Ad Agency Lets Clients Direct Holiday Giving
For Thanksgiving, HPM Donates to Each Customer’s Cause
PHOENIX (Nov. 16, 2007) — Sick children, cancer research and vulnerable animals were on the minds of participants this year in High-Power Marketing’s unique, client-driven Thanksgiving campaign.
Rather than pursuing a “one size fits all” approach to annual gift giving, Phoenix-based HPM surveys its clients each October, asking which three charities they admire and support. Based upon client feedback, the per-inquiry (PI) advertising agency donates 1 percent of the year’s gross receipts from each client to one of that client’s three designated charities – in the client’s name.
“We find that our clients are all very big givers, to a wide variety of causes,” says HPM President and CEO Peter Feinstein.
The result: a three-in-one gift – aid to the charity, recognition for the client and the opportunity for HPM to expand its range of corporate giving.
This year, the Make-A-Wish Foundation, the American Cancer Society and The American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (ASPCA) were among the top vote-getters, though 22 charities in all will benefit form HPM clients’ patronage.
“I feel strongly that a cookie-cutter gift wouldn’t accurately represent how HPM does business,” Feinstein says. “The best gift we can give to each of our clients is a donation made in their name to a cause they’re passionate about.” He says HPM received 100 percent response to the client survey. “Each client has their own unique story on how they came to support the charities that are near and dear to their hearts; as a relationship driven company, we make it our mission to help affirm their charitable connections.”
Then HPM goes a step further.
“Where key individuals from each client had charities that differed from the company's charities,” Feinstein said, “we doubled our contribution by giving an equal amount, on behalf of the individual, to one of his or her named charities. In the end, we actually donated close to 5 percent of our gross sales for the year, up from 3 percent in 2006. Several of our clients have two or more key players we polled, and we wanted them all recognized.”
While undertaking this effort, HPM remained loyal to its own corporate charities: the American Cancer Society, the ALS Foundation, the American Red Cross and others, giving another 2 percent of its gross annual revenue.
Feinstein likes creating “win-win-win” situations, which come up regularly in PI advertising – also known as pay-per-lead (PPL) or direct-response (DR) advertising. HPM has relationships with media outlets across the country – radio, television and print – and access to their unsold inventories of ad space or time. A PI campaign puts ads in those spots until the agreed upon number of responses is reached, allowing a client to establish a stable, predictable cost per lead (CPL). The emphasis on results appeals to clients who care about how well their advertising works, not necessarily when or where it runs. “The client makes money; the media make money; and we make money,” Feinstein says. “Everybody wins.”
Back to What's News Page
|
