A simple, great idea for making your cause stand out

ulta

As Cause Marketing blog has pointed out, October means breast cancer awareness month - which also means saturation of cause-related marketing messages.  Unless you understand how to stand out - by storytelling.

This is a photo I took in Silver Spring, Maryland, at the Ulta beauty store.  The window stopped me in my tracks - what was in the window, I wondered?  There I saw letters from breast cancer survivors, their friends and family.  There is something very moving about reading someone’s personal letters.  This was a great way to call attention to the cause - and the company - in an authentic, moving way.  What better way to show you support the breast cancer cause than to put the spotlight on those dealing with it?

ULTA has over 330 stores nationwide participating, according to their corporate website.  People are asked to write their stories of honor and encouragement in a letter and bring it to their local ULTA store where it will be posted in the windows. According the company, “Placed end to end, all of ULTA’s windows stretch over six miles, each of which will be devoted to sharing the stories of those that have fought, are bravely fighting or have been personally affected by breast cancer in some way.”

Use this concept!  If your nonprofit is on a busy street, how about posting letters and photos from people affected by your cause in the window?  How about having your next e-Newsletter written in the form of a letter from someone affected firsthand by your issue?  What if volunteers wrote hand-written thank you letters to your supporters explaining why they love your cause?

The power of one voice telling a good story is more potent than your organizational voice any day,

Update: Do read Cause Marketing’s suggestions on how to tweak this campaign.  I still like it more than Paul did - but yes, pictures and a stronger call to action couldn’t hurt.  I think the storytelling was terrific.

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