§ Subscribe

Alternatives

Enter your email address to receive blog updates by email:

Delivered by FeedBurner

§ Utterz

§ Podcast

• For Immediate Release
  A weekly podcast for professional communicators from Shel Holtz, ABC and Neville Hobson, ABC.
  Podcast Feed
  Vote for FIR

---

§ PR Search

---

View blog authority

---

§ Places

• Shel's link blog
• Blogs I read
• Holtz Communication + Technology
• IABC
• Ragan Communications
• Society for New Communications Research

---

§ Dead Trees

• How to Do Everything with Podcasting
  
  by Shel Holtz with Neville Hobson
  
  
  
  
• Blogging for Business
  
  by Shel Holtz and Ted Demopoulos
  
  
  
  
• Corporate Conversations
  
  by Shel Holtz
  
  
  
  
• Public Relations on the Net
  
  by Shel Holtz
  
  
  
  

---

§ License

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons License.

---

Technorati: Blogs that link here

Friday, March 21, 2008

CGM: Company-Generated Media a solid way for business to participate in social media

Share This!

Every now and then, you chance on an example of a business tapping into social media so naturally and wisely that it just warms your heart. File this one under “corporate social responsibility.”

The tale begins with a philanthropic effort by the lead singer of a band called Five for Fighting (one of the bazillion bands of which I have been unaware). John Ondrasik seems to have a do-good streak, since a lot of his pop-style music is cause-related. Ondrasik launched a website called What Kind of World Do You Want with a unique approach to rasing money for charitable causes.

The site, inspired by a Five for Fighting music video titled “World” invites people to create an upload a video that answers that question, “What kind of world do you want?” The video submission form includes a menu from which to choose one of five charities Ondrasik has designated. Each time any of the 239 videos submitted to the site (the most recent on March 16) are viewed, money is donated to the related charity. The funds are donated by individuals who contribute to the site; their names and pledges are listed on the home page, like this one:

Jo A. Reynolds has pledged $15 for the sites charities. Watch any video and approximately $1 will be raised for the charity associated with that video.

To date, the effort—run solely by Ondrasik without the assistance of any paid staff—has rasied $174,960. Ondrasik notes that all the money raised goes to the charities except for the fees collected by Revver.com, where the videos are hosted, and 1.25% for administrative costs (such as site hosting).

The site came to the attention of TriWest Healthcare Alliance, which administers the TRICARE program for military Service members and their families in the 21-state West Region. The organization produced a video to contribute to the site called ”Freedom Never Cries,” designating contributions to Operation Homefront, a nonprofit started by the wife of a soldier stationed in Iraq. The organization provides emergency assistance to soldiers and their families.

“TriWest worked with John Ondrasic in producing the video,” says Kristen Ward, who works in TriWest’s corporate communications department. (Kristen attended Ragan’s Social Media conference in Las Vegas, and contacted me afterwards to let me know about the effort and ask about how to get an email to go viral in order to get more people to watch the video.) Ondrasik’s vocals serve as the audio track for the video. “TriWest established a relationship with him when he was looking for a corporate sponsor to produce his “For the Troops” CD, a compilation album of 13 artists that was distributed free to troop in America and overseas.”

In addition to producing the video, TriWest has committed to pay $1 to Operation Homefront every time the video is viewed, up to a ceiling of $30,000. “Once $30,000 is reached, we hope other sponsors will pick up where we left off and also contribute to the organization.”

So far, the video has been viewed 7,736 times and has attracted two pages of comments, all of which are summed up by this one: “What a wonderful video. I can’t stop crying because it is so true. And I remind myself how proud I am of my husband and all the men and women who gave the freedom to me.”

That’s not enough views, according to Kristen; TriWest is hoping for 30,000 views in a single month and ultimately get into the millions. The company has devised a three-phased campaign to get to that lofty goal, beginning with the grassroots viral email that will drive people to the video. After that, the company will reach out to local and national civilian and military media; the company is also seeking a sponsor to fund contributions after TriWest’s $30,000 contribution is tapped out. The final phase of the campaign will involve more outreach to national civilian media.

More companies should take a lesson from TriWest which, rather than just write a check, TriWest got engaged through the production of a video to add to those already submitted by consumers and companies, added the money to fund contributions from views of the video, and will continue to contribute time and resources to grow donations beyond their own gift. This is particularly relevant given the American Cancer Society’s failure to capitalize on the efforts of the grassroots ”Frozen Pea Fund,” and that’s just one example of businesses missing the boat on social media.

Should you be inclined to support the effort, you can just watch the video, or you can forward along the email to your friends and family. The text of the email follows:

Support our Troops and their families by watching this powerful and important video on the Five For Fighting charity website.  Just Click Here: http://tinyurl.com/2u5zea

Through a $30,000 contribution from TriWest Healthcare Alliance, the site will donate about $1.00 per view to Operation Homefront for the first 30,000 views.

Operation Homefront is an organization that provides emergency assistance to our troops and the families they leave behind, and was started by a wife who’s husband is currently stationed in Iraq.

Let’s get to 30,000 and more. Please forward this e-mail to anyone you know who appreciates freedom, and let’s help those who protect us.

By the way, Kristen didn’t ask me to write about this. I was just impressed enough with the effort to share it and see if I could help.