Italia-Slovakia is one of the issue that is more and more discussed in these days, due to the match that will decide Italia’s future in the World Cup. Anyway, be warned, this post has nothing to do with vuvuzelas, waka-waka & co.
I know, the post name is misleading. Nevertheless, “the end justifies the means”, as you will understand in reading it.
I agreed to host a Slovakian guy, our "football enemy" of the moment, on a very short advance, because I loved the email that he wrote me to ask. From that little hint I should have known that the man knew how to sell himself. In fact, I had to deal with a smart-looking guy, who is a creative and works for advertising agencies. At first, I was wary with him.
Let me explain, it’s not that I don’t trust advertisement people or sellers. It’s that I don’t trust myself with them. In the past I let them sell me a lot of stuff that I didn’t need at all, just by convincing me that I needed it, and they let me with a brand new encyclopaedia and a perturbing feeling of just being fooled. So now I’m a bit suspicious.
I told him that, adding that I worked for a marketing agency in Frankfurt-am-Main, and found it quite unappealing to me. He was curious, and he translated everything I said to his friend, who happen not to speak English very much. So I went on. I said that I didn’t like the job for two reason.
Firstly, I spent half my life studying Arts, a subject related mainly with the masterpieces, the best creations that mankind managed to produce in the centuries, whereas the marketing deals with the average man, the average Joe, as they call him in the States. To me, people working in that marketing agency were totally committed to appeal to someone like him, and to me it was like trying to be attractive to Homer Simpson, let’s say. You should use a Duff Beer better than a Shakespeare’s line, I think.
He replied that I was mistaken because it takes a lot of skill to "feel" the client, and to know how to appeal to him, and a lot of creativity, so a creative director must be well aware of psychology and a bunch of other disciplines as well. That was a really good point indeed, and he scored his first goal. One nil for him.
My second argument was that in working for a marketing agency I couldn't decide on which product develop the marketing strategies, so I was likely to end in selling something that I intimately disliked, like alcoholic drinks or unhealthy food, or expensive cars, and not feel to be useful for the society.
To this argument, he counteracted with an even greater point. He said that in the past he was the creative director in a marketing company called Brossmann Consulting which was founded by the co-founder of Wiktor Leo Burnett. Through its own foundation, he supports the unique charity system called "Good Angel" (Dobrý anjel), for which my friend designed the most successful Slovak campaign. Here you can see the logo:
This organization helps out to families with children where somebody is suffering from cancer. To those families delivers Dobry Anjel every month small financial subsides from strangers - Good angels, who know names, addresses and diagnoses of suffering people they are helping.
In fact, donor knows exactly to whom he/she is helping. Each donor, Good Angel, has own "angel ID" and password, which allows him/her to access their personal account on www.dobryanjel.sk. Here the donor has the possibility to monitor and control total amount of contributions, see names, addresses and personal stories of those, to whom the system Dobry Anjel distributes his/her money.
Also, contributions are delivered to target families within the last cent. The money from already 72.000 existing Good Angels are collecting through the month and re-distributed among the families (in same amounts) at the beginning of next month. All operative costs necessary for running the system of Dobry Anjel are paid from private accounts of its founders.
In fact, donor knows exactly to whom he/she is helping. Each donor, Good Angel, has own "angel ID" and password, which allows him/her to access their personal account on www.dobryanjel.sk. Here the donor has the possibility to monitor and control total amount of contributions, see names, addresses and personal stories of those, to whom the system Dobry Anjel distributes his/her money.
Also, contributions are delivered to target families within the last cent. The money from already 72.000 existing Good Angels are collecting through the month and re-distributed among the families (in same amounts) at the beginning of next month. All operative costs necessary for running the system of Dobry Anjel are paid from private accounts of its founders.
The system is unique in the world, and my friend with his creative work has contributed to make it even more widespread in Slovakia.
Two nil for my Slovak friend. As I suspected in the first place, he was able to make me change my mind. And I’m happy about it.
PS
You can see my friend's Dobry Anjel campaign here:
No comments:
Post a Comment