There is no doubt that Kony 2012 and Invisible Children video is going viral all over the world. It certainly grabbed my attention when I saw it. It’s a great lesson of how to market your non-profit well, and how a small non-profit can literally become global over night.
Now I’m not going to dive into any of the controversy around the video. This post isn’t about that. This post is about marketing and communications. Here are a few thoughts off the top of my head.
1. Discover what is at the heart of your cause that is so compelling to you
Kids. Soldiers. Murder. Injustice. These are just a few of the themes that resonate throughout the video to me. I know that kids somewhere are being forced into being soldiers and that they then have to kill their parents. Then attack others. Awful. Horrible. Completely avoidable. If we have the will to change it.
2. Tell your story authentically
One of the qualities I love about the video is the personal journey that it takes me on. I feel like I’m on the inside discovering this injustice along side at the same time as the storyteller learns about it. I don’t feel like I’m being preached to.
It is a story well told.
3. Identify the problem
At the heart of this story is a man. A man who has created immeasurable harm to a whole generation in a nation. And now beyond his country. In this case the problem has a face. It has a name. In your causes case it may be a perception of something, a disease, a physical or mental issue or an attitude.
4. Tell them how to solve the problem
Solving this problem is easy. It’s just about government’s having the willpower to do it. At the heart of this cause is providing the viewer with clear picture of the inaction and ambivalence to the problem by those in a position to do something about it. But choose not to because according to the storytellers it’s not in the national interest or a national security issue. It also tells people how they can play their part in solving the problem.
5. Be Talkable
One of the reasons why this campaign has literally exploded over the last few days is because it is a compelling story that told so well and easy to share with others. Especially online. Only today I had a guy in my office asking if we should do something as an organisation about this. He said that a colleague from another city had called him and had said that if we started something they would join with us. That is talkable. That is how good ideas spread. Word of mouth really is the most powerful form of marketing.
There really is nothing like a good idea that has come, and is talkable.
6. Have a clear call to action
Tell your viewer, reader what it is exactly what you want them to do. Sign up, buy something, donate. Make it clear and have the tools ready and in place to respond. It could be a sign up form or a donate button. Make it easy for them to take the next step.
Your turn
These are just a few of the marketing and communications lessons I think Kony 2012 has taught me. How about you. How have you reacted to this campaign? Love it or hate it? What lessons do you draw out of it? Comment below.
