TVNZ/NZ Marketing Magazine Marketing Awards : Don't Buy Crap

With just $15,000 to achieve serious fundraising objectives at the busiest time of the year, something different is needed. This was the challenge faced by Oxfam, the global charity that works to overcome the causes of poverty and injustice by providing aid in emergency situations; educating communities

With the help of communications partner, TEQUILA\ and an outstanding viral campaign, this year's winner of the bizambrands Not-For-Profit Marketing Award, at the TVNZ/NZ Marketing Magazine Marketing Awards, overturned the conventions of charity marketing, took the internet by storm and generated $640,000 in donations.

The objectives were simple, clear and very ambitious. They were to achieve donations from 6000 donors (up from 4000 in 2005); increase the percentage of donations from the website from 25 percent to 50 percent; achieve an income of $550,000 (up from $350,000 in 2005); and get to as wide an audience as possible.

There was much anecdotal evidence that the market was generally trending towards ethical giving, and Oxfam felt that goats, chickens, cows and the like were quirky enough to be popular gifts.

Oxfam developed the product range to ensure that donations could be made at every price point from $5 for a chicken right through to $4500 for a whole coffee plantation (a gift targeted at corporate donors). It then developed a website to make it much easier for donors to choose and send a gift online.

The challenge was to let as many people as possible know about the opportunity - for as little money as possible.

The internet proved to be a good way to communicate - especially with the core groups. The only problem was the clutter of the medium and the busy Christmas period. Oxfam needed something quite different to get the message through.

So rather than use the well-trodden and worthy "do something for someone less fortunate" angle that many charities adopt, Oxfam decided to have some fun and focus on the rubbish most people give each other at Christmas time. That led to the release of an online song called Don't Buy Crap This Christmas.

To maximise the budget, Oxfam needed to harness the viral power of the internet and encourage those on its existing database to spread the message. It was vital that the advertising message was something they wanted to share.

This was achieved by creating a band called 'Oxfarm' - a talented bunch of animals that listed the tacky and unimaginative gifts people tend to default to at Christmas time, while offering themselves as fun and interesting alternatives.

The chorus contained Oxfam's core message and a simple, repetitive call to action - "Don't buy crap this Christmas, buy me".

The video was animated using artwork from its Unwrapped website, bringing the gifts to life and giving them personality. The video was then emailed to existing supporters (along with Oxfam and TEQUILA\'s friends and family) and included a friend-get-friend data-capture facility to encourage them to forward the viral email, so as to amplify the referral rate.

After watching the video, viewers could click through to the Unwrapped website to purchase any of the 'Oxfarm' band members (the animals) or other quirky, but life-saving gifts.

The budget was tiny, but the only media cost was the initial seed email ($1188 in send costs). Oxfam leveraged the video with contacts at TV3, which screened a 30-second cut-down for free. Snippets of the video were included in a prime-time segment about ethical giving, screened on Campbell Live.

It worked! Fewer people bought "crap" than ever before. Instead they went online in their thousands and bought goats, chickens and donkeys for Africa (and other places).

Specifically, the viral achieved a 9.5 percent forwarding rate which helped drive 35,000 visits to the website and a total of 6733 donors (12 percent above target and 68 percent increase year on year).

There was also a 68 percent increase in online donations (25 percent above target and 172 percent increase year on year).

Best of all, Oxfam generated over $640,000 for countries in desperate need (16 percent above target, an 83 percent increase year on year).

Finally, when Campbell Live picked up the viral video and screened it during prime time, Oxfam was able to amplify its $15,000 budget into an estimated public relations value of more than $168,000.

Since its initial success, the New Zealand viral video has been picked up by Oxfam worldwide, which has used the Kiwi-conceived marketing and communications strategies to generate thousands of dollars in other markets, including Spain, Ireland and Australia.

bizambrands Not-For-Profit Marketing Award

Winner

Oxfam New Zealand - Unwrapped Fundraising Campaign

The People

Arron Peacock

The Partners

TEQUILA

What The Judges Said

* A unique and groundbreaking campaign.

* Great use of Oxfam database.

* Sets the benchmark for small-budget, not-for-profit campaigns.

Finalists

* Child Cancer Foundation - Bravery Beads and Petra's Beads

* Ministry of Education - Team Up Programme

* Ministry of Health - National Depression Initiative (www.thelowdown.co.nz)