How do you beat the banker? This was the problem facing the ORBIS team here at Whitewater. The banker in question - a powerful cash insert, unbeaten in all previous creative tests - had been raking in the cash since 2003. It was based on emotive case studies, including one sourced by our creative director Nick on a trip to Bangladesh.

Yet the team was unfazed. A productive creative brainstorm with ORBIS, led by planner Michelle, resulted in a proposition that got to the core of ORBIS's work: 'Send the Flying Eye Hospital to save children's sight and help save lives'. The Flying Eye Hospital is ORBIS's USP; a fully-equipped hospital on board a converted DC10 airplane, complete with training facilities, that can fly into countries around the world, perform eye surgeries and, in the process, train local surgeons in the skills needed to go on saving sight long after the plane has left. The insert would need to focus on the iconic Flying Eye Hospital, but also retain the moving case studies that made the banker such a success.

The concept that ORBIS chose to proceed with featured an unusual format – a sheet of paper that folded into a paper plane – an instant and involving physical demonstration of ORBIS's ability to fly the latest optical surgery techniques to those who need it most. The paper plane concept gave the insert real standout in the saturated charity market and aimed to add a rare bit of fun to what can be an very serious industry.

The insert also featured the emotive case study of six-year-old Santosh, whose sight was saved after ORBIS-trained doctors removed the cataracts in his eyes.

We tested the new insert against the control during the February to July campaign. The campaign isn't finished yet – but the initial results see the new insert outperforming the control on response rate, average gift, net cost of acquisition and ROI! We're hoping this paper plane will really soar.

Alex Wordsworth

Posted by Whitewater Team at 03:46 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)

I've recently signed up for another run to raise money for a cancer research charity. The way it works (if you don't know) is that you pay a small fee to participate (for which I get a jolly t-shirt and a pack of stuff that makes me feel like a nice soul), and then you ask your friends and family to stump up the 'rest' - to meet a sponsorship target. Since signing up I've received about ten emails telling me how 'easy' and 'stress free' it is now to raise money online but this is where I've discovered that I have a problem.

I want to participate because I like running. I want to support this charity because it's a cause close to my heart. But why should the people I know feel the same way? They don't even get to run! All they get, if anything, is the warm glow of making a charity gift - a donation that, in all likelihood, would not have been made had I not asked.

Do they feel, as I did when I had to ask, a bit irritated? Because to say 'no' makes you look mean, and to say 'yes' means you have probably been forced by politeness to donate to a cause not necessarily near to your heart.

So I'm thinking I will ask a very few people who I know care about this cause so that I don't make my other friends tire of coughing up for (my) pleasure of running. And I will pay the rest. To put this in context, I've already done one sponsored run this year and left it so late to ask for support that it ended up being a really urgent email on the morning of the run. Thanks my lovely friends, two hours later I'd exceeded my target, but most sponsored me just because I'd asked, not because of the cause. I won't be milking them for more now.

On a small scale I am working out my own list segmentation, comm's plan, and thank you strategy - the care you'd take with your own friends could teach some charities a lot about how to communicate with their supporters.

Dawn Law

Posted by Whitewater Team at 10:25 AM | Permalink

As a donor, does it matter whether a charity is registered in my home country?

I was on Facebook when I discovered the option to include a charity within my profile. With my work head on I got excited about the fundraising potential, but when I came to browse through the options, the site's US origins were obvious as I struggled to find British charities (including most of Whitewater's clients).

So I felt an immediate barrier - a mixture of residual web mistrust and a lack of relevance. If I give to the US Leukaemia and Lymphoma Society, will my money actually get there? It doesn't feel the same as giving to the UK equivalent. I'm happy for my commercial web transactions to show up in dollars, but it's somehow more unsettling with a charity donation - it seems such a long way away. And how long would it take for scientific research in the States to eventually benefit someone in my family (the reason the cause matters to me). Two key motivations we are seeing in the sector were magnified in this context: the need to trust and the need for directness, to feel close to those your money is helping.

As I quickly went through this rather unconventional decision process (it's not often you go 'shopping' for a charity), I was inclined to support causes based on three criteria: 1) a presence in the UK 2) a brand name I recognised and 3) Overseas Development because somehow it made more sense – the beneficiaries were always going to be thousands of miles away, regardless of the charity HQ address. Comic Relief was the eventual winner. It ticked all three boxes. And I had already seen it on a friend's profile – peer power.

In fact, the logo now sitting on my page is all about peer to peer. Web 2.0 means international advocacy of causes. In the context of Facebook - a social networking site - this is the primary message and positively encouraged: tell your friends, spread the word, show the world you support us. There's even a counter on your page to tell you how many people you have recruited. It's Member Get Member at its finest. It's also great for brand recognition. And it is truly global.

The internet has given us free rein - the opportunity to support any charity, anywhere in the world if we want to. (In fact, for our empowered generation, this is probably a crafty strategy to dodge a bombardment of paper mail appeals!) But have UK charites fully embraced or even acknowledged their international audience? Have they capitalised on the fact that their organisation is being endorsed and recommended across oceans and time zones? What can they do to alleviate the 'charity begins at home' barrier that I experienced and build on their extended reach? Will it lead us ultimately to a place where the 'Royal', 'National' or 'British'ness of charity brands could become a hindrance elsewhere… or a positive point of difference - a Union Jack worth waving - back home?

Michelle Taylor

Posted by Whitewater Team at 12:14 PM | Permalink

At a stroke, the new logo for the London 2012 Olympics has divided the nation.

As Chairman of Interbrand Rita Clifton points out in the Times article, the logo has 'the Marmite factor' – you either love it or you hate it. But this is the Olympics: it’s meant to pull people together, not push them apart. It should be the Belgian chocolate of brands.

Justifying the design, Jacques Rogge, president of the International Olympic Committee, praised it as a "truly innovative brand" that would appeal to the young. But what about the old? What about the traditional? Didn't Tessa Jowell say it was meant to be 'inclusive'?

I think these comments show what has gone badly wrong here. There is a fundamental confusion between two very different things: a logo and a brand. This serves as a salutary warning for all charities as they increasingly base their communications on the commercial model.

A logo is a thing: a concrete object. A brand isn't. A brand, as our ex-Director of Planning Bryan Miller was fond of saying, is 'what people say about you when you're not in the room' - it is intangible and difficult to control, because it is not owned by a company but the consumer. It is the sum total of all the thoughts, feelings, impressions and experiences that people have when they come into contact with the organisation and its product, or when they write a cheque to save a life. Jeff Brooks summed it up earlier this year: "Your brand is what you do and who you are. What you look like is the smallest part of that. Most branding guidebooks pay lip-service to this fact, but none of them do anything about it. And that's no surprise, because they can't. A brand is bigger than a set of rules you can put down in a spiral-bound book."

Scissors cut paper and brand always beats logo. If one minute we're told the Olympic logo is meant to celebrate inclusiveness, but the next minute we're told there will no discussion whatsoever about changing it then, believe me, the brand ain't inclusive. In fact you could say it is totally exclusive. Elitist. Top-down. Patronising.

The logo may want to say inspiration, but the brand is disappointment. London pride? More like London laughing stock. Where we wanted idealism, we have cynicism – a feeling of 'here we go again' – and a sense of impending doom. What more can go wrong? The only good thing to come out of this dreary fiasco is the creativity it’s inspired in others.

Charity staff: be aware you don't own your brand - and that includes the Chief Executive. Your brand belongs to the beneficiaries and the donors – and a shift from grey to magenta is not going to make up for an offhand remark, a poorly typed letter or not even being thanked. Intelligent visual design is of course vital, but it cannot stand alone. If you want to be 'inclusive', be inclusive – it's so much more than a colour scheme and a jagged line.

Chris Nield

Posted by Whitewater Team at 09:33 AM | Permalink

So today is the day we can end all the speculation and announce to the World that we're joining the Direct Marketing Group, spearheaded by Millennium.

The Group is going to give Whitewater access to loads of things, including:
Strong management support
An unrivaled understanding and segmentation model of the 50+ market, so essential for charities
A strong research and data analysis service
Enormous print buying power, meaning cheaper prices for our clients

We're really excited about the opportunities this gives the company and what we can achieve over the next few years.

The official press release is below for those who want to know more.

Steve Andrews

Whitewater Creative Services merges with The Direct Marketing Group (previously known as the Millennium Group)

Whitewater Creative Services have successfully completed their merger with The Direct Marketing Group (previously known as The Millennium Group) on 5th June 2007. Results International, the leading specialist corporate finance advisor in the marketing communications industry, has acted as corporate advisor to Whitewater.

Whitewater is a fast-growing, award-winning direct marketing agency specialising in fundraising and non-profit causes. Originally established as a design business in 1987, the agency evolved its offering in 2000, via an MBO, with Claire Page and Steve Andrews becoming the majority shareholders. Further to much growth, the agency was looking to ramp up its momentum by teaming with a larger group. It turned to Results International for assistance in identifying an appropriate partner.

The Direct Marketing Group, a full service direct marketing group, was chosen as the perfect fit both in terms of the growth potential and cultural compatibility. Whitewater's specialisation in charity direct marketing will help complement and strengthen DMG's existing direct marketing presence. Whitewater will benefit from DMG's centralised resources, commitment to consumer research and insight, data management, print buying power, media buying and digital capabilities.

Whitewater, headed by Chairman and Managing Director Steve Andrews, will continue to operate under its own name, under the umbrella of DMG. DMG, which comprises agencies Millennium, DMS and now Whitewater, will result in a combined headcount of 300, a turnover of £45 million and be headed by Martin Smith as Group Managing Director.

Commenting on the deal, Steve Andrews said, "The Direct Marketing Group, spearheaded by Millennium, is the perfect platform for Whitewater to build on our strong services and growth. The company is a great cultural match for Whitewater. The DMG, through Millennium, are leaders in the over 50's market which is so essential to charities. This will significantly strengthen Whitewater's offering.

"Whitewater have worked with Results International for eleven months on a process which concludes today with the announcement of Whitewater's merger with the Direct Marketing Group. Whitewater's principal shareholders had decided that a merger with a larger direct marketing firm would help to strengthen the company's position and accelerate growth. Results International have acted as our corporate advisors on each step of this journey. Our confidence in their advice and their process has been total. They have found us the right partner and have brokered the right deal. The service we have received has been outstanding."

Keith Hunt, Managing Partner Corporate Finance at Results International, said: "We have worked on behalf of Whitewater over the past 11 months assessing a range of potential partners. Their merger with The Direct Marketing Group means joining other strong players in direct marketing who all share a common commitment to outstanding service and product innovation; we're confident the deal will prove rewarding to all agencies."

Posted by Whitewater Team at 07:45 AM | Permalink