Brands with a Cause

Many brands use charities as one way to attract media attention. Not that it is the sole purpose of the activities I’m sure. Big Brands such as Cartier, Gucci, and Oprah Winfrey know they have to find the newsworthy aspect or unique selling proposition of their company’s story and try to attract attention to that. One example in 2002 Oprah announced her plan to build The Oprah Winfrey Leadership Academy Foundation for Girls in South Africa after an inspiring conversation with Nelson Mandela. She was very hands on with the construction (which was another good news angle) that consisted of 28 buildings including a theater, library, dining hall, classrooms and dormitories. Oprah Winfrey is one example of a celebrity that is very aware of the power of media. She proved that again by embracing YouTube when last year she announced her own Oprah’s Channel.

On the other hand, Cartier and Gucci decided to work together with UNICEF. Cartier is continuing its program this year after the success of sales of its LOVE Charity bracelet that featured 18K white gold mini LOVE bracelet on a silk cord. The result was a donation of more than $1.2million to global charities in 2007.

Gucci has entered its 3rd year in 2007 of aiding children directly affected by HIV/Aids. The designers at Gucci released a special accessory collection and and an exclusive version of the popular Indy bag which will be available to buy throughout 2008. However, Gucci's humanitarian effort did not go smoothly as an article in The Observer questioned the fashion giant's motives.

The Miracles of New Media

The rise of new media such as Facebook and MySpace opened up opportunities for people to share their individual voices and to PR themselves (depending on their personal agenda). My personal favourite is MySpace, because it's more than just a regular online social networking. It aims to bring together creative people especially in music industry. For unsigned artists, MySpace is a window of opportunity to introduce their work to larger audience. It also provides them the chance to throw their work right to the producers they have been wanting or dreaming to work with. For established musicians, MySpace is a powerful PR and marketing platform to maintain communication with fans and update them of what’s coming up in their agenda such as new releases, tour dates, video from their gigs, etc. As for music enthusiasts, MySpace allows them to get ‘closer’ to their favourite musicians and also to search for new music. In places where price of CDs and vinyls are expensive (such as in my country, because we have to import the actual good ones, especially if it’s not signed to a major record label) and the range are dominated by mainstream and pop music, MySpace really helps fanatics keeping up with global music scene. Hence, I would like to share my enthusiasm for MySpace by giving you a link to one of my favourite band in 2007, Glass Candy, in which (you guessed it!) I found in MySpace . Hope you enjoy it! Oh yeah, do click on the image to check out their latest music video on YouTube.