My Two Cents: Agencies and Pro-Bono Work

Flipping through the current Marketing Magazine, there is an article by Anthony Taaffe, Associate Creative Director at Extreme Group, an ad agency from Halifax. The article is called "Piloting Pro Bono". It's always interesting to read about another ad agency who is out to help save the world by doing cutting edge creative. In this case, Taaffe discusses how some of his paying clients feel slighted when they compare the work they get, verses the creative solutions that their pro bono clients get. His point is that all clients get the same 'great creative'. Fine.

Here's my complaint. The "creative" that some agencies come up with - often isn't appropriate (I've talked about that before), or, is completely out of brand or character for the charity in question and often has ZERO worth as a fundraising device. Here is the ad that Extreme came up with for Halifax's Food Bank.
The visual as you can see is a bowl full of money.
The headline reads "It Takes More Than Food To Feed The Hungry."
Yes. That's true. Great. So now what? - So nothing, I continue to flip through my magazine or paper.

Oh hold on! Maybe I'm supposed to GIVE something - let's see, where are my glasses? Right. There does seem to be a suggestion to maybe give generously. Oh - and there is even a phone number - that's handy.

Taaffe writes "Pro bono work usually comes with the promise of a great creative opportunity. A pro bono job can provide the type of challenge that may be lacking in your everyday work, a unique opportunity to flex one's creative muscles." He goes on to say "You never ignore any client's needs and objectives, but with pro bono work, it is totally appropriate to insist on creative latitude as a prerequisite."

Really?

I thought the whole idea of working with charities is to help raise money and make a difference. I can be a bit of an idealist at times - but, it is not time to 'flex my creative muscle' - it's time to raise money.

ASK for a donation and then TELL them how to give it.

Marketing is also running a poll - I was interested to see where it stands currently. I understand that a lot of back patting can go on here - I've had charities tell me - 'Sorry but our agency of record (insert name of big name agency), is doing that work for us'. And I've heard the agencies say 'Look at this amazing ad we did for (insert charity of choice). Can you believe we got away with this? And isn't it clever?'

I would suggest that if you work at an agency or a charity to download a copy of "Why Bad Ads Happen to Good Causes" by Andy Goodman.

I know that sometimes that an ad or poster for a charity is to "increase awareness" and that's fine so long as the awareness is about the cause, not the charity. It's not you, the charity or you the agency, it's about who or what you are helping. That being said there is a great quote in Andy Goodman's piece.

Attention, Not Just Awareness
"You can throw oodles of information into a person's awareness. The problem is that everybody is doing it. Awareness is vague, general information, and doesn't by itself catalyse any action. Attention is targeted and specific. It gets people moving. In a simple analogy, awareness is the target and attention is the bull's-eye."
Thomas Davenport & John Beck, The Attention Economy

Let's get people moving.