the BBC, is 'positive change through the power of entertainment'.

And our biggest tool, in trying to achieve these two goals, is the ability to inspire people across the whole country especially those who don’t normally do charity - to do charity.

As the world has changed and become more complex over the last two decades, so Comic Relief has had to adapt and change too but the fundamentals remain the same - a just world free from poverty. In trying to achieve that vision we make this promise to the people who make those efforts possible - our supporters:

In order to run itself in a professional and effective way Comic Relief incurs necessary costs. Raising funds, making grants and organisational overheads cost real money.

Despite these costs, Comic Relief is still able to promise that for every pound the charity gets directly from the public, a pound goes to help transform the lives of people living with poverty and social injustice. If Sport Relief raises £20 million, Comic Relief will spend at least £20 million doing just that.

It can make this promise because its operating budget is covered in cash or in kind from all types of supporters like corporate sponsors and donors, suppliers, generous individuals and government (including Gift Aid) as well as from investment income and interest

AND IF YOU'VE GOT A FEW MINUTES TO SPARE HERE'S THE MORE DETAILED ANSWER:

Comic Relief is obviously a charity - but it's also a business too.

The money we raise is allocated to a wide range of grants and social investments aimed at delivering real and long-lasting change to the poorest, most vulnerable people at home and across the world; as well as informing the public and young people in particular about global citizenship and the underlying causes of extreme poverty.

That money comes in from a number of different sources. Traditional charitable fundraising obviously plays a vital role. The public contribute to Comic Relief's annual campaigns by raising money through sponsorship and by making donations online, by post, by telephone and through major banks and building societies. This support, from almost the very day Comic Relief was formed, has been both humbling and inspirational.

On the business side of things, Comic Relief works with key corporate partners to produce products and promotions that are profitable. The clearest example of this is the Red Nose that is the emblem of Red Nose Day. In 2005 we raised over £5 million from the sale of noses.

Where possible these products tie-in with the charity's commitment to delivering benefits to poor farmers and producers. The Red Nose Day 2007 T-shirt for instance was made with fair trade cotton from Mali, Cameroon and Senegal and there will be a fair trade Maraba Bourbon coffee grown in Rwanda, a country to which Comic Relief has had a clear commitment since the appalling genocide of 1994.

Another way Comic Relief raises funds is via the creativity made available to the charity. Comedians from time to time offer access to key brands like Little Britain for commercial exploitation. The charity also develops and owns key sub-brands like Robbie the Reindeer and Monkey, both of which deliver a revenue too.

RED NOSE DAY campaigns over the years:

Do something funny for money

Text-Donation

Okay, so this idea for text-donation makes the most sense. It is a very convenient and user-friendly approach and has a very wide audience grasp. But I don't want to keep it to a simple text. I want to turn it into an application, or a daily reminder on your phone like an alarm or calendar. An application that willing donors can download to their phones and use to remind them at a particular time of the day to send the text.

Donation by Texting

Use your thumbs to donate

via Adverblog http://www.adverblog.com/archives/000654.htm 160Characters reports of an interesting initiative, "Muscles for Muscles Week", to support fund raising to the Muscular Dystrophy Association through SMS. Using Esendex SMS technology, donations can be made to the Muscular Dystrophy Campaign by texting the word ‘muscle’ to 80806 (texts cost £1.50 and at least 85p goes to the Muscular Dystrophy Campaign).

Text Advertising

Small Businesses Marketing with Text Messaging

Many large companies, such as Dunkin' Donuts and McDonalds, have deployed successful marketing campaigns using text messaging. But you do not have to be a multinational to take advantage of this very effective marketing strategy.

Text messaging is also referred to as SMS, or short message service. Cellular phones that are equipped to handle text messaging and instant messenger clients for computers can receive brief messages that contain information from friends, clients, and even businesses marketing their products. In addition, be sure to read up on E-mail Marketing Basics.

Text messaging is gaining popularity as an advertising medium because it is relatively inexpensive and allows businesses to reach out to highly targeted consumers. Millions of people all over the world have the ability to receive text messages. Although the United States is somewhat behind in this trend, text messaging is quickly gaining ground in this country.

You can send instant coupons, promotional messages, and much more via text messages. When you write your copy for your text-message advertisement, you will need to keep it as brief as possible and get directly to your point. Learn more about the Art of Writing Effective Web Copy.

Having the ability to instantly contact potential customers all over the world is one of the best benefits of this marketing strategy. In addition, text messaging is a personal way to reach out to potential customers.

The first step in launching a text-messaging campaign is finding a company to provide subscriber lists and deploy your ads. Here are three of the most popular SMS/Text messaging services:

Simplewire offers a starter pack that includes everything you need included to kick off your first campaign. You can to add on additional units of subscribers or try the starter package to see how your first campaign does. Just create your message, and Simplewire will handle the rest.

Skymo, based in UK, offers US access in addition to other countries across the world. Their rates are in pounds sterling, which means exchange rates can work against U.S. advertisers.

PSWin.com is also based in Europe, and they use the Euro to calculate their fees. PSWin charges no setup or subscription fees: just select the number of subscribers you would like to reach, and you are charged per subscriber. There are no minimums, making this a great service for smaller companies.

Whether you plan on mounting a large text messaging campaign or whether you want to start small, there are plenty of different resources available for small businesses interested in this technology.

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It's Time for Brands to Embrace Text Messaging

It Can Provide a Direct Route to the Urban Market

Posted by Doug Melville on 09.15.08 @ 01:46 PM

Doug Melville

I want this post to inspire you about the power of text messaging as a way to reach your urban audience.

I have the fortunate position of sitting on the Leadership Council of theCellular Telephone Industry of America. This past week in San Francisco the semi-annual CTIA conference took place, with the main theme focused on Wireless IT & Entertainment. Unfortunately, I was unable to attend for the first time in three years. It was hard for me to sleep thinking about all the new gadgets, data and trends that would be discussed at this year's gathering, but the one area that I was most interested to explore was data use and how that could be applied to marketers and advertisers.

While some CMOs and agency chiefs say they are looking for ways to tie into the newest urban culture and trends, they are either missing or significantly discounting the device that represents the extension of people's individualism and personality: the mobile phone.

When thinking of cellphones, it appears that data is becoming the new voice. It is clear that almost every American who doesn't physically churn his or her own butter these days has a cellphone. But besides voice minutes, the mobile industry is making a conscious effort to increase its new sweet spot: data use and application.

So what does this mean to marketers? A whole lot if you put a few key items together. The CTIA along with Harris Interactive released a study touting the power of mobile against the teen audience. (I encourage EVERYONE to increase their teen plus mobile IQ and read this.)

There are two key stats I pulled from that Harris Report and added them to a piece of info from a recent U.S. Census Report to come up with a formula, or equation, for CMOs and agencies that will help them justify and take advantage of urban and youth marketing to the next generation.

It breaks out as follows:

Point 1: Text Messaging. Not only do nine out of 10 teens text, and not only do some teen segments prefer texting over talking, but almost HALF said they can complete text messages with their eyes closed or blindfolded.

PLUS

Point 2: Mobile-Based Advertising. Almost HALF of all teens are interested in ads on their phone if there is an incentive. (Yes, I said interested.)

PLUS

Point 3: The "Browning" of America. In 15 years, more than HALF of the nation's children (teens and younger) will be multicultural, belonging to a minority racial or ethnic group.

EQUALS:

The Sweet Spot. This is one of the best ways for reaching today's teens, and taking advantage of marketing trends for tomorrow's fastest-growing segment of the population is through corporate-based mobile advertising, marketing and messaging.

A recent example of this: the Barack Obama Text Message. According to the WSJ, when Barack Obama's campaign sent out the text message alerting supporters to his vice presidential pick, it reached an estimated 2.9 million people.

Not only did Obama get unbelievable press coverage for this through CNN, The L.A. Times, WSJ and others, but he also got a head start in the development of his own Obama media, in which he can send messages directly to his supporters without having to resort to mainstream media. If you look at what segment won Obama the caucuses, you have to look at the under-25-year-old crowd. And what better way to reach them than text messaging?

Tim Russert's 23-year-old son Luke, who is an NBC News correspondent, discussed on "Late Night With Conan O'Brien" last week a solution to get unmotivated 20-somethings to register to vote. His suggestion: a one-day registration event that is advertised/supported by a text-message campaign. Instead of using the current antiquated voter-registration process, which requires several weeks to complete, a text message can give you instant gratification -- and an almost immediate response and completion.

Brands should all take note: Get smarter or lose market share. The easiest and simplest form of communicating through data on your mobile phone is through text messaging -- more than 75 billion are sent each month in the U.S. alone. But how many are sent by brands and companies? Hardly any. Besides Domino's Pizza, which sends regular texts with food specials, I have yet to personally be inspired by brands and their focus in this sector.

The multicultural population and influence is growing, and more agencies and brands are looking for ways to effectively tie into the coolest urban trends, urban America, young hipsters; mobile is a great way to do this.

Instead of struggling with the multicultural budgets that seem to overlap general-market initiatives, turn your multicultural dollars toward digital. Your message is direct, quick and immediate for a tech-savvy audience that actually wants to hear from you.

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Idea Oongli Cricket arrives for mobile users

Cricket fiends have already enjoyed Test Cricket, One-Day Cricket and even T-20! This time, the world of batting & bowling will be getting something new. Idea Cellular has just introduced a new format of Cricket – the ‘Idea Onngli Cricket’, enabling mobile phone users to enjoy every bit of it.

With the new campaign this summer, Idea Cellular will bring Cricket to all those who use a mobile device. The new format will allow millions of mobile users in India to participate in this unique campaign.

“All Indians are connected with Cricket, in some way or the other. However, only a few get a chance to play the sport while millions just remain spectators of the match. ‘Idea Oongli Cricket’ will enable every Indian to participate in this match of cricketing intelligence. Like all Idea campaigns, the concept is fun and entertaining, and will engage a cross section of consumers through the power of telephony,” stated Pradeep Shrivastava, Chief Marketing Officer, Idea Cellular.

Interestingly, sports buffs will be asked a question based on the events and happenings of the ongoing match of the day. Each question will be unique and promises to topple oodles of fun. Users just need to exercise their fingers to text the right answer after the question is asked.

‘Idea Oongli Cricket’ can be played by all mobile phone users. So play ‘Idea oongli Cricket’ this season and stay connected with favorite cricketers. Enjoy!

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January 05, 2010

Mobile Advertising to Grow 45% in 2010 to $3.8B (SMS Advertising To Dominate)

JP Morgan is out with their 2010 Internet Industry Outlook. If they're right, the mobile world is set to keep on growing:

JP Morgan’s leading industry analyst Imran Kahn released the 328-page Interest Industry outlook which notes that total U.S. mobile advertising for 2009 is estimated at $2.6 billion, up 62 percent, with $2.3 billion of that from text messaging. Just 178 million was mobile search, and $140 million was display. Both of these were up 80 percent last year. Turn to 2010, and mobile advertising is, according to Kahn, forecast to grow 45 percent to $3.8 billion ($3.2 billion SMS advertising, $253 million mobile display, and $31 million mobile search.)

Read more: Mobile Marketing Watch OnlineMediaDaily

Posted at 03:17:31 PM in Advertising, Marketing, Mobile Forecasts, Mobile Web, SMS News

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TEXT MESSAGING FOR AD AGENCIES

Advertising agencies know what works best for their customers. And successful ad agencies know that you have to be ahead of the creative curve to create profit for your clients. When considering the types of advertising today, modern advertising methods include text messaging.

Including text messages as part of an advertising campaign will insure increased return on investment (ROI). Agencies can create effective and compelling marketing campaigns using 84444.com for their clients. Using 84444.com for your campaign is simple, cost effective and is the best way to create new revenue streams. And isn’t that exactly what your clients expect from you?

Each campaign would include a keyword, chosen by the agency for the client. The keyword could be promoted in print, tv and outdoor ads. By texting the keyword to 84444.com, companies not only respond to consumers directly, but as a direct result receive and built a database of their customers. This in turn can help companies extend their brands with increased brand awareness, loyalty, participation, consumer data gathering and more.

Email marketing has lost its luster since unscrupulous companies began sending spam. Often, e-mail is read when convenient, not when it is received which is what makes 84444.com different. This is beyond internet advertising. This is immediate mobile marketing at just pennies per message. It is marketing that welcome by the consumer and it gets to them right in their pockets.

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Text message donations help Haiti

January 14, 2010 6:17am

by David Gelles

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In the immediate aftermath of Tuesday’s catastrophic earthquake in Haiti, celebrities and aid organisations began making an unusual appeal to Americans: pick up your mobile phone and text.

Both the Red Cross and Yele Haiti, a charity founded by Haitian-born singer Wyclef Jean, are accepting donations via text that will be put towards relief funds for the devastated island nation. In just over 24 hours, more than $2m has been raised.

Anyone with a mobile phone can text “HAITI” to 90999 to donate $10 to the Red Cross, or “YELE” to 501501 to donate $5 to Yele Haiti. Users then get a text asking for confirmation, and with another “YES” text the donation is complete.

So-called “mobile giving” has been catching on lately, as smartphones proliferate and people grow more comfortable using text messages as a form of commerce (text message coupons were another big growth area last year).

The low financial barrier to participation has made it popular, while social media had enabled campaigns to go viral through word of mouth.

Another thing aiding mobile giving this time around is that the wireless carriers, which sometimes charge high fees for text message gifts, are waiving the fees for donations made to Haiti.

For once, excessive texting might not be such a bad thing.

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Vodafone: now 90p for every £1 text donation goes to charity

Published on 26 February 2010, by howardlake

in

• Corporate
• mobile
• New media
• sms texting

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From today, Vodafone UK is increasing the amount that charities will receive when its customers make a donation via text message. Charities will now receive 90p of every £1 donated by Vodafone customers when they give £1 or more via a five digit 'short code' number which starts 70.

"Donating by text message is an easy and simple way for customers to give to charity and this change will make it more attractive," said Libby Pritchard, Head of Corporate Responsibility at Vodafone UK. "Research by nfpSynergy has shown that people understand there may be a small charge how ever they chose to donate."

Vodafone say that the 10p that is kept covers network and third party costs. VAT is no longer payable on the donation itself and is passed to the charity.

John Low, Chief Executive of the Charities Aid Foundation said: "Vodafone are the UK's second biggest mobile phone operator so this is a very significant announcement... This is a huge step forward in the campaign to make text donations a good way to give to charity and means that all charities benefit, not just one off major appeals such as Comic Relief and BBC Children in Need when all mobile phone companies have generously waived their fees".

O2, the UK's biggest mobile phone operator, reduced their rates in November 2009 to pass on 90% of each text donation.

Low added: "I hope other mobile operators will follow because giving by text is a great way to fundraise since it is easy and spontaneous for donors."

Roger Craven, Director of mobile fundraising solutions provider Vir2 Ltd, has supported the campaign to secure higher donations from texts, said: "Text donation is a competitive option for small value payments on more and more networks. Text is also more spontaneous, it appeals to a younger audience and unlike cheques, there are no plans to phase it out by 2018."

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