20Feb 2006 by Bob Cargill

A Career Imperative at the Crossroads of Change

Advertising, Blogging, Branding, Cause-Related Marketing, Client Service, Copywriting, Direct Marketing, Fundraising, Marketing, Public Relations
If you know of an organization that’s looking for an experienced direct marketer and enthusiastic, entrepreneurial creative director, copywriter, blogger and public speaker, I know of someone who fits the bill. Moi. Yes, I’m here to tell you that even though my employment with one company has just recently come to an end, I have no intention whatsoever of letting even a few blades of grass grow like a contagion under my feet. Given such urgency and resolve, I have already touched base with my network of friends and colleagues in the terrestrial world, letting them know of my availability and desire to land a new full-time job – or contract assignment – as soon as possible. And, of course, I've been wading my way through Monster, Talent Zoo and…
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30Jan 2006 by Bob Cargill

Running the Boston Marathon for Children’s Hospital Boston — Update

Boston Marathon, Cause-Related Marketing, Direct Marketing, Fundraising, Marketing
As I first wrote in this space about three months ago, on April 17, I’ll be pounding the pavement once again from Hopkinton to Boston, determinedly putting one foot in front of another for more than 26 long, arduous miles. It’ll be the 8th time I’ve taken the same exhausting journey. And I’ll be tired and sore most of the way. But it doesn’t get any better than crossing the finish line of what is arguably the most prestigious road race in the world, the Boston Marathon, especially when you’re running as a member of Children’s Hospital’s Miles for Miracles Team Boston, raising funds for one of the best pediatric hospitals in the country, located right here in my home state of Massachusetts. This time around, I have committed to…
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05Dec 2005 by Bob Cargill

Children’s Hospital Boston’s “26 Steps” is a Giant Leap in Family Philanthropy

Boston Marathon, Cause-Related Marketing, Direct Marketing, Fundraising, Marketing
Many nonprofit organizations are concerned about winning over the hearts of a new, younger generation of donors and instilling in them a sense of altruism and benevolence that will last a lifetime. But not all of these organizations are doing what Children's Hospital Boston is doing, going to great lengths to help parents introduce their children to the joy of giving and the satisfaction of making a difference with a brilliant, new family philanthropy program called 26 Steps. Named in memory of Katie Lynch, a lifelong Children's patient who undertook an enormous physical challenge - walking 26 feet at the 2001 Boston Marathon - to raise money for the hospital she loved, 26 Steps promises to provide tools for the next generation of philanthropists, helping young people develop habits of…
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31Oct 2005 by Bob Cargill

Running the Boston Marathon for Children’s Hospital Boston — and Hailey

Boston Marathon, Cause-Related Marketing, Direct Marketing, Fundraising
Less than six months from now, on April 17, 2006, I’ll be pounding the pavement once again from Hopkinton to Boston, determinedly putting one foot in front of another for more than 26 long, arduous miles. It’ll be the 8th time I’ve taken the same exhausting journey. And I’ll be tired and sore most of the way. But as I’ve said before, it doesn’t get any better than crossing the finish line of what is arguably the most prestigious road race in the world, the Boston Marathon. I’ve enjoyed running since I was just a little boy, so for me, running Boston is still the thrill of a lifetime, a childhood dream come remarkably true. I’m lucky, though. Some children’s dreams are mercilessly dashed due to dread, debilitating diseases and…
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02Sep 2005 by Bob Cargill

Hurricane Katrina: A Reason to Give, A Reason to Blog

Blogging, Cause-Related Marketing, Fundraising
If you’re looking for a reason to blog, you need look no further than the hurricane-ravaged Gulf Coast, from Louisiana to Florida, where Katrina’s fierce winds and brutal, punishing rain resulted in what could be America’s deadliest natural disaster since the 1906 San Francisco fire and earthquake. As I wrote here back in December, 2004, “a blog makes it possible for the everyday communications professional to distribute newsworthy, thematic content to a large, like-minded audience – without many, if any, layers of approval – almost instantaneously. If timeliness is a critical element of your publishing plan, it’s an irresistible platform.” Today, there’s no valid reason for any organization involved in the business of providing disaster relief not to have a blog in its communications toolbox. A blog can be set…
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21Apr 2005 by Bob Cargill

26 Tales of Triumph, One Winning Campaign

Advertising, Boston Marathon, Cause-Related Marketing, Public Relations
Some 20,000 people ran the Boston Marathon just a few days ago (I was one of them, plodding my way along the legendary, 26.2 mile course – all the way from Hopkinton to Boston – in a painful, interminable 4:24:51), but only 26 of them had been selected to tell their stories prior to the mother of all road races and heralded as one of the Saucony 26. For the chosen few, it must have been a tremendous honor to be able to personify the marathon as such pillars of inspiration. From a marketing standpoint, of course, putting a warm, identifiable face on the company and its products was a brilliant way for Saucony to connect with its constituency. “While each person will have a very real and very intense…
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01Dec 2004 by Bob Cargill

Good Juice, Good Guys, Good PR

Cause-Related Marketing, Public Relations
Everybody knows the story of The Juice Guys, Tom Scott and Tom First, who started their company, Nantucket Nectars, by selling juice from a boat off the island of Nantucket, Massachusetts over ten years ago. They were one of the earliest to market in the new-born, new age beverage industry, and, ultimately, one of the most successful. One chapter of their success story, however, that doesn’t get as much attention as their juice, is the one they began writing in 1998, when Tom and Tom (as they are affectionately known), created Juice Guys Care, the 501 (c) (3) not-for-profit division of their widely acclaimed company. Clearly, Nantucket Nectars believes that its high quality standards for its juice should be applied to all aspects of the company, including community involvement. Good…
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01Sep 2004 by Bob Cargill

Cause-Related Marketers and the Runners They Chase

Cause-Related Marketing
For more than two decades now, I have been running an average of about 20 road races a year, and practically every one of them benefits at least one local or national charitable organization. As an athlete, it's not necessarily the first thing you think about at a race, but besides all the physical training you have behind you, the idea that your entry fee (or at least a percentage thereof) is going to some worthy cause can’t help but serve as a strong, underlying motivating force. Of course, any such philanthropy is probably an afterthought for some runners – understandably. After all, we’re preoccupied with our performance. We’re running for time and place. But if you’ve competed in as many 5K races as I have, you come to realize…
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