When I heard that this year’s Blog Action Day would be dedicated to eliminating global poverty my brain went into complete overdrive. I was trying to analyse and understand what I could do to get people to take action and I’m not talking about the standard kind of “let’s just talk about it” action. I mean the kind of action that can make a real difference – put food on plates, educate children and get vital medication to HIV positive individuals in Africa.

Like a typical eMarketer I decided to (over) analyse various campaigns, charities, stats, numbers, click through rates and conversions. I even considered starting a spreadsheet, (<--- geeky) but then I had an ‘aha’ moment. One gets people to take action by understanding what motivates them {big smile}. You need to communicate based on the personality of the person you want to reach.

I have always been a huge Bono fan. I see him as “the” global spokes person/ambassador on all issues relating to poverty (and his music is pretty cool too). I thought it would be fitting to use different online campaigns by his organisation, one.org to appeal to 3 (out of many) personality types.

Shock action personality:

I can’t say I’m a huge fan of the in your face-shock the crap out of you-make you cry type of marketing but let’s face it - some people need to see the reality of a situation before they are inspired to take action.
So if you need to see it like it is – this one is for you.
The African Dream - Ending Extreme Poverty:



Stats action personality:

If numbers and stats are your thing – then this type of campaign should (hopefully) get you off of your seat, into action or at the very least whipping out your credit card.
Celebrate, Accelerate:



Inspirational action personality:

If the “Martin Luther King” speech does it for you and you’re the type of person who needs to be motivated and inspired into taking action – then you are going to enjoy this.
Bono’s live message for the Make Poverty History campaign:



Whatever your personality – I’m really hoping that at least one of the video’s will hit that soft spot and inspire you to take action (every eMarketer’s goal :)) against poverty.

One last thing to think about: “Overcoming poverty is not a gesture of charity. It is an act of justice. It is the protection of a fundamental human right, the right to dignity and a decent life.” Nelson Mandela, 2005 Make Poverty History