To Tell Its Story, Red Cross Goes to Those It Helped

The New York Times:

The American Red Cross has commissioned a new public service advertising campaign to raise money in the holiday season by showing how the organization helps people facing problems other than major disasters like Hurricane Sandy.

Deborah Small, an associate professor of marketing and psychology at the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania, expressed similar sentiments. The new campaign, she said, “tugs at our heartstrings. The very best way for an ad to get people to open their wallets is to present them with an identifiable victim. It creates an emotional connection.”

Edward Russell, an associate professor of advertising at the S. I. Newhouse School of Public Communications at Syracuse University, called the campaign “fairly effective,” but expressed concern that the diversity of Red Cross initiatives in the videos “may end up confusing people.”

Naomi Levine, chairman and executive director of the George H. Heyman Jr. Center for Philanthropy and Fundraising at New York University, however, praised the campaign’s message.

Read the whole story: The New York Times