Incite - Social Impact Marketing - May Newsletter

A note from Incite Founder Sarah Harris

What’s the difference between talking AT someone and talking WITH someone? A lot actually. You know the feeling of being talked AT – your coworkers insisting you do something differently, your friends or family adamant about a change you need to make. Quite a different conversation than one with those who you really connect with – in these conversations something is different. You let your guard down. You consider new information with an open mind. You engage in the dialogue, share new ideas and maybe even come to a different conclusion. Why? Engagement.

When you connect with someone in a relevant manner, you are able to open their mind to consider new and different ideas. The same is true in effective marketing – if you engage with your consumer, you can share new information about your product or service, you can also open their mind to consider a different purchasing habit, or even adopting a positive behavior change.

With Incite campaigns, we are constantly engaging with our clients, our audiences and our communities – to incite positive behavior change. This is a marque of effective social impact marketing campaigns and a trademark of Incite work.

LOWER COLORADO RIVER AUTHORITY - WATERSMART TEAMS

For example, last summer we worked in partnership with the Lower Colorado River Authority (LCRA) to educate and mobilize Austinites to conserve water during a severe drought.

We took the traditional media-based ad campaign and extended it directly into the community – engaging with homeowners and helping them take simple steps to reduce water consumption.

We used our Engagement capability in the form of a mobile WaterSmart unit that toured neighborhoods working with homeowners to adjust their sprinkler systems, set water schedules for off-peak watering times and sharing simple tips to reduce water consumption around the house. (see attached photos)

This campaign allowed us to take LCRA’s message directly to neighborhoods, connect with homeowners on issues that matter – watering lawns in a responsible manner – and equip them with tools and tips necessary to maintain their lawn while doing their part to conserve and protect the water supply. The WaterSmart unit engaged more than 500 homeowners and conducted nearly 60 irrigation checks over the course of this successful water conservation campaign.

INCITE TO PRESENT AT 10th ANNUAL CAUSE MARKETING FORUM CONFERENCE

We will be sharing much more of this thinking and approach to cause marketing campaigns in our “6 Big Ideas in 60 Minutes” presentation at the upcoming Cause Marketing Forum conference in Chicago May 30-31st. We are big fans of David Hessekiel and Megan Strand and are so pleased they invited us to speak at the conference this year.

Our experience working with clients to solve their marketing challenges equips us with greater insights into designing effective campaigns. As we are discovering more truths about effective behavior change marketing campaigns, we seek to share these learnings to improve our practice and our client’s campaigns. A recent partnership in Indianapolis provides a good framework to share key elements to designing successful campaigns.

INDY HAS HEART CAMPAIGN RECAP (see attached video)

Incite worked with medical device maker Roche Diagnostics, St. Vincent Hospital and the American Heart Association to design the Indy Has Heart campaign to raise awareness of heart disease and help women love their hearts.

This integrated campaign reinforced several aspects of effective social impact marketing worth sharing:

• Leverage your strengths

Your brand, partners and employees all have resources, connections and assets that can be utilized to strengthen your campaign. We used celebrities as artists to create heart-themed artwork. What could you do to build on your natural strengths to make a more effective campaign?

• Tell a story

People connect with, remember and pass on stories. We worked with local community leaders to share their personal stories of how heart disease affected their lives. Colts player Dallas Clark shared his personal story of losing his mom to heart disease. What is your untold story and how can you use your campaign to tell a powerful story that matters to your audience?

• Create engagement opportunities

We created a website (www.IndyHasHeart.com) where area residents could interact with heART-work, send notes to loved ones, connect with the campaign movement and learn more about how to love their heart and live a heart healthy lifestyle. Increase your impact by creating a simple, fun, relevant aspect of your campaign to connect with your audience. How will your consumer connect with your brand or campaign?

As we learn from each of our campaigns, we share and apply this thinking moving forward. One way we share our learnings is on our YouTube channel, Incite Action (link here) that features a sampling of our engaging social impact marketing campaigns. And, it’s fun to watch a quick video to see how other brands and nonprofits are joining forces to change the world!

Join us in using marketing expertise and powerful media brands to create campaigns that Engage people, Inspire Belief and Incite action!

Until next time,
Sarah Harris
Founder, Incite