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Adam Rothwell
- Friday, January 23, 2009
Oxfam’s latest marketing push has left me feeling confused. Because the charity is making the rather startling claim that it has the answer to all the world’s problems. Or at least, that’s what the charity’s marketing department would have us believe.Take the slogan that’s appeared on Oxfam-branded beer-mats (see right). Apparently, Oxfam – on just £211m a year – is building utopia, worldwide.
Except, of course, that it’s not. Here’s why making such an overblown claim is a bad idea.
- It’s obviously not true. It’s simply mystifying why Oxfam has chosen to emblazon its marketing materials with a blatant untruth. It just makes them look silly.
- It undermines the real work the charity does. Oxfam does a lot of complex, worthwhile work. It employs a lot of extremely clever people to come up with world-class answers to global poverty. But this slogan suggests that Oxfam HQ is filled with do-gooders dreaming up wacky schemes to build a perfect world.
- It shows that Oxfam’s marketers don’t talk to its aid workers. It’s extremely unlikely that Oxfam’s front-line staff would claim to be building utopia. So why did the charity’s PR people think it would be OK to make this claim? Almost certainly because they thought it sounded hip ‘n’ cool.
- ...And that shows that Oxfam isn’t as serious as it claims about engaging its supporters. Oxfam says that, together, we can beat world poverty. But making silly claims about utopia makes Oxfam look as if it only wants to engage its supporters some of the time. Other times, it’s more interested in promoting its funky new brand.
said the man in the orthopedic shoes! Will look at mikes blog in the future for a well thought out argument.
rarry
Re this line being concocted by one of Oxfam's supporters, Mikemuses has done some digging - and apparently that's not in fact the case: http://mikemuses.blogspot.com/2009/01/annual-update.html.
Adam, Intelligent Giving
If you had gone to the Oxfam website and click on the humankind logo you would have realised that the comment "Utopia. Under construction" was actually a comment made by a member of the public.
Someone, infact, who had visited Oxfams website and been inspired to leave a message that expressed their hopes for humankind. Other messages have been featured on the tube.
Quite clever really. Oxfam has shown a member of the public a message from another member of the public. That person might have been sitting in the very same pub. Small world really.
Is it a good use of donors money? Dunno, but nice to see a simple inspirational message amomgst the endless materialist marketing that bombard us 24/7.
Peace
OK. I know it might sound like I've had a sense of humour failure when I criticize Oxfam's approach, but I do think there are some serious issues with Oxfam's approach. I'll hopefully spell them out a bit more clearly below.
- There's nothing wrong with aimining high. But Oxfam is not actually trying to build utopia, it's actually trying to eliminate poverty and overcome disadvantage. That's not the same thing. Utopia would also involve me getting a seat on the Northern line every morning, and I don't think Oxfam is promising to give me that. In other words, there's a discrepancy between what Oxfam claims to be doing with this slogan, and what it will actually do. And I don't think any charity should make false claims like that.
- Claiming to be in search of impossible results makes Oxfam look amateur (at least, that's what I think). It makes me think that it hasn't properly thought through how it's going to make the world a better place. Now, I know that's not true - but this advert runs the risk of making things look like that.
Adam, Intelligent Giving
We know they do good work, we know they want to do more work, and I'm sure that many Oxfam workers - and supporters - believe that if they achieved all of their aims, then we would live in Utopia.
This is a beer mat in a pub, it's the kind of thing that might spark conversation, (dependng on the pub), might catch attention, and might make Oxfam stick on someone's head long enough for them to make a donation. Who wouldn't want to be part of building Utopia?
> So, what you guys doing?
< Building Utopia, wanna help?
> Nah, I don't want anyone to live in Utopia.
Yes charities need to do good, and do good well, but should we criticise them for aiming high?
Finally, as a new President tells a watching world that we must together face the real serious challenges before us, I'll turn to an old president for words.
It is not the critic who counts, not the man who points out how the strong man stumbled, or where the doer of deeds could have done them better. The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena; whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood; who strives valiantly; who errs and comes short again and again; who knows the great enthusiasms, the great devotions, and spends himself in a worthy cause; who, at the best, knows in the end the triumph of high achievement; and who, at worst, if he fails, at least fails while daring greatly, so that his place shall never be with those cold and timid souls who know neither victory nor defeat.
So how much should Utopia be built for then?
I've no problem with Utopia being under construction. Construction costs a lot but is often done just a bit at a time. And paid for a bit at a time.
Now if they had said they had achieved Utopia, then I'd be annoyed with them. But aiming to get there, even if it takes generations, isn't such a bad idea.
Sorry Adam, looks like you were short of controversy for a day or two and decided to create some.
Please, wait until Oxfam actually starts making bad claims rather than aiming for a dream.
After all, its dreams that aim to beat cancer, that aim to make end of life a little more bearable, that aims to save some animals, that aims to improve life for certain individuals.
Without a dream, would anyone bother to start a charity that isn't IG?
Martin
I always look forward to Anon2's generous-hearted comments - and this has proved to be no exception. As usual, though, I think Anon's got the wrong end of the stick. I'm not saying Oxfam shouldn't encourage its supporters to have fun or feel good. That would be foolish. But I am saying that charities should not make promises they can't keep - like pretending they can build a utopia. Surely you can't disagree with that?
I should also say that giving £10 to Oxfam sounds like a good idea: after all, they're one of our highest-scoring charities the quality of their formal reporting.
Adam, Intelligent Giving
Isn't it appalling that by putting this message on beermats, they are encouraging people to make donations when their judgement may be impaired by the demon drink?
Seriously Adam's piece of pompous tosh (in my opinion) has just inspired me to give £10 to Oxfam to do with as they please. I'm just a bit annoyed that there isn't a way to 'short' IG at the same time.
Doesn't utopia actually translate as no place?
If it does, they've built it already.