marketing idea - good or bad?

[Coppock]

Hi everyone, I saw a link to a charity in the charities section and it made me smile, its sendacow.org.uk

they basically send a cow to africa - people drink the milk, the manure is used for fertiliser etc... all good for the communities there.

I was thinking of running a "send a cow for christmas" campaign - trying to raise enough money before xmas to send one over there. It would be raised through a percentage of the course fees so wouldn't actually cost the trainees any more...

I thought it made a nice quirky campaign, especially with web design etc being quite a competitive industry - I thought people might read the pr etc and have it stay in their minds?

The comments I've received from family is "you're crazy", the comments I've received from other business friends are positive, but concerned that people won't be interested in helping africa in the current economy and that a charity closer to home would be a more attractive option...

any thoughts? am I crazy?! lol

Jen

[kalooki]

Sounds good, how much does it actually cost to send a cow to Africa?

Tom

[ethical PR]

Rather than having it as a percentage of your training fees, you could 'send a cow' to Africa instead of sending Christmas cards to clients and suppliers.

To let them know what you are doing put together a creative viral christmas card.

You could also encourage them to consider doing something similar ie giving 'Send a Cow virtual Christmas gifts' for their clients too.


shows your creativity - good for business
shows you are giving to charity - good for business
shows your green credentials - good for business

[Wavecrest Ltd]

Hi everyone, I saw a link to a charity in the charities section and it made me smile, its sendacow.org.uk

they basically send a cow to africa - people drink the milk, the manure is used for fertiliser etc...

Jen

I already offered them my mother in law but no luck I'm afraid :D....

Anyway I think it would be a good idea for you to give it a try. Not sure how much a cow costs though. Would be interesting to hear how you get on.

Glen

[Coppock]

hi, thanks for the response :)

it costs £750, but its only £70 for a donkey so if we fail to meet the full cow-amount then we can send some donkeys instead :)

Id have to do it as a percentage this year anyhow - its a new business so I won't have the database or funds to do it this year instead of cards etc... and if we raise more then i can aim to send 2 cows :)

I'll even give them names and have an online map of "where are our cows" - so they can be in wrexham, then when we get some funds they can be in london, paris, etc - until they get to africa when we get the full amount in :)

Is it sad that i've thought all this out already.... ?

I might have another thread for "name the cow" if i go ahead lol
thanks
Jen

[Cartoon Logos]

Hi everyone, I saw a link to a charity in the charities section and it made me smile, its sendacow.org.uk

they basically send a cow to africa - people drink the milk, the manure is used for fertiliser etc... all good for the communities there.

I was thinking of running a "send a cow for christmas" campaign - trying to raise enough money before xmas to send one over there. It would be raised through a percentage of the course fees so wouldn't actually cost the trainees any more...

I thought it made a nice quirky campaign, especially with web design etc being quite a competitive industry - I thought people might read the pr etc and have it stay in their minds?

The comments I've received from family is "you're crazy", the comments I've received from other business friends are positive, but concerned that people won't be interested in helping africa in the current economy and that a charity closer to home would be a more attractive option...

any thoughts? am I crazy?! lol

Jen

Hi Jen

Is this a PR exercise?

As in you'll sell mroe courses with the charity feature than you might without it?

The reason I'm asking is this may or may not work in your favour depending on how you approach it.

I know of someone else who had a charity feature linked to all their products, it went something like this.......

"Everything you pay, 10% of the retail price will be donated to your favourite fundraiser. If you want to raise funds for your school, get as many people as possible to buy from us quoting your 'code' and the 10% from their purchases will all go to your fundraising need."

It wasn't worded like this, but this is the gist.

Basically it bombed. No one was interested.

The reason it bombed (in my humble opinion) is that they were trying to convince the public that it was them (the retailer) who was donating the money.

They should have (IMO) been gracious enough to acknowledge that it was the buyers who were funding the charity via their purchases.

So, whichever way you approach this

My advice would be

to make it clear it is your clients who are donating the money, not you.

Marketing Image

Meanwhile, if you have a nice fat cow on the front page of your site, with a big postage stamp slapped on it's bottom and an address written on it's hide, this would be a great visual re your

'post a cow' campaign

:)

Good luck with it, sounds like a great idea to me!

Leah

[Coppock]

Hi Leah, I like your posts, you always give me a giggle!

Good point, I'll be sure to push the fact that they're doing the good not me! We're just the mailbox they push the cow into :)

The purpose for the campaign, well there's 3...

1. I always said that when I become more successful I'll start being as good to the world as I can. So I'm trying to get involved with a lot of charity work (i'm designing a charity website for free at the mo, rebranding another one, and creating a rebrand for a swimming club in memory of my grandad who died recently).

2. PR - I think a nice quirky idea that i can try to get press coverage for will help awareness of the courses which are open to anyone at any level who need a website...

3. The idea behind the courses is the whole "giving someone a fishing rod is better than a fish" scenario. I want to help people learn to make and control their own sites, which is in my opinion more beneficial than just designing websites (and its cheaper). So the cow comes under the same theme, why give them milk and manure when they can "learn" to make it themselves :)

besides if anyone wants a website i think there's more chance someone would say - "oh i heard about some local web design thing that sends a cow to africa"... we'd be number 1 on google for "web design wrexham cow" lol.

Hmmm, lets get those cows moo-ving ;)
Jen

[Cartoon Logos]

I think it's a great idea and I like cows.

How about an image consisting of

Someone trying to stuff said cow into an already bulging letter box

Seeing how many cows you can post to Africa!

I like it

I'm sure it'll do well, especially presented as you do in last post.

'Give em a rod instead of a fish philosophy'

I like it!

[Kirsty]

I think it is a great idea, and I think some people will be interested regardless of the ecconomic climate.
Maybe you could market it through churches, Fair Trade shops etc?

The only worry I have, is it fair on the animal? Will the communities that get the cow be able to look after it properly?

[SmilePrint]

I watched a Tv program (regional) a couple of years ago , but it was goats they were sending out.

Really made a difference to the people who received them.

Makes a good PR story.

Hope this titbit helps.

Regards

[david poole]

the best people to ask are your previous customers and your prospects.

Ask them what they want and you'll get your answer

[Coppock]

I'm doing it :)

I'm launching the cow at the weekend! Just emailed some questions to them.

I was thinking about charities closer to home, I think i'll do a referral scheme for them... i.e - recommend a friend and receive a cheque for £10 when they book, or we will donate £15 to a particular charity instead...

I want to help the economy... so will have to look for suitable charities... hmmmmm

Jen :) The Cow Transporter!

[SmilePrint]

Good on you!!

I'm certain this will have spin off benefits for you!

Either way it benefits the african farmers.

Brendan

[Coppock]

Shall I start a "Name My Moo" thread?!

[Coppock]

I think it is a great idea, and I think some people will be interested regardless of the ecconomic climate.
Maybe you could market it through churches, Fair Trade shops etc?

The only worry I have, is it fair on the animal? Will the communities that get the cow be able to look after it properly?

"Our costs don’t just cover the animal – they cover the whole Send a Cow ‘package’. That includes training, low-cost vet services, and regular visits by extension workers to give the beneficiaries advice and check that their livestock is doing well.
To make a real impact on a family’s life we always buy good quality animals (usually pure breeds or pure breed crosses). Unfortunately there is often a shortage of good quality animals, resulting in high prices. Our staff are knowledgeable, and ensure that we get the best value for our money. Good quality animals produce much higher yields of milk or eggs etc – up to 10 litres more milk a day, and six times as many eggs as other animals. Their offspring are also of a superior quality and fetch more money at market – the offspring of meat goats, for instance, are much heavier than their local counterparts."