Oxfam Case Study

1. In about 100 words, explain the advantages and disadvantages that Oxfam would have experienced by using banner ads to achieve the objectives for this campaign.

Banner Ads are great when designed to target a specific group of people, however (for lack of a better example) banner ads are essentially like sharks designed to seek out their prey, which can be a double-edged sword. Considering the subject matter of Oxfams cause, I do think banner ads could be seen as a little too abrasive in advertising. Their main objective in this campaign is to acquire donations, so despite the aggressiveness of banner ads, one very important advantage to a banner ad is that it shows a product and/or service that a certain group of people are already interested in. The disadvantages are that some people may not like their activity to be tracked, and they are afraid of receiving spam from other advertisers.

2. In about 300 words, explain the advantages and disadvantages of acquiring other email addresses for a campaign of this nature.

A very important advantage in acquiring more email addresses for the campaign is obviously visibility; the more people you notify about your cause, the greater the chances you have at more donations. The downside is some people may not like being emailed about a cause they may not be interested in, or even if it does strike their interest, most people will disregard the email as spam. The decision Oxfam made to continue contacting the people that are on their mailing list is highly effective and safe because they know the interest of the people they are contacting. Oxfam knows at some point in time, if they are persistent, people will at least watch the video, absorb the information which can lead to more donations. Advantages of acquiring other email addresses: You are reaching more people, which could possibly lead to more clicks and donations. Purchasing more, or additional email addresses from fellow charities or similar causes may be successful because you’re still reaching your target market and/or people that may be interested in Oxfams cause. Mass e-mailing can allow a spammer to send out thousands of e-mails a minute! You can assume that at least ten out of every thousand people e-mailed are going to give some type of response Disadvantages of acquiring other email addresses: People will instantly be turned off when they are contacted by something/someone they are unfamiliar with, some will disregard the email because of a lack of interest or uncertainty in the cause, people will assume the email is spam.

3. Advantages and Disadvantages of Oxfam choosing to use video and audio elements rather than using plain-text emails makes for effective marketing strategy. (100 words)

Advantages:
* Saves Money –Video email marketing is inexpensive, and good videos can be general and sent to thousands of web browsers. * Improve Your Credibility – Especially with a business like Oxfam that is dedicating it’s time to a cause, when reaching out to people, video and audio is highly effective and you can get to your point and convey your purpose much easier. When people can see and hear you talking about the benefits of your products and services, they are much more likely to trust you. * Keeps Interest- I believe video and audio marketing are more likely to keep the interest of a person much longer than if you were to send a plain text email. Disadvantage:

* Viewing Problems-Website downtime, lags in website or video loading and browser complications can reduce the number of times consumers see online advertisements and how well they see them.

4. Oxfam used only its existing e-mail list for this campaign; it did not purchase (or borrow from other charitable organizations) any additional e-mail addresses. Evaluate this decision. In about 300 words explain the advantages and disadvantages of acquiring other e-mail addresses for a campaign of this nature.

Perhaps the email sequences that Oxfam used was conducive with the amount of responses and clicks they received. I am sure Oxfam monitored the activity of each person they sent their emails to and based on what they did, Oxfam wanted to continue to follow up delivering specific content they may be interested in. The sequence emails may have been a reflection of the amount of donations they were getting; responses were beginning to slip therefore, Oxfam had to continuously email information out to help spark more activity on their website.

Delivering the information in different formats is effective because everyone digests and responds to information differently. Perhaps they believe they could reach everyone if they opted to utilize more than one marketing strategy.

Oxfam choosing to use html, video then audio reflects how adequate and successful their marketing strategy is- only because the last attempt drove home their initial plan of bringing in more donations.

If you want to be successful in marketing, especially a business like Oxfam, you must be adaptable. I believe their emailing strategy shows the adaptability of Oxfam which is why despite their initial lack of email responses, they were consistent which in turn lead to a successful outcome. Oxfam wanted to not only show consistency, but continuously remind their supporters that they still have a chance to donate to the cause. Sometimes, people put off their duties and obligations and even interests and need to be reminded of them. Constantly using different types of sequences allow for Oxfam to drive home the point, remind the customers, and give them a chance to act now. Creating a sense of urgency seemed to be Oxfam’s purpose. And, most importantly, because of their cause and what they represent, visuals, html and audio allows them to reach their supporters and keep their interest in multiple ways. 5. A manager at Oxfam might be tempted to conclude that the sequence of formats used in the email messages was related to the increase in donations over the six weeks of the campaign. In about 100 words, present at least two reasons why this would be an incorrect
conclusion.

If there was an increase in donations I do not believe that Oxfam would need to use particular formats for their email messages. I believe because Oxfam had a decrease in donations is the main reason why they opted to use that particular sequence of formats in their emails. Secondly, I believe Oxfam may not have reached their target of responses they expected with their video marketing, so they made the decision to up their marketing strategy with a sequence of different types of emails.