I’ve recently delivered a few digital marketing talks in Newcastle. First up was a guest lecture to the Master of Marketing class at the University of Newcastle on integrated marketing communications. The lecture is embedded below and includes an outline of my approach to digital strategy, some great integrated marketing campaigns and elements that make digital work awesome. Digital strategy and UX are the focus. I blogged about it and included my deck over at the Village.
A simple and compelling idea can have an enormous impact. By making marrow registration a part of life, and integrating a consumer product, Help Remedies reached a huge, new audience and re-invented the way marrow registration is done. The campaign aimed to recruit thousands of new donors by making the process incredibly simple. Since launch, ‘Help I want to save a life’ has been seen by over 50 million people, Help’s bandage sales have increased by 1900% and the number of marrow donor registrations has tripled.
Nick Rozsa is a surfer from Ventura, CA. Earlier this year I hadn’t heard of him; most people hadn’t. A rapid-fire collection of beautifully shot web clips blasted Nick onto the web over the past few months. His surfing’s incredible, his clips by buddy Chris Papaleo are outstanding, and the story is nicely packaged up at their Salty Beards website. Each time a new clip hits the web I’ve watched the global surfing media latch onto it, talk it up, and pump it out to their tribes. Nick’s made an amazing transition from relatively unknown to well-known across the globe – in an extremely competitive field – in a matter of months.
There’s a learning here, but what’s potentially more interesting is the direction Salty Beards has just taken. They’re on a “helping beards” mission and are producing a small run of clothing, with 10% dedicated to helping the homeless around Ventura. It’s not quite TOMS Shoes, but it’s a start, and maybe it’ll go far. They’re giving it a shot. It’s an endearing application of relatively instant fame and bolsters the future success of Salty Beards. But I’m sure they’re not thinking about it this much; they’re just great guys who want to do good things, and they’re giving their new-found tribe the chance to give back. I just watched their mission video (below) and ordered a tee immediately.
How can you give your tribe the opportunity to be part of a remarkable movement?
