The Agitator

I’ve been thinking about this video ad from Medicins Sans Frontieres, which has stirred up quite a bit of controversy on the Chronicle’s Give & Take blog and elsewhere. Here are my observations. First, a piece of advertising needs to be assessed against its objectives. If the ...  Read more

Given that The Agitator often encourages fundraisers to experiment with online video, we’re pleased to help bring your attention to this fundraising video competition. It’s sponsored by Resource Alliance, who stages the International Fundraising Congress (IFC). Traditionally the ...  Read more

B.L. Ochman, for my money, is one of the better social media strategists around. In this post, she critiques two online contests, finding one a clear winner … the other a distinct loser. Or, as she puts it: One rocks, one sucks. Here’s an excerpt: "Two current contests involving ...  Read more

Yesterday I suggested that competition amongst nonprofits for the hearts, minds and pocketbooks of donors might become more fierce; that this would be good for the causes served; and this trend would force more attention to communicating the core defferentiating qualities of competing groups. In ...  Read more

We welcome a Guest Agitator today, copywriter Lisa Sargent (www.lisasargent.com). Lisa has a bone to pick with nonprofits who try to write effective fundraising copy — themselves or through consultants — without an explicit creative brief to provide the essential guidance. She’s ...  Read more

Illustrating the point we made yesterday about the impact of increased broadband (i.e., high speed) internet access, comScore has released the latest monthly figures (April ‘09) re online video viewing. Key points: An impressive 79% of the total U.S. Internet audience viewed online ...  Read more

Effective marketing begins with knowing your audience … whether it’s choosing mailing lists or appropriate media for your message, or crafting the message itself. Without a very clear understanding of the person, customer, or donor you are trying to reach, speak to and elicit a ...  Read more

In Online Spin, Joe Marchese of socialvibes offers this good advice regarding the kind of advertising that will work in online social media. As he sees it, the requirements are: Interaction — but more than a simple click-through to a landing page or micro-site; Customization — let ...  Read more

We’ve had enough heavy stuff on The Agitator for this week, here is an item for fun. But it still has a purpose … encouraging creative use of online video. These are the top five online video adverts for the past week, as reported by Ad Age Digital: 1. T-Mobile — T-Mobile Dance ...  Read more

There’s probably no one out there who is not a "member" of some sort of loyalty program sponsored by a commercial merchant. From airline miles to stickers recording return visits to your local coffee shop, everyone seems to have some sort of program to encourage repeat business ...  Read more