Is Buyral Marketing good CSR?

I just made up that term. I needed something to describe the proliferation of campaigns that buy social spread by promising to donate for each "like" or "RT" received.

Here's today's example:

"Zinc Saves Lives" is the corporate social responsibility brand of Teck Resources, a mining company that specializes in copper, coal and zinc. So by retweeting this post, you're acting as a free social media promoter for the mining company, as well as potentially saving a child's life.

When I see these campaigns, I can't help but by cynical. That's because I know how they work.

You see, most big corporations have a social responsibility strategy, both to enhance their brand and to earn social licence (that is, community support) in the regions in which they operate. These activities have a set budget, a chunk of which is earmarked for conspicuous corporate giving to a relevant cause.

In the case of Tek, it takes the form of "We Day":



You can see the actual donation budget if you look at the fine print:

Teck will donate CAD$0.50 for every retweet of the designated We Day tweet, up to a maximum total for each We Day event (CAD$20,000 for Toronto, CAD$20,000 for Vancouver, CAD$10,000 for Alberta, CAD$5,000 for Montreal and CAD$5,000 for Ottawa). The total donation from Teck for the entire campaign is capped at CAD$60,000.

So, Tek has budgeted a $60,000 gift to "Zinc Saves Kids, an initiative of the International Zinc Association in support of UNICEF." But instead of just giving their trade association the money (to enhance its reputation, too) Tek is emotionally blackmailing Twitter slacktivists to do their advertising for them — for free. Instead of the limited PR they get for just handing over a lump sum, they engage large numbers of social media do-gooders to spread their goodwill all over the internet.

Here's another example of buyral marketing, from the pharmaceutical industry (via Osocio):

In this case, a simple repinning of the image gets a hefty $10 donation to the Breast Cancer Society of Canada. All you have to do is help Bayer spread their one-a-day brand all over Pinterest.

And once again, there is a maximum. The donation cap is $30,000.

This isn't a particularly bad thing. Charities need private donations, and people love to feel like they're saving the world. But people need to know what they're being asked to do, and by who.

Are you concerned with the ethics of buyral marketing? Add your comment below.

"Crisis," as personified by an emo girl

Although a little derivative of Allstate's sardonic "Mayhem" campaign, this haunting campaign for British Red Cross is nonetheless intriguing.



Perhaps it's the performance that makes it effective. Crisis personified by a unexpectedly wicked young woman and her wolf companion has such an eerie effect.

The take-away, that anything can happen to anyone, is similar to that of the insurance ads. But in this case, the client is asking you for money to help strangers as well.

Ad by Leagas Delaney. Via Osocio

The Models are Revolting!

Well, not really. They're just organizing.


The Model Alliance Video Campaign from The Model Alliance on Vimeo.



Not quite a union, it seems, but a not-for-profit advocacy group that lets models report violations of labour laws and worse.

Here are The Model Alliance's goals:

1. Provide access to affordable health care.
2. Promote greater financial transparency.
3. Ensure that existing child labor laws are enforced.
4. Establish a grievance and enforcement system for issues of sexual harassment.
5. Draft a code of conduct that sets industry-wide standards for castings, shoots and shows.

They've even drafted a modelling bill of rights. It's a good idea. Even the minor-league models I've known over the years have been subject to poor working conditions and sexual harassment.

Sure, you might think of awful supermodels and be unmoved. But think of the thousands of anonymous men, women, boys and girls who are chewed up and spit out by an industry that is the very definition of superficiality. They could use a rescue network.

Via Jezebel

In the Demi and Ashton split, who gets custody of the Foundation?

D & A in Egypt last year

The Demi & Ashton Foundation is one of the cause N4Ps I follow online. They are an organization that fights sex slavery, and I have written about one of their celerity-rich campaigns on Osocio.

But now that Demi Moore and Ashton Kutcher are getting divorced, what happens to the foundation brand?

One would hope that the work will go on, and even that the celebrity ex-couple will be able to work together "in partnership to end child sex slavery". But is it still possible after a very public break-up?

The DNA Twitter is still active, as is the Facebook page. But they don't seem to be responding to questions about the future of their cause brand.

Do you think they can keep it going?

Burundi Monday 4: T.I.A.

According to Acart Videographer Christopher Redmond, this TLA* means "This Is Africa". It's an expression the foreigners at the Burundi Film Center use when confronted by extreme culture shock.

And that's what they're getting, now that the new crop of Burundian home-grown films is in production.

The BFC was established to develop media and filmmaking skills in post-conflict Burundi, so that the people of this nation few in the west have heard of can show their stories to the world.

Those stories can get a little brutal.

For example, in a film about a man who is down on his luck and ends up working at a slaughterhouse, the most practical thing to do was use a real set and bloody ex-cow props, even though it attracted scavengers:

Then, while filming in a marketplace, a vodka company representative decided to give out free samples, an action that in a place like Kigali can end up in bloodshed. Christopher tried to distract the crowds from the shoot by telling them they were extras in some fake second unit work. This gave them time to finish the shot and GTFO.

TIA indeed!

You can follow Christopher's international development work at BFC in his blog on Citizenshift.


(*old tech. industry joke: "TLA" is a three letter acronym for "Three Letter Acronym")

What the **** is that "Mobio" thing?

If you've been watching Joannie Rochette's iheartmom video on YouTube, or if you visited iheartmom.ca, you probably noticed a funny little piece of abstract art with a "Mobio" logo on it.





You may also be wondering "what IS that thing?"

Mobio Identity Systems is a Vancouver company that has developed a new way to make electronic payments, get information, or connect with specific content via smartphones.

Don't worry, before we started this campaign, I hadn't heard of them either. But our client, the University of Ottawa Heart Institute had. They premiered the technology on their annual telethon on CTV a few weeks ago, on March 28.

From MobioID's CEO, Clovis Najm (via press release):

"The Ottawa Heart Institute has always been on the cutting edge of technology and we believe Mobio will increase their donation base and encourage a new generation of young mobile smartphone users to donate to this worthy organization."

So how does it work? They included this handy video:



The telethon raised over $5 million, actually exceeding its goal. How many donations came via Mobio? According to the Ottawa Citizen, the high-tech gimmick helped "a bit".

But such is the case for early adopters. MobioID sees great potential for fundraisers in this technology, especially with the 45-and-under crowd, including:

• Ability to inject innovation into the widely traditional telethon space.
• Ability to target younger audiences and appeal to Gen X and Y.
• Increased geographical reach (Mobio barcodes can go viral on Twitter, Facebook, email and phone to phone)
• Ongoing donations possible post-event (once a custom barcode is created it can be used indefinitely in print, advertising, TV, T-shirts etc.)

Of course, the application also holds great promise for e-commerce, allowing on-the-spot impulse purchases from anywhere.

Now that you know what Mobio is, you'll probably start to notice it popping up in geekier circles. Just last weekend, I put down my copy of SuperFreakonomics (which is hard to do) and noticed a Mobio 2-D barcode on the back cover, with an invitation to get more info.

Curious? Give it a shot!