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"Koeppel Direct's media buying expertise has played an integral role in making my company successful. Koeppel generated so much business for our company, occasionally we have to limit their media buys, in order to handle all of the new business." | |
| - R. Gregg Marketer of Senior Products |
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MEDIA BUYING DIRECT RESPONSE TELEVISION (DRTV) ARTICLE ...... |
The Marketing of an Inconvenient Truth
By: Peter Koeppel
Published: 04/07 Electronic Retailer |
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I usually cover topics related to the marketing of products and services in this
column. However, I'm dedicating this column to the marketing of An Inconvenient Truth, a movie about global warming,
which is a phenomenon that is impacting our ability to continue living on earth.
Al Gore put together a brilliant plan for the marketing of his Academy Award winning documentary film that tells the
real story about global warming. Mr. Gore was recently selected by Media magazine as their person of the year,
because of how effectively he used the media to try and save the world. (Media 3/5/07).
Mr. Gore kicked off his communications plan for saving the planet during a keynote address at the advertising
agencies' media conference last March. He presented a multimedia plan for informing the public about the dangers of
global warming and promoting his film. Gore called upon Madison Avenue to help him save the planet and announced a
massive advertising campaign calling for the leading environmental and faith-based organizations to work together to
combat global warming. He asked the advertising community to match the advertising campaign "dollar for dollar"
with pro bono contributions. Gore also worked with the Advertising Council in developing public service ads.
He also utilized a high impact online campaign to get his message out. It included banners, keyword marketing,
exclusive video clips, blogs and email, among other tactics. (Media 3/3/06)
Now, a year later, there aren't many people who disagree with his message, so the impact of the campaign has been
significant. The world's leading scientists recently issued a report that confirms what Al Gore has been preaching
for 30 years, that with 95% certainty human behavior is contributing to global warming and that behavior is
altering our ability to live on this planet. (Media 3/5/07)
Gore's team did the research; put together an incredible presentation and a powerful movie, a compelling book and
one of the most effective marketing campaigns that I've ever witnessed. He also pledged to have all the proceeds
from the book and movie pay for a major advertising campaign. (Media)
I personally have experienced the impact of Gore's efforts. TXU, a power company, was trying to build 11 highly
polluting, coal-fired power plants in Texas, which would contribute 78 million tons of new global warming gasses
annually. Citizens, business leaders, politicians and environmental groups banded together to fight TXU's plans.
TXU wasn't prepared for the fight and decided to sell the company and the new owners have agreed to scale back the
project to 3 plants and to cut back plant emissions.
I'm confident that Gore's marketing efforts built awareness among the public about global warming and contributed
to TXU backing down on their ambitious plans. It's not often a great marketing plan can change world opinion, but
that's what Al Gore and his team were able to accomplish and I commend them for their efforts.
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