How often have you, as a consumer, opted for the pink kitchen cooking utensils during Breast Cancer Awareness Month rather than the regular stainless steel set of knives? Or grabbed a pack of dish detergent tablets that boast a “clean and green” message rather than the standard yellow dishwasher fluid you’ve come to know? It’s probably more often than you think.

According to a “Cone Millennial Cause” study, 89 per cent of young Americans would switch from one brand to another of a comparable product if said brand was connected to a cause. That is to say, when people are given the opportunity to make better, more meaningful, and ethically sound choices by doing business with a company they know is morally upstanding, they will. That’s because—as a 2009 TEDTalks has shown us—people don’t buy what we do, they buy why we do it.

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Non-profit organizations are kind of like the neighbourhood kid that keeps visiting during your family functions – everyone thinks he’s cute, but nobody takes him seriously and he will never really be a legit member of the fam. That’s what non-profits are to for-profit businesses, increasing the number of challenges they face when marketing their products and services.

For-profit businesses are easy to understand, as they operate as a business that wants to make money. That is their main objective and their bottom line, which makes them profit driven. Non-profits differ, as their bottom line is the impact they make on society, not how much money they make through their operations. This is harder to understand, as their motives are more genuine and less one-sided, and it is harder for them to display the value of their business. Therefore, they have to use different tactics and methods to market their operations successfully.

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The case for merging opposite marketing strategies

With the advent of technology and our increasing dependence on everything that beeps and buzzes, some have been saying that the traditional way of doing things is dead. We should have a funeral, remember the good times and move on with the Internet and technology steering the way. However, there is an argument to be made to use traditional marketing in advertising campaigns, as it makes for a more well-rounded and robust initiative.

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You’re ready to start marketing your brand new company, and you don’t know where to start. You’ve probably heard that you need to build a marketing plan, but then you may have also been advised to build a communication plan. (Isn’t that the same thing?) Don’t get it twisted, there are some differentiators.

A communication plan is part messaging and part choosing how the message is communicated. It also includes which mediums the message is communicated from – traditional, social, print, etc. A good message will deter the wrong clients, and will attract the right clients. A good communication plan will choose the right mediums on which to communicate that message, and will also align with the vision and goals of the marketing plan….

Make sense?

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Marketers get a bad reputation in popular culture, often portrayed as money-hungry villains trying to rake in money by the stacks at any cost. And hey — while there are some do-no-gooders out there, My Loud Speaker likes to believe we’re a little bit of a Batman in the Gotham of marketing.

Manipulative, self-esteem-dashing tactics can convince consumers to buy something they don’t need, appealing to their most base insecurities. Hence the advent of anti-aging face creams, “miracle” weight loss solutions, hair-growth pills and the like.

And, preceding the age of Internet information, when brand giants controlled airwaves and their products flourished, the consumer never stood a chance of making a more educated decision. But now, the consumer is well aware of the competition and their ethos.

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Hollywood tropes would have us conjuring images of bubbling champagne free swag, and social prestige when event marketing comes to mind—think the “Ice Yourself” campaign featured in the 2003 blockbuster How To Lose a Guy in 10 Days. Matthew McConaughey seemed to pull that one off with such ease. But behind the scenes? Hosting a meaningful event comes with a lot of thoughtful planning, a desire to build a community or to create a unique and memorable experience.

In recent years, these things are typically taken care of through social media marketing and other digital forms of marketing. Let’s face it: digital advertising is everywhere.
Last year, the Globe and Mail reported that Canadian smartphone users spent eight hours per day of their spare time staring at their screens. More than half of Canada’s population owns an iPhone or Android — there are even some outliers toting a Blackberry. With those numbers, digital marketers are on the right track. So, why start event marketing now?
We’re so saturated with digital advertising that it can be hard to differentiate what’s what and who’s who.

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When marketing a new company, or even a new product, one of the first things that comes to mind is whether it’s worth it to advertise. And more importantly, how do you choose to advertise? The answer to that question depends on how, when, where, to whom and what you’re advertising. Each product and service has their own answer.

It’s a classic case of different strokes for different folks.

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