WLSRH

BRIEF// A friend of mine from Westpac Life Saving Rescue Helicopter approached me and asked me to advise how they could use social media to address falling donation numbers during the Global Financial Crisis


SOLUTION// After conducting further research and talking more with the client, It was concluded that it's not that people no longer want to give or no longer care, but rather in these hard financial times they simply don't have the resources to.

To counter this, I came up with an idea whereby Westpac approaches one of their usual sponsor companies with the idea that instead of giving one lump sum, they give one dollar for every Facebook fan the Westpac Helicopter Facebook page receives. The strategy being that people can still contribute and feel good about contributing, without actually having to give up their hard earned. On top of this, as more and more people like the page, a viral loop forms that spreads the promotion wider and wider, driving awareness and donations.

This also bodes well for the sponsoring organization, as they receive considerably more brand exposure and increased brand equity than they would having made a traditional donation.

Further to this, Westpac Helicopter can then build an online community which they can engage to promote future events, or just generally keep their cause on peoples mind.

Unfortunately my friend no longer works for Westpac so I have no results to report, but I consider this a good example of how building communities can be mutually beneficial to all parties involved.


NOTE// I have seen this idea used twice since I suggested it to WLSRH, firstly in a campaign by GPYR for Suncorp and secondly by Bing Lee and each achieved very different results.

It is my opinion that Bing Lee suffered intense backlash due mainly to their timing, whilst organisations across Australia were giving selflessly to the QLD Flood Appeal Bing Lee implemented this idea and were seen as attempting to capitolise on the disaster and their brand was subsequently harmed.