“You can never go wrong by investing in communities and the human beings within them.”
There are many ways in which companies differ from one another. Some provide services while others provide products, some are large and others are small or simply start-up companies, others are based on a cause. Literally, the list is endless. But there is one very important factor regardless the size of the business or what they sell or do, one that many people often forget about. Something so important that it can take a company or idea and turn them into a huge success or into an overnight failure. Public Relations or PR! Every company does it, whether they realize it or not. Some companies are large enough, and are making enough money to afford an in-house PR person, department or even hire a PR company to do this for them. Other smaller businesses just getting started may have to do this on their own. Regardless of how it gets done, PR is so important because a company can have an amazing product or idea, but if nobody knows about it, then its not really doing the public or business owner and good.
“Public relations is a strategic communication process that builds mutually beneficial relationships between organizations and their publics.”
One of the most important goals of all PR campaigns is to communicate to the public what makes this company or idea great. Why should you choose them over the other guy? How can you tell if a PR campaign has been successful? Typically, the biggest indicator is if you push a product and it sells, then that's positive and if it doesn't, then it wasn't. But what if you aren't selling a product or a service? What if your company represents a cause? Then, how can you tell if your PR campaign is successful? What are some ways to communicate a campaign for a cause and test if it has been a success? Since social media has become such an important tool in marketing, causes and social issues that we have not given much thought to in the past have become relevant again and been given new life. Because of the social media attention given to some of these causes and issues, money is being donated at record speeds. At times its like a challenge!
Before the Ice Bucket Challenge in 2014, many people had never heard of ALS (Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis) or what is often referred to as Lou Gehrig's disease. ALS is a debilitating and fatal disease that has actually been around since the 1800's. Unfortunately, it took a famous baseball player (Lou Gehrig) being diagnosed with this disease, in order for the rest of the world to become aware of it. Hence, the name Lou Gehrig's disease. That is often what happens, especially with important social issues and causes. But in the case of ALS, that's what has also helped this disease become relevant again. Before Lou Gehrig, no one really knew about it. After Lou Gehrig, everyone did. Prior to the the Ice Bucket Challenge, the ALS campaign only raised approximately $2.8 million from donations in 2013. After the challenge, they raised over $100 million that year, and are still going strong. With the help of social media, the Ice Bucket Challenge made ALS as important as cancer and everyone was talking about it. Famous people such as Bill Gates, Oprah, Leonardo DiCaprio, and LeBron James were completing the challenge, then challenging other famous friends to complete the challenge or donate to ALS. Many of them were completing the challenge and donating as well. In fact, as the campaign went on, people were trying to outdo each other as far as dumping the water on themselves. So things got pretty intense and crazy!
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| Pete Frates (Far R), Pat Quinn (Middle) |
Now, the ALS Foundation may not have started this campaign, but they sure have run with it. It turned out to be one of the most successful communication campaigns that year and has continued to be a success for them. What started out as a simple challenge by a professional golfer named Chris Kennedy, to his cousin, Jeanette Senerchia, turned into a global sensation via Facebook almost overnight. Jeanette's husband, Anthony, had ALS and was friends with Pat Quinn and Pete Frates through Facebook. Pat and Pete, who both suffer from ALS as well, have very extensive Facebook networks and that is how the challenge spread. After Jeanette was challenged, she then challenged a few of her girlfriends, and it went from there. People had 24 hours to complete the challenge or they had to donate to ALS. Many chose to do both. Per the ALS Foundation, the Ice Bucket Challenge will take place every August, until they have found a cure, because August is ALS Awareness Month. Sadly, Anthony Senerchia has passed away, but Pat Quinn and Pete Frates are still going strong and will continue to fight for a cure for ALS for as long as they are able!
“You can buy attention (advertising). You can beg for attention from the media (PR). You can bug people one at a time to get attention (sales). Or you can earn attention by creating something interesting and valuable and then publishing it online for free.” – David Meerman Scott (@dmscott)
Likewise, have you ever been flipping channels and then you stop, even though its a commercial, because those sad eyes are staring at you from the television screen? Then, to make it even worse, Sarah McLachlan is in the background singing, "Angel". You want to turn the channel, but you can't, because the A.S.P.C.A. and Sarah are telling you that for only $18 a month, you can help these poor babies. If you can honestly watch these commercials and not want to bawl your eyes out, then you are a MONSTER!!
Apparently, you are not alone. This commercial aired for the first time in 2007 and the A.S.P.C.A. took in over $30 million in donations in its first two years since released. It has been their most successful campaign to date. And actually, they lucked into working with Sarah McLachlan in the first place. She is a big supporter of animals, and happened to be doing a small project with Eagle-Com, Inc, who was working with the A.S.P.C.A. as well. Eagle-Com is a direct response television (DRTV) fundraising agency. They typically organize commercial productions, media buying, etc. for charitable organizations. They pitched her this simple idea and the rest is history. “Sarah made it possible to do in two minutes what took 30 minutes before,” said Jo Sullivan, the organization’s senior vice president for development and communications, referring to the long-form use of celebrities in the past. “She literally has changed the way we fund-raise.”
Both of these are examples of causes, not products or services. Both of them rely on donations from the public. And they both pull at the heartstrings to get people to donate money. The ALS Ice Bucket Challenge starts out with the simple challenge, but then you are intrigued because you don't know much about the disease and you want to know more. Then, you wish you hadn't looked it up, because it is absolutely gut-wrenching once you learn what it does to a person. The same with the A.S.P.C.A. You are drawn in by the emotional videos and the pictures of the sad animals and before you know it, you are sponsoring an entire litter of puppies. At the end of the day, both of these campaigns have figured it out. This world is full of different races, religions, ethnicities, etc. but the one thing we all have in common is we all have hearts. And some of these companies sure are tugging on them!
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