Archive - Jul 2011
July 12th
Playing is good for you
Why it matters
Re-creating your real life social actions online when they are often quite intangible in distant countries allows users to take a more active involvement. Through interacting online with applications such as School Land, users can understand more vividly the real world impacts.
Adopting trash
French shampoo brand Dop has created an operation to clean the French beach of Oleron. Named “Adopt a piece of trash”, it invites people to virtually pick up a piece of trash and adopt it , with the possibility to display it on Facebook. The adoption was simple, quick and funny. For each kilogram of virtual trash picked up, the brand gave 5 euros to a NGO to really clean the beach.
Why it matters
Charities can often fall victim to their worthy causes when it comes to getting people’s money or their voice. Adopting some trash puts light-hearted humour at the fore to good effect.
Can simply changing the tone of your approach have a big impact on how readily your social cause is adapted?
Japanese cameras take a snappy change of direction
When conceived, these Lomography cameras were meant to commemorate Japan's Golden Week, a time for celebrating Japanese culture and taking a well-earned rest from work. Now, the cameras have taken on a whole new meaning; they have become a way to help a community with a lot of work ahead of them. With the purchase of this camera you contribute to the donation of EUR 20,000 to the Red Cross Relief Japan.
Why it matters
The company reacted in very quickly to change their purpose to help the people in Japan. How can marketers take advantage of the same level of flexibility to ensure what they offer is always at its most relevant?
