Carbonated copy; is emulating Coke’s success just a question of bottle for charities?

Carbonated copy; is emulating Coke’s success just a question of bottle for charities?

Give a little nod if you’ve heard someone talking about the ‘Share a Coke with...’ campaign in the last few months. Now clench a fist and shake it either in celebration or frustration at the amount of times you’ve seen it on social media, or if someone has sent you a picture of your name on a Coke bottle. In the last two weeks, I’ve read a news article reporting a stagnation in sales and one shouting about a boost on the same website, but there can be little argument; Coca Cola has captured people’s imagination. So should charities be doing this?

For me, the ‘Share a Coke with...’ campaign is a stroke of genius for two reasons. First, Coke is advertising on its own bottles. I’m sure there are some costs (although maybe not many) associated with this, but aside from some white ink it doesn't look like it was too much hassle. Second, and more important, is the free advertising it generates. Every time someone posts a picture on Facebook, or sends a photo message by mobile (there’s that fist again), it’s free advertising. It is very easily 'shareable' and desirably so. Any charity would give its eye-tooth to have a campaign that was easy to implement and raised awareness like the Coke campaign has. The question is, is it possible?

In 2005, French footballer Thierry Henry kicked off the ‘Stand Up, Speak Up’ campaign against racism. Top players like Wayne Rooney and Cristiano Ronaldo wore black and white entwined wristbands and pretty soon sales hit five million, with the proceeds going the 'Stand Up, Speak Up' fund to combat racism in football. Five million sales at a pound apiece is easy maths, but that’s across Europe not the UK. The trouble with charity campaigns like this is they’re often very niche. Can charities ever capture everyone’s attention?

Well, Make Poverty History was more mainstream - remember those wristbands? It was a very successful campaign in terms of raising awareness. Pretty soon though, kids were completely wrapped in wristbands and consequently the various messages suffered a mutual muffling. The key is to act fast, or better still, act first.

The best ongoing example I can think of is probably the one you’re thinking of right now; the Poppy Appeal. The Royal British Legion’s fundraising target last year was £42m. The Poppy Appeal has all the vital ingredients really: a well-known symbol you can buy and wear, a cause almost everyone would care about and few could disagree with, along with the kind of national exposure other charities can only dream of. When the Prime Minister and the Queen are wearing a symbol of your charity, you're in the big leagues. But surely this is the exception rather than the rule. Is it a realistic target for most charities?

The short answer to that is a clear no. Charities often don’t have the resources to mount national campaigns and their cause is often so niche, it wouldn’t catch on if they did. Those that have both the reach and the money face a Catch 22. If they launch a campaign that is fairly standard and without risk, will people notice it, let alone embrace it? If they take a risk and try something new, or even outlandish, will it work?

No one is immune from failure. When Coca Cola launched their own brand of water (remember Dasani?), a terrible overall campaign led to a swift withdrawal and an estimated £25 million loss. Is it any wonder that charities are reluctant to innovate with campaigns when they don’t have Coke’s billion pound mattress to cushion any falls?

So what am I suggesting? Well, at the very least some piggy backing, or as it's now known - 'trend jacking'. You can’t move for Royal baby coverage at the moment. Where are the charities using that publicity? Have a quick Google and see what companies are doing. Asda's George range is now apparently "fit for a King."

Ok, charities might not have the resources to respond that quickly, but Pampers have a campaign saying "Every baby is a little Prince or Princess. Share pictures of yours!" A bit hokey? Maybe. But the point is, as a company in the 'baby industry', they were ready for this. So were Coke, Starbucks, Nintendo and Dominos apparently.

What's to stop charities having prepared something months ago? Where are the children’s charities using Royal baby publicity? Are they going to sell branded items saying “Keeping babies like little George safe” (I’m sure the irony wouldn’t be lost on most). Or are they going to advertise saying “Donate to us - because not every child gets to grow up in a palace”? You can hitch a ride on this and many other news stories, but I rarely see it.

There are successful national charity campaigns, but I think the sad fact is most charities and their campaigns will struggle to capture the imagination of the mainstream and most don’t have the resources to try. Small gains are how charities roll. Ring-fencing rather than the ring-pull has been their success and it has little chance of changing.

This isn't meant as a criticism. It’s understandable that charities are not making national strides when innovative campaigns are so fraught with risk. "Share a Coke with.." has been a huge success, but even a giant like Coca Cola can provide £25m lessons about how campaigns can go wrong.

Remember, there’s definitely something in the water...

 

'Can' you agree with that? Or have we bottled it? Leave us a comment below.

Submitted by Stephen Pidgeon (not verified) on 26 Jul 2013

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Good one Rob. How many charities with key (and elderly) royals as patrons and supporters, have plans to celebrate their lives when they die, using that celebration for fundraising. Judging by the minimal activity when The Queen Mother died, very few.

Submitted by Elena Blackmore (not verified) on 27 Jul 2013

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The issue is surely nor just that charities should be latching on to whatever is popular at that moment in time, but that they should become relevant by connecting to and responding to the key issues of our time, in the sort of real time you are talking about here. I don't want Save the Children talking to me about the Great British Bake Off, but I do want to hear their voices speaking out against government cuts that are going to negatively impact all of us on the days where it is in the public eye, and pushing for it when it isn't! It is this lack of voice on the real issues of today that is sidelining today's charities, in my view. Civil society is supposed to be a force separate from state and market, pushing for the social change that is needed: not 'being cool'.

Besides which, charities actually seemed to tie themselves in fairly well with the baby thing - Oxfam, for eg., had something very much along the lines of what you say.

Submitted by Victoria Silver (not verified) on 28 Jul 2013

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Marie Curie's Great Daffodil Appeal another similar campaign able to reach millions because everyone has lost some one close because of cancer, and other terminal illnesses. This year their Ad campaign 'first moments are as important as last' captured attention of millions, with sensitivity and symmetry about beginning and end of life, and importance of good quality nursing care. Charity raised over £7m, despite economic downturn, surpassing own targets.

Submitted by Valerie Morton (not verified) on 6 Aug 2013

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ACT, the charity for Addenbrookes and Rosie Hospitals, sent out an email appeal for a new children's heart scanner on Tuesday 23rd July to celebrate the arrival of the Royal Baby. Good example of great timely and appropriate fundraising.

Submitted by Home-Start UK (not verified) on 7 Aug 2013

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Lovely to see you talking about Pampers, Rob. Home-Start UK was part of this and, though we haven't had the coverage of a Coke-style campaign, we are delighted to have had been on national newspaper advertising, TV advertising and other things we can't normally dream of. (We have no advertising budget at the moment). We also got press coverage (across the UK as well as nationally) and a boost in social media content. We will also receive 100,000 nappies to pass on to struggling families across the UK. We are grateful that Pampers used the royal birth to link up with a charity as well as advertise themselve: there could be a future in this. See their website here: http://www.pampers.co.uk/royalbabyblanket

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