Current Issues in Marketing Strategy

Have you ever watched a world vision TVC and thought; "Wow! That was really in your face"? I have heard many people complain about them in the past, suggesting that they are unnecessarily pulling on the heart strings. The truth of the matter is that they have to be. How else do you get an apathetic nation to pay any attention when it is out of sight and out of mind? The marketing strategy addresses this straight up...shock and awe.

Traditional marketers will argue that bombarding your audience with negative images (like car crashes in TAC ads) builds up negative brand equity and can have far fetching ramification for your brand. World Vision however is different, there is no real 'want' or desire that consumers are filling, so TVC's create one. They employ a shock and awe tactic that forces us into feeling compassion and then package a product that can reduce our guilt. Is this morally corrupt?

I once heard a compelling argument that hypothesized that the Nazi's came to power only because the German people were apathetic, the public (on the whole) were not supporting the movement, but because it did not affect them, they did not act and nothing got done. Poverty works in much the same way, we need to 'push' people into feeling guilty, sorry, appalled...anything that spurns a reaction to act. In PPC advertising we call this a 'call to action', particularly effective if it does not require any personal sacrifice, hence the $1 per day contribution.

Josh Strawczynski's Opinion
World Vision do fantastic work, sure their core function is helping the needy, but their true skill is attracting, motivating, and managing those of us who are in a position to make a difference. Check out their site if you are interested in some of the great marketing initiatives they have implemented

Sam Berringer's Opinion
Articles like this make me wish I was more than Josh's shadow writer. There are so many wonderful initiatives that World Vision implements, I wish we could talk about them all. Never fear, I will be lobbying him for more articles... I suggest you comment now!