Risley Ranch

Barkley/PR Week Cause Roundtable

For several years now, Barkley has sponsored the annual PRWeek cause survey.  As a part of that sponsorship, we also host the Barkley/PRWeek Cause Roundtable. This year’s roundtable was last Friday, and it was another great conversation about cause.  This year’s topic focused the ROI of cause branding, particularly in the current economy.

Participants included our own Mike Swenson; Liz Cahill, VP of marketing, Lee Jeans; Randall Chinchilla, external relations manager, hair care, Procter & Gamble, (oversees the Pantene Beautiful Lengths program); Susan Druchak, director of Teen Safety driving program, Allstate Foundation; David Hessekiel, founder and president, Cause Marketing Forum; Christopher Mann, associate manager of integrated marketing, New Balance; Susan Puflea, EVP and director of the Change practice, GolinHarris; Jessiah Styles, director of cause related marketing, Big Brothers, Big Sisters; Michael Trese, VP of external affairs and strategic philanthropy, L’Oreal Paris; and Cynthia Walsh, VP of marketing, Self magazine.

I applaud these folks for their continued support of cause branding, and I applaud their companies for continuing to lead in this important area of society.  The roundtable discussion, as well as our annual survey results, will be part of the coverage of the annual Barkley/PRWeek Cause Survey, published in the October 27 issue of PRWeek.

I RESPECT! You

Perhaps this is the first act of respect you’ve received today.  I hope it’s not the last.  Feels good, doesn’t it?  So why not pass it on and give respect to someone else today.

That’s the basic idea behind the RESPECT! Campaign – a new nation-wide, public-awareness and fundraising campaign we are launching today, National RESPECT! Day, for our client the Family Violence Prevention Fund (FVPF).  FVPF is one of the world’s leading organizations working to prevent violence against women and children.  Together with them, we have created the first ever public awareness campaign focused on the prevention of violence by starting with the simple act of giving respect.  We believe where there is respect, there will be a lot less violence.

I'm very proud of the work, the team and everyone involved, including the campaign's national founding partner, Macy's.  In addition to a killer Web site, we're launching a nation-wide media relations campaign, reaching out via social media,and  hosting events at Macy's, Dodgers' stadium and at the 49ers' game this weekend.  And the biggie:  we're launching the first text-to-donate campaign in the nation utilizing all the wireless carriers, thanks to our partner the Mobile Giving Foundation.

We’d love your help and a donation.  Here’s some ways to do both:

• Visit our site. Get mapped by donating $5 in honor of someone you respect, inviting a friend to the rally, or signing the respect declaration
• Buy a RESPECT! Bracelet online at Macy’s.
• Follow us on Twitter.
• Become a friend of the RESPECT! Campaign on Facebook (and note my personal fund-raising challenge).
• Upload a photo of someone you respect in our Flickr group.
• Add a video response of your own to our YouTube channel.
• Vote for our “Change This” proposal so we can get our manifesto published.

Thanks for your RESPECT!

Get yourself some new (Interwoven)threads

My friend, and Barkley colleague, Andy Woolard, started a very cool, unique online business a couple of years ago called Interwoven Threads.  The company's mission -- "clothing that connects our style, our community and our environment" -- sums it up perfectly.  He sells hip, 100% organic cotten t-shirts on the site, and for each shirt sold, he makes a donation of a shirt or $$ to a local not-for-profit.

I never thought I was quite cool enough (or slender enough) to wear the T's, but I finally bought two recently.  They're great.  Soft, durable, cool and all for a good cause.  Because of my purchases, Andy donated a shirt to Restart Outreach and $5 to America's Second Harvest.

Give it a try.

Get outdoors!

Last month I had the privilege of speaking at the Outdoor Industry Association (OIA) Outdoor Retailer show in Salt Lake City, Utah.  My topic was cause branding.  It was a real thrill for me because 1) I'm passionate about the topic, and 2) I love the outdoor category. 

I met the people behind many of my favorite brands: Keen, Goretex, REI, The North Face, Mountain Hardware...I was a kid in a candy store.  I also had the pleasure of meeting Skip Yowell, co-founder of Jansport (now owned by VF Corp, who owns two of our client-brands: Lee and Wrangler).  Skip is not only an ambassador for his brand, he's an ambassador for the whole industry.  Like everyone else I met, he was genuine, kind and had a true passion for the outdoors. 

Skip sent me his book, and I just finished reading it.  It was outstanding.  Talk about a fun read.  This guy has had so many amazing adventures...I was envious reading it.  I also discovered that Skip and I grew up in the same part of the world: Western Kansas.  In fact, he was born a short 20-30 miles from me -- albeit a few years earlier ;-)

Although I grew up in the outdoors -- hunting, skiing, camping -- I've gotten away from it in my adult life.  No excuse, really.  But now that we have Joe, I'm completely motivated to get back outside -- to expose him to life away from a "screen."  Nature can teach us so much, as long as we're willing to slow down and listen.  But you have to get outside first.

That's why I was so excited to learn about the OIA Foundation's new cause initiative to "get kids outdoors."  They launched it at the show, and are ultimately looking to raise millions of dollars over the next 10 years to provide grants to existing programs that support their mission of getting kids outdoors.  This isn't just a business-building effort -- it's a public health initiative.  I would say it's as important has the work done by the American Legacy Foundation to stop teens from smoking.  Obesity, diabetes and other sedentary issues can all be helped by being active.  Add the life-skills, leadership opportunities and good-ol-fun of the outdoors, and you've got a natural high.

The OIA has invited me back to speak at their Fall Rendezvous in Boston.  My subject will be social media.  I can't wait.

Soles for Souls a worthy cause

I had heard of the charity Soles for Souls but had never encountered them directly before...until today.  We were shopping at an outlet mall here in Orlando, and I bought two pairs of shoes at the Ecco outlet (love their shoes!).  There was a display at the register...a collection box...and prominently displayed on the POP was "15% off your order if you donate your shoes."  It was a no-brainer; of course I donated my gently used tennis shoes.

Kudos for Ecco for offering the discount to encourage participation.

I investigated Soles for Souls site further and found they are a very sophisticated organization for only being in business since 2004.  Their founder, Wayne Elsey, had worked in the footwear industry for years.  He was moved to help out after the Asian Tsunami struck in December 2004. He orchestrated a nationwide shoe drive with a few friends and it netted over a quarter million pairs being routed to Southeast Asia. In 2005, when Hurricane Katrina hit the gulf coast region, Wayne quickly organized the same team and launched KatrinaShoes.org.

Because of the success of these two efforts, he decided to formalize the organization, and Soles for Souls was born.

I was proud to see one of our clients, 24 Hour Fitness, is a corporate sponsor.  The organization has worked with a great roster of musicians, actors and athletes, too.  It such an easy thing to do -- donate your shoes; And the issue is so easy to understand -- giving shoes to people in need of them.  I mean, we can all imagine how terrible it would be to not have even one pair of shoes.

It seems to me this cause is a perfect opportunity for a major footwear company (manufacturer or retailer).  Think of how a brand like Ecco or Keen (one of my favorite shoe brands) could own this issue and gain serious brand equity (and sales) by partnering in a big way with Soles for Souls.  Just a thought.

Barkley PR annual retreat

Today our entire PR team -- all 23 of us -- are heading to Chicago for the Cause Marketing Forum conference.  The event is special to us for several reasons.  First, cause is a very important part of who we are.  Second, we're sponsoring the opening reception.  And finally, it's our chance to take our team off-site and celebrate and learn -- something we do every year at our annual retreat.  The CMF was the perfect event to bring this all together.

There will be close to 500 attendees from great brands like AMC Entertainment, the American Heart Association, Burlington Coat Factory, JetBlue, Kraft, Kohl's, L'Oreal Paris, McDonald's, the NASCAR Foundation, Susan G. Komen for the Cure, Target and WebMD, just to name a few.

More to come from the conference.

Jaydoc Rock

So here's a cause I knew nothing about until my colleague, Erica Wren, told me about it: Jaydoc.  It sounds very impressive:

"Jaydoc is a free clinic supported by The University of Kansas Medical School.  Its dual mission is to provide free healthcare to the medically underserved and to provide opportunities for KUMC medical students to broaden and enrich their clinical skills under the supervision of volunteer physicians."

This Friday, May 2, at The Mission Theater, they are hosting the 2nd Annual JayRock, a benefit concert for Jaydoc.  Some cool bands are on the bill: The New Amsterdams, Broken Stools, Dead Girls Ruin Everything and Fourth of July.

The concert is open to everyone, so get your tickets online.

March for Babies

The March of Dimes is a Barkley client.  We helped them re-launch their brand in 2008.  It's been a wonderful success and a great partnership.  One of the changes we made for them was to re-brand their signature fund-raising event -- Walk America -- to "March for Babies."  The new name aligns better with their brand promise and is more identifiable with the March of Dimes. 

The Kansas City March for Babies is Sunday, May 4.  Amy, Joe and I will be walking in it.  If you're in Kansas City, I encourage you to join us.  Or you can donate on my personal page.

And I think this e-card is just a hoot!

Click here to help me reach my goal!

Technorati Tags: March of Dimes, March for Babies, Barkley, Cause, PR

Social media and philanthropy

I've been consulting with the Greater Kansas City Community Foundation (GKCCF) on social media issues this year.  It's fun.  They're a group that does fantastic work in the Kansas City area and also sees the value social media can bring to not only their efforts, but the efforts of the community as well.

Laura McKnight, their President and CEO, is a personal friend and an outstanding leader.  Her team has propelled the organization into a leadership position in the community-foundation category.

What I love about working with them is how open-minded they are to exploring new ways to communicate not only with their current donors, but prospective donors and the community at large.  They are willing to take risks, to prototype, and to experiment.  And that's the best way to approach social media, in my opinion.

Here's some examples of what they've done:

Laura maintains a blog.

They've developed a MySpace profile.

They are tracking philanthropy on the web via a del.icio.us profile.

You can chat with one of their staff via Yahoo IM.

And they're working on a Facebook profile.

They are also actively monitoring the blogosphere to look for opportunities to engage with bloggers who are interested in philanthropy, especially in Kansas City.

These activities will create a solid foundation in the social media space for them and attract them to the next generation of donors -- Gen Y.  Look for the GKCCF to be leaders in this area too.

Technorati Tags: GKCCF, Philanthropy, Community Foundations, Kansas City

You're the problem (and so am I)

David Roberts hit the nail on the head in his recent Fast Company article, "Another Inconvenient Truth." He said:

"The uncomfortable fact for many green marketers--and targets of that marketing--is that genuinely going green would mean giving up most of the products and services that clutter our consumer culture. It would mean simplifying, valuing time and people over stuff. How can most products avoid the sin of the hidden trade-off? With a simple label: "You don't really need this."

Greenwashing isn't merely a result of poor labeling standards and consumer protection. It's part and parcel of an economy built on trade in material and energy waste. Until we are collectively ready to really go green, greenwashing will be with us. Naturally."

We consume.  That's what we do.  It may not be right, and it may not be sustainable, but at this point in our history as a species, it just is.  I want to help companies with their sustainability practices, but I know they are damned if they do and damned if they don't. 

So the next time you curse a company for allegedly greewashing, take a look at all the food packaging you threw away this week.  Ask yourself if you left your computer on overnight.  Check the gas mileage on the car you're driving.  Count the number of flat-screen TVs in your house.  And time yourself in the shower.  All the energy you use everyday to drive your appetite for consumables, comfort and convenience is the root cause of environmental problems today.  Don't blame corporate America for not doing enough until you're doing enough yourself.