Oxfam – The People’s Campaign
Many people feel helpless when faced with the issues in the world. The idea behind Oxfam’s strapline, ‘Be Humankind’, is to encourage everyone to work together to fight the suffering and injustice that is happening all around us.
This digital campaign idea for Oxfam puts the advertising campaign in the hands of the people. It encourages single donations (as opposed to monthly payments) to an Oxfam project of the donor’s choice. The campaign works as a cycle, illustrated here.
How the donor creates their ad
After the donor has entered their bank details and completed the donation form, they are shown a simple page where they can create their own ad.
The page asks the donor to:
• choose one of four colour themes for the ad (click here and scroll down to section 2 to see ‘The colour pairs’)
• choose one of four background textures
• select a message from a pre-determined selection
• preview, agree to the term and conditions and publish the ad.
The donor will receive a copy of their ad which they can email to their friends, post on their blogs, embed on websites or post to their Facebook, MySpace and Twitter profiles etc.
Using a cookie dropped onto their browser, the donor will always be displayed their own ad when they visit any site where the ads are served. They will also be displayed follow up news and information relating to their chosen project and a link to find out more.
How the ads work
The ads use a predetermined framework:
Frame 1 – Displays the donor’s name/nickname and location.
Frame 2 – Describes how the donor has helped the project. According to the Oxfam website, the size of your donation will determine what your donation is spent on. For example, if you donate to the ‘Improving education for everyone’ project in Zambia, £1 – £300 will help to educate an orphan in Zambia. £301 – £600 will help to train a teacher and donations of £601 or more will help to educate teachers and children about AIDS. See more here.
Frame 3 – Displays the donor’s chosen message
Frame 4 – Call to action.
The ads go live on the internet immediately and the campaign becomes self-generating.