Right now as I write, I’m sitting in an automobile dealership, waiting for a repair on my van to be completed. And I’m watching Oprah.
Oprah’s net worth is something in the vicinity of $900 million, and considering that she doesn’t really even think of herself as a business person (see her recent interview in Forbes), she’s a marketer well worth your careful attention.
When Oprah had her book club, being a chosen author was a ticket to instant fame. Advertisers pay enormous fees to reach her upscale audience, and millions of American women tune in at 9am each day. Oprah cuts a wide path right through the middle of the population and enters the conversation inside America’s head.
The astute marketer will take note: If she’s talking about something, you should probably think about talking about it, too. Yes, even those of us in hi-tech, business-to-business sales.
A lesson from Oprah’s University of Marketing Wisdom
“Oprah’s Angel Networks” showcases America’s finest charitable activists. It was combined with powerful, emotional corporate sponsorship gifts that provided their sponsors with a superb publicity opportunity.
A great way to keep kids off the streets is music. So one guest was an inner city boys choir director from Florida, who combines membership in his choir with stringent requirements for academic achievement. This takes kids off the streets and points them solidly in the direction of a good college education and honest career.
He was presented with a $100,000 gift from Oprah’s Angels, and – pay close attention – 150 brand new tuxedos from Perry Ellis. Two sharply dressed young men took the stage, sporting sharp new tuxedos and perfectly shined shoes.
Handsome indeed, lemme tell ya.
Oprah said “One of our sponsors, Perry Ellis, heard about you guys and said “Tuxedos? We’ve got some of those around here” so they decided to help you out. So they’ve graciously donated 150 brand new tuxedos to your choir!”
Well obviously the cost of the tuxedos pales in comparison to the expense of securing that spot on the Oprah show. But I can’t imagine a more emotionally provocative way to “brand” Perry Ellis in front of ten or twenty million people.
Pay close attention: If you’re interested in ‘branding’ your business, forget all that ad agency crap. Don’t get an Energizer bunny or a Taco Bell Chihuahua.
Take your charity dollars and PUBLICIZE.
And remember this: you don’t need to give Oprah a quarter million for a sponsorship opportunity on her show.
You just need to put out a sizzling press release that pulls a few heartsrings and the story will be told ’round the world.
Also on this same show: Land’s End donated a year’s supply of clothes to every child in an orphanage. Gateway donated brand new computers and flat screen monitors to an inner city boarding school. These companies simply donated their own products.
Can you do something like that?
Here’s an inspiration I’ve been working on…
I’ve always been interested in fueling entrepreneurship in 3rd world countries. Don’t give them a fish, teach ‘em to fish. Three years ago I got a life-changing view of life on the razor’s edge in Sao Paulo, Brazil (see www.ebiz.futurezone.com/brazil for my travelogue) and by the time you read this, my wife Laura will be back from a project in Mozambique, where her brother’s relief agency supports an orphanage.
Could American manufacturers donate components or equipment that would help tiny factories succeed in places like that? Could they furnish supplies or automate a local manufacturing facility or improve production? Certainly they could.
Would it make a great story? You bet. Not only in our own industry trade journals, but even in general-interest magazines and newspapers across the country.
Of course the publicity is the most significant component. And if you are on the fund raising end of a charity, create a huge publicity opportunity for businesses, such that helping your cause is a bottom-line no-brainer.
Way too many charities appeal to the good things that the donor’s money will do for those in need – which is all well and good – but fail to appeal to the giver’s self-interest.
I’m not trying to put down unselfish giving. And I’m not saying that every time you give money, you should tell the world about it. My personal opinion: If you do charitable things privately, keep it private. But when you do charity in your business, shout from the rooftops. Generosity and publicity can be a powerful combination that achieves very specific purposes.
Here’s the hard reality of human nature: Few people do anything out of pure altruism.
So don’t be afraid to reward the giver and create a publicity widget – turn a charity story in to a business story at the same time.
If there’s a charity you want to give to, look for ways that you can donate what your company makes, and
capitalize on every possible opportunity to tell the story far and wide.
Sponsor a college scholarship
Hardly any newspaper or magazine can refuse the opportunity to announce the availability of free money for college bound kids. And you can link the scholarship to your business so that people in your field feel that doing business with you indirectly supports their industry.
For example, if your firm writes software, then sponsor a scholarship for students majoring in Computer Science.
Secure joint promotion from one of your trade journals and make sure everyone in your industry knows about the scholarship.
So you get at least two publicity opportunities: One when you announce the scholarship, and another when it’s awarded. Maybe you offer as little as $1000 but the publicity will go much further than the same amount spent in advertising.
