Doing Good and Doing Well

Big national brands and their local affiliates can accelerate their charity impact AND drive brand value by using a network approach like good2gether.

Companies want to accelerate the impact of their charitable programs.  The terrible news from Haiti is re-focusing us on getting involved and “doing good”. While pursuing charitable programs for all the right reasons, leading brands and small businesses are also asking the question:  “How can we continue to accelerate our charitable impact while better communicating our positive activities with our target audience?” Bad press from the economic downturn and financial meltdown has had a negative impact on many corporate brands – particularly in the financial services industry. These brands would benefit from both accelerating their charitable impact and showing the world the good they do for important causes.

As we look at this challenge, we can see the obvious alignment with new marketing and social media – but obvious strategies may not be quite enough.  We can accelerate our activities and get people involved using Facebook and Twitter, however as more and more brands use social media, it is difficult to get heard through the noise. This is one reason that I am so excited about the potential of using a compelling new networked solution for charitable impact: good2gether.

The good2gether Do Good Channel is a powerful way for brands to extend reach and awareness while also connecting their network of partners, affiliates and customers with local nonprofits that mean a lot to them. The networked approach lifts all boats – the brand, the affiliate networks, and the local charities.  The good2gether ecosystem uses social media and web services sharing to extend the velocity and impact of the charitable mission while providing the big brand a powerful messaging opportunity. Partners and affiliates can also “do good” in their local community while being associated with a national brand’s program and benefiting from the halo effect of charitable giving. The local charity benefits from local sponsorships and focus – while being a part of a much bigger global network.

How does this all work? Here is a basic approach:

• Quickly and easily set up a BIGBRAND Do Good Channel and connect this with your charity website
• Create compelling content including digital video about the charity programs and the positive impact the BIGBRAND has on society
• Use social media to syndicate this across the web and social media
• Use the good2gether network to aggregate cause engagement for the BIGBRAND affiliates and partners and local charities
• Cross-promote the BIGBRAND charitable activities through online media (e.g. USA Today) and social media (e.g. Facebook and Twitter)
• Newspapers and media companies need local content. Local nonprofits have it. Local charities everywhere can enter their information for FREE
• The good2gether network helps the BIGBRAND and their local affiliate’s target new audiences to find and share ‘do good’ engagement opportunities, events and activities – through widgets web sites, media outlets,  affiliate web pages and the charity do-good pages
• Take advantage of additional sponsorship opportunities that drive brand image as well as introduce potential revenue. It’s not just free. You can actually make money with good2gether
• Excite your target audience – particularly tech-savvy folks online – to “do good” while they recognize your sponsorship behind the cause!

We are working with a few brands to explore the potential impact of the good2gether platform, along with Good2gether’s Greg McHale. You can find out more from Greg at www.good2gether.com and Contact Revenue Architects to learn more.