More good stuff on marketing from the folks at Change This that raises some challenging questions--and presents some tremendous opportunities--for nonprofits and advocacy groups. James Cherkoff of Collaborative Marketing believes that marketers should be taking lessons from the Open Source movement. He writes:
BACK TO THE SOURCE
Consumers are no longer happy to sit back and be fed a brand and its values. They want to interact with the ʻbrand sourceʼ in the same way that Linux programmers want to get their hands on the programming source code. That means giving consumers access to the brand and inviting them to co-create. Open Source marketers understand this and make it easy for customers to get involved with a brand and affect its direction, maybe even its values.
In a nonprofit context, this means creating opportunities for donors, advocates, volunteers, and clients to help define the organization's identity. Rather than keeping these stakeholders at bay and managing their interactions with your organization, invite them inside to understand how they perceive you and what they'd do differently. Cherkoff continues:
ARE YOU LISTENING TO ME?
The voice of the mass markets was a LOUD and BOOMING monologue. It didnʼt leave a lot of time to listen to anyone. Open Source communities are all about conversation and dialogue. Open Source Marketing means listening really closely to the rumours and whispers that bring the new marketplace alive.
As nonprofits move their
fundraising and advocacy efforts online, conversations like this become
much easier to establish and maintain. Email groups and online surveys
are useful, of course, but look to more casual forums like blog
comments to get all-important quick-and-dirty feedback. (Uh, you are blogging, right?) One last bit from Cherkoff:
GET REAL
Authenticity is one of the most valuable currencies in the transparent marketplace. So human, friendly voices (like Robert Scoble) are particularly effective. Corporate speak and PR flack is just ignored. And itʼs no good just pretending. YOU WILL GET RUMBLED. This can be a difficult leap of faith for companies who have used their brands like shields, to keep the world at bay.
Nonprofits and other advocacy groups should really shine here. At their best, they live and breathe authenticity, and they have a high degree of credibility with their stakeholders. Nonprofits usually can't afford glitzy, high-gloss campaigns, anyway--now there's one more reason to keep it simple and straightforward.
Comments