The Enemy of DO MORE GOOD
Most consumer marketers know that having, and calling out, an enemy is part of a solid communications plan. A 2015 Ad Age article (called “Hey Brands: Every Great Story Needs an Enemy”) highlighted Steve Jobs’ disdain for IBM as an invaluable ingredient in consumer’s passion for Apple. If you know who or what you’re for, you must know who or what you’re against.
DO MORE GOOD, with its whimsical name and effervescent call to action, might be expected to have a simple and direct enemy like BAD or EVIL or perhaps MEDIOCRE. While all those are in opposition to our purpose, they’re not our enemy.
No, the enemy of DO MORE GOOD is APATHY. The indifference caused by deadened senses and perceived ineffectiveness.
Experts say we receive between 4,000 and 10,000 messages each day. Like the furnace or appliance noises in our home that we tune out over time, we adapt to ignoring much of the “noise” we hear through media channels. What we do hear breaks through because of a combination of frequency, merit, and uniqueness.
Unfortunately, many cause campaigns are lost in the discord of media and consumer appeals. Worse yet is that we’re desensitized to what should break our hearts or raise our anger at injustice. If not packaged effectively and produced at the right moment (which is seldom achieved without frequency), a message that should inspire us to action instead slips past us with the scroll of our thumb on the phone, a flip of a channel, or the sort and discard of the daily mail.
DO MORE GOOD’s purpose is to help nonprofits share their message and develop their brand in a way that defeats apathy.
An Enemy with an Ulterior Motive
The ulterior motive of this enemy, apathy, is the defeat of the messenger. Why is “marketing” a dirty word in the board room? Why is “advertising” a disposable line item on the budget? Seen as black holes of unquantifiable expense, the communications and brand development of organizations is often overlooked and diminished. Some nonprofits have taken an apathetic approach to conveying their message
DO MORE GOOD’s purpose is to help nonprofits share their message and develop their brand in a way that defies apathy. Are you with us?
