I got most of my dinner tonight at Whole Foods.
And believe it or not, I got a great bottle of Italian white wine for $3.99. I also grabbed a super bouquet of flowers for $4.99.
Whole Foods has gotten Whole Smarter and is quickly changing their image to something beyond Whole Paycheck.
I also contributed a dollar tonight to feeding the hungry in Africa.
Turns out that some kids from Kenya crafted the package the wine got bagged in tonight. That bag is a collectible piece of art.
And with my dollar, Whole Foods chipped in with 50% matching funds.
That bottle of wine is very relaxing tonight. I worked hard on a set of three clients…all working on getting consumers to donate some cold hard cash to their direct and sponsored programs and causes.
Some of the market buzz factories are beginning to make note of the emergence of Generation G… G as in Generosity and not G as in Greed.
Generation G skews younger... but there are also many conventional older audience groups signing up to belong every day.
Those marketing buzz factories are also highlighting the R.A.K. as what ignites Generation G to give even more and fuels their interest in ongoing support.
You know R.A.K. It was a feature this Christmas as choral groups came to malls from New York to Main Street breaking into the Alleluia chorus.
R.A.K. is short for Random Acts of Kindness.
Members of Generation G have been left cold by old-school business priorities and formalities. They Facebook and Twitter their friends and seek similar connections with other persona in their offline, everyday life.
And that includes non-profit causes, organizations and brands.
People want and expect interactions to be genuine, interactive and enjoyable.
The age-old direct mailers asking for the annual donation are about as out of date as picking up a phone and calling a person’s landline in hopes that they too call a friend to rally behind your call.
Gone are the days of guilt. Gone are the days of social recognition with a name on a plaque or invite.
The explosion in both the volume and reach of the new paradigm of “connections” creates huge opportunities for brands that create interesting, meaningful, funny, uplifting moments that people love to share.
R.A.K. can now touch thousands, if not tens of thousands of people, rather than just the original recipient.
When done well, R.A.K. will bring unexpected glee to consumers and truly enhance a brand's and their cause's reputation.
A few tips:
Be genuine. Any non-committed act will be unmasked in today's transparent marketplace. And the backlash won’t be random.
Be real. R.A.K. from 'human' brands are welcomed because they are just that, acts of kindness, rather than purely self-serving corporate marketing stunts.
Make it shareable. Give someone a reason to share their experience with their friends and family… even better if they have something to share, whether it be an extra ticket, or an online video.
Breed evangelists. Encourage consumers to engage in their own R.A.K. And then (publicly) reward them for it
Remember who is being emotional stroked. This isn’t about you or your brand, it’s about the recipient.
Look at what Whole Foods got me to do tonight.
Not only did I give a dollar tonight, but I scripted a whole Blog-logue about what the Whole Foods brand did.
I will be posting this online and then sending it to my network of friends on Facebook.
And I will probably donate another dollar the next time I shop at Whole Foods.
Their brand gets it.
There’s a whole lot more that need to wake up to where the marketplace is in 2011.
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