Post Withdrawn

[IMEX Sourcing Services]

Hello,

I am really sorry i had to withdraw this post due to confidentiality reasons.

Thanks to everyone who participated.

Ash

[MarkPearson]

The idea of making it an active project with suggestions/ideas from UKBF members is a good idea, lots of business brains all helping will surely help this pr stunt gain momentum.

Remember to consider decembers weather can be quite harsh, and if very cold people may be 'wrapped up' for winter! Hence covering the advertising medium (the skin!!)

Also note that it goes dark around 4pm-6pm ish in winter.

My other slight concern is that the katrina disaster may be eclipsed by any other disaster event between now and then. If not it just may not be in the news in december, because it will be a 'old' event.

Remember the media tend to cover 'now' and just dump coverage when it gets boring (the clean up opperation in new orleans)

Just some pointers to consider

[directmarketingadvice]

I'd agree with Mark's points.

Also, I'm not so sure that Katrina is a disaster the British public is really going to be throwing cash at.

I think there's an overriding perception that the US has the resources to take care of its own (and perhaps that it has no interest in seeking help from outside).

Steve

[clickprofits]

My other slight concern is that the katrina disaster may be eclipsed by any other disaster event between now and then. If not it just may not be in the news in december, because it will be a 'old' event.

Those were my initial thoughts too. You also need to be aware that tying any business venture to a fundraising event can be a bit of a minefield - the last thing you want is people accusing you of 'cashing in' or making money out of a natural disaster, no matter how well intentioned your aims are.

Sorry to be so negative - you seem to have enormous enthusiasm, talent and potential - i am just not sure that this would be the right way to use it!

[IMEX Sourcing Services]

Hi and thanks to everyone who has contributed so far. Some very valueable feedback indeed.

Mark: Some very good points there. About your first point regarding december being cold, we took that into consderation, but decided for this stunt, with volunteers we would stick to face only (Cheeks). This might be a bit of problem in case of Models and hence we are consdiering alternatives...suggestions are welcome.

About Katrina not being news worthy at that time - I think it is a good point, and something we did consider while coming up with this idea. But then I realised, we need at least 2 months time to do something on this scale, and hence it is likely that any current problem can can b overshadowed by that time. We also thought about problems like poverty, and AIDS, but then I could just relate better to the Katrina disaster due to personal experiences and also realised that due to Rita and all still causing havoc, the news might just not completely fade away. (Hopefully there are no more such disasters by that time,. which might overshdow this.

Steve: Thank you very much for your suggestion, and this point was actually brought up by two more of my friends. But then we decided in the advertising campaigns we would focus much more on the human loss than America itself. I am sure US has the resources to tackle this problem, but they have asked for help, and in fact countries as small as Ecuador are sending help. Once again, its just looking at this from another angle, and I totally agree that you have a very valid point there, but my only concern is changing the event at this point of time might mean, starting everything from scratch, and changing the plan, as things like New Orleans Jazz, etc. might not fit into another plan. To be honest, i am a bit reluctant to change the campaign now, as I feel time is very short and there is a lot to do, and although ideas about different campaigns come again and again, going for a new one might mean, convinving the team again, and starting from scratch. But once, again thanks for your feedback, and hopefully I will get a lot more of it.

Clickprofits: Thank you very much for your compliments and for taking time to read the case and offering suggestions. I can understand what you mean, and as we dont want public to percieve us in a wrong way, we are trying to tie up with a charity, which would directly take care of the finances, although in case we are not successful, we will still go on our own. I have sent out emails to many charities, and have been calling some of them too, and hopefully we will be able to tie up with one of them. I can understand what you mean, but similar things have been done before, and as after evaluating all the resources, and considering that I am a student and have limited finances, I thought this would be a good way to test the idea. We do not aim to gain any customers from this ( as we haven't started or registered the business yet and would not be advertising our services). Also, there is no intention to make any profits as this is for a good cause. Once the collection is done, in case we cant tie up with a charity, we will donate the money to Oxfam USA, and the receipt will be shown to the advertisers.

Some questions:

On avg. what time does it start to get dark in early december?

what exactly can models do to advertise the sponsors?

What sort of other activites can we have in the parade to make it more exciting?

[fastfences]

Hi 'fame'

With no desire to thwart your idea, please consider the following: using the word 'stunt' with publicity, i.e. publicity stunt, is NOT the right word to gain credibility for the concept. The word 'stunt' sounds cheap and draws connotation of trickery. Far better to consider public promotion/ publicity effort/ publicity campaign.

I echo comments about the weather with regards body tattoos. I also wonder how much of a tattoo can be read from one's cheek; perhaps that's a question a potential advertiser/sponsor may ask.

As an example of how fine a line it is between promoting your company in unison with a good cause, take a look at the following:
http://www.ukbusinessforums.co.uk/viewtopic.php?t=5054

This demonstrates the sensitivity in aligning the promotion of a company with a good cause - some will see it as 'underhanded' and a cheap shot at self promotion. Perhaps in some arenas this does surely work, but where we are talking about total devastation and loss of life, I think there may be a 'moral obligation' to subscribe to. Perhaps finding a UK alliance of some sort may be much better and help further promote your objective.
Cheers, Nigel

[IMEX Sourcing Services]

Hi Nigel,

Thanks for your feedback. I have to say your first point is very relevant, and I am definately going to make a change there.

About your point regarding aligning the promotion with a good cause, I agree some will not find it right, but my theory here is, if doing it can help Katrina Victims, then why not? For e.g. lets say we raise 3000 pounds, and they go to Katrina victims, but we also get some publicity, the questions I ask is, did it help people who needed help, and I think the answer is Yes? Did it help the promotion of a concept (not a business), the answer is yes. I know there would be people, who would say, it doesnt matter if it helped Katrina Victims or not, it just shouldn't help you, but I really would put them in "Jealous" category and move on. Of course, I totally realise, you are not saying it, and in fact are just pointing out that there are people like that out there and I totally agree with you, but I guess this is a matter of personal choice and ethics, and my belief says I should go on with it, but thanks for helping me to look at it from another angle.

BTW, i am still looking for some ideas on, what else can models do? Any ideas?

Ash