With so many new ways to communicate, email, internet, blogs and more it is easy to think that we always have to come up with new ideas for marketing.
Today I was reminded that this isn't necessarily so.
I am currently contracting in the direct marketing team of a national charity. In 2008 they reach their 60th anniversary. Today the Christmas appeal from 1958 landed on the team manager’s desk.
No, before you ask, it was nothing to do with the postal strike.
Someone had been in the archives and found this fifty year old
fundraising appeal and thought we might like it.
What a great piece of history and synchronicity, coming as
it did, just as the team is putting the finishing touches on this year’s
Christmas appeal.
In reading through the appeal it also made me realise that over the years we might have got more sophisticated in our direct marketing and design but the basics were just the same.
Explaining the need of the people the charity helps, establishing a demand for that work that the charity cannot meet and finally establishing the solution to this need, financial donations from the supporter.
Marketing your business is the same as fundraising, you need to establish a need in your client, show them how you can fix that need and motivate them to give you their money for it.
But what really stood out for me was the inclusion of
greeting stickers as a gift to the supporter. Guess what, fifty years on and
the charity is still sending stickers out at Christmas.
It just goes to show that sometimes the old ideas are the best and, as they say, if it aint broke, don’t fix it.
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