PÚCA NEWS

Mobile a star performer for charity

The Multiple Sclerosis Society of Ireland’s popular Christmas ‘Reach for a Star’ appeal to help people with MS for the first time incorporated a mobile marketing element to help the charity extend its reach to a younger audience. The campaign was run across various types of media including radio, outdoor, internet and print in the lead-up to Christmas.

The appeal was launched in early December by Rose of Tralee Kathryn Feeney (pictured). To support the appeal, donors could either buy a Christmas ‘star’ for €2 in over 1,000 outlets throughout Ireland or text ‘Star’ to 57500 to receive an MS Star greeting they could use as a screensaver or text to a friend as a Christmas greeting.

The text cost users €2.50 with proceeds going to MS Ireland. Users received a WAP link, which allowed them to download the star wallpaper to their phone and also enter in their friend’s mobile phone number and send the star to their friend. Their friend then received a star image for their phone.

"The mobile marketing campaign had two objectives: raise money and awareness of MS Ireland and recruit young new supporters, with the aim of converting them into long-term supporters of the charity. While some schoolchildren fundraise for the charity, our age profile tends to be a bit older and we saw mobile as a good way of increasing our profile among adults in their late teens and early 20s," explained Paul Collins, fundraising manager of MS Ireland.

Although the final outcome of the campaign has yet to be calculated, by Christmas Eve several hundred texts had been sent and Collins said he was hopeful that the charity would reach its target of 1,000 text messages.

Although it is the first time MS Ireland had incorporated mobile into its marketing strategy it would not be the last, said Collins. "I see mobile as having a very important role to play in the marketing mix and it’s certainly something we’re going to develop further. Almost everyone has a mobile now and they also tend to hold on to the same number, which wasn’t always the case in the past. This makes it easier to build a long-term relationship with our supporters."

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