Category: Charities

Simple marketing ideas work

Sarat PratapchandranLeave a comment

I recently tried a simple marketing concept at work.  A well-regarded faculty member was celebrating his 60th birthday and he didn’t want his friends, relatives or former students to send him presents or wish him well on his birthday.

Instead, he wanted them to donate to a scholarship endowment to help students who faced hardships during their externships.

I talked to the professor and came up with a simple idea. Why don’t we highlight the professor’s age and encourage everyone to donate a minimum of $60 on his 60th birthday? Next, we focused on identifying the best medium to disseminate his message. The professor, a great Peanuts fan, had an office adorned with Schulz and his characters. We created a simple, yet humorous e-blast featuring a Peanuts character and a message from the Professor urging well-wishers to donate $60 to the scholarship.

We planned two dates to disseminate the e-blast. The first was send a week before his 60th and the other hit in-boxes three days before his birthday. The idea worked and over 50 individuals gave varying amounts to the endowment.

This effort generated many well-intentioned conversations. The Professor felt proud and said he couldn’t have got a better 60th birthday present than the response from his friends, former students and relatives. We made a simple iphone thank you video and emailed it to all who donated and they also received a hand written note.

Sometimes, simple marketing ideas generate larger conversations. They create deeper impact than complex, metrics driven content marketing.

Who you work with matters more than where

Sarat PratapchandranLeave a comment

Neil-G-pic (1)
Neil Giuliano

We live in a frenzied marketplace characterized by clutter, silos, toxic workplaces, overnight successes and a constant glorification of failure.
Former Mayor and a leader in the national LGBT movement, Neil Giuliano, gave clarity about work while addressing the ASU Lodestar Center’s annual nonprofit conference. Here is a reflection of his thoughts.

  1. Think about who you are working with rather than where. Every morning, do you want to go to work with individuals who won’t give you a chance to make a difference? If you are not accomplishing things together, even if you are working for a Fortune 100 company, you are not doing meaningful work. And, your job description won’t get you where you want to go. Reflect on this and I’m sure you will count just a handful of places where people mattered more than the job.
  2. Define yourself first or else others will define you. The only way to define yourself at your workplace is to do what you have to do and ask for forgiveness later. Great leaders  know how to set the tone and culture of an organization but there are just a handful around. So,  take leadership in your hands and do not allow tiny minds in big silos constrain you.
  3. Give time and funds to tinker. This will allow employees to bring in new ideas, improve efficiency and experiment with failure. You need to set apart some risk capital to innovate. Has any employer given you funds to tinker? Highly unlikely.
  4. Break down things at work and create substance. Stay focused and break down complex ideas into simple tasks as this is now the greatest trait in business. A car business owner told me last week that he is having a difficult time managing millennials who spend more time on their smartphones rather on the job at hand.
  5. Stretch, grow and take risks and do not let age constrain you. Even if you are 20 or 60, you need to work hard on constantly creating a better you. Be harder on yourself and make changes fast.
  6. In the end, take care of yourself and reflect again on who you work with rather than where. Leave the marketing and human resource folks to glorify the meaningless where.