How Barnardo’s are making direct mail work

This morning I am wearing a thin pink bracelet around my wrist and as it taps against the keyboard and my other bracelet I’m reminded what it means.

It arrived in the post with a letter from Barnardo’s yesterday and it’s the first piece of charity mail I’ve read and remembered in years.

Lots of charities send out small items with their pleas for donations but I’ve never seen one before that has a connection to the cause.  Pens, post it pads, book marks – just incentives to make you open the envelope.  However this bracelet is a symbol of worth – the letter talks about a 15 year old called Rebecca who ran away to escape abuse at home.  She fell into the hands of another abuser who initially showered her with gifts, like cheap jewellery.  The bracelet is a reminder that children like Rebecca are worth more than the few pence that this bracelet cost to make.

So what’s different about the Barnado’s letter to so many others that come through our mailboxes each day?  Why am I going to donate £3 a month to help people like Rebecca, whereas I haven’t rushed to set up a standing order for other equally as worthy causes in the past?

It’s because this appeal stood out – it’s different and it really means something.  As well as making a donation you’re encouraged to send a handwritten note back in a pre-paid envelope which will be placed in a survival kit and sent out to a child in need of help and support.

The campaign is also well-timed, with a message on the reverse of the envelope urging you to reply before a certain date to ensure that your help reaches those who need it most in time for Christmas.  Maybe it’s  because I’m a mother and the thought of a child being scared and alone this winter upsets me.  Maybe it’s because I’m a woman and a bracelet quickly caught my eye and made me read on.

So, charity direct mail campaigns can work in my eyes; it’s just a matter of making that connection and joining the dots – the Barnado’s homepage has a video of the current TV ad which, on watching, you’ll remember seeing.

If you want to help you can donate to Barnado’s online right now.

 

Image courtesy of Barnardo’s website.

More Facebook friends = bigger brain

According to new research, there are potential links between the number of friends you have on Facebook and the size of your brain.  This has raised questions as to whether the internet is changing our brains and whether an increase of social interaction online could increase the amount of grey matter an individual has in their noggin.

**Rushes off to re-friend everyone I’ve lost touch with over the past 20 years**

These new findings from Royal Society B: Biological Sciences are poles apart from other studies and articles that suggest the blame for our inability to focus or concentrate for any period of time lies with Twitter and Facebook.  We’ve become accustomed to reading short statuses and tweets and are therefore unable to take in a whole newspaper article for example.

And what about recent stories that the lines between online gaming and real life are now so blurred for some people that they have been known to swipe mid-air to load a weapon on the way to work or think in the style of their heroes?  No word of a lie, it’s happening.

There’s no doubt in my 212-friend-sized-mind that the internet; and specifically social media are changing our brains.  The question is, will it be for the better?  I know it has made many of us more open about our personal lives which may cause offence to some but may also open up new channels of support.  On a business level it takes networking to a whole new extreme and presents many great new opportunities that we never would have known about before – and for sure makes us better at our jobs – if not a little distracted around 5.20pm.

Are you someone with hundreds of friends and connections online?  Do you have lots of real world friends too?  And most importantly, are you in Mensa as well?!

Image: Perpetualplum Flickr Creative Commons

From a dog’s dinner to dog for dinner?

If you’ve read recent news stories about Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall’s latest claims you’re probably firmly seated in one of two camps already – dog is man’s best friend, not something to be served in a pie with mash and veg; or, let’s embrace new trends – wonder what it tastes like.

This is of course in relation to good old Hugh’s claims that eating dog meat, in principle, is no different to eating pork. Read up here courtesy of the Daily Mail.  Unless of course you have a puppy nuzzling your feet.

Personally, if I fell into a freezing lake and happened to own a dog that was accompanying me at the time of such a horrendous occurence, I would hope that my trusty mate would jump in and drag me back to safety.  Or at least raise the alarm.  Have I watched too much Lassie?  My point is, a pig would not do this, surely.  Even if you trained it.

We’re conditioned as a nation to know that dogs are pets – they live with us – many people share their beds with their canine friends.  Pigs, bar the slightly ridiculous trend for micro pigs, are not pets.  They are bred for their meat.  Can you imagine driving past fields of puppy farms?  People would be poaching them and selling them in small festive boxes around this time of year.  One bad thing only leads to another.

Maybe we eat pigs and not puppies because pork tastes so much better?  Maybe puppies are just cuter?  Maybe Hugh just needs to plug a new book or DVD in time for Christmas?  After all, he doesn’t object to high-welfare organic puppy farms, but wouldn’t eat puppy meat unless he was on the point of starvation.  And he has gone vegetarian as part of his latest TV series and vegetarian cookbook….

Some of your views on Twitter…

@eightiesdisco The best use of a dog is for guarding stuff or as a companion, not as food.

@peejaybe all comes down to what is ‘acceptable’, most folk in UK wouldn’t eat a Guinea Pig but in Peru they are widely eaten

@rscHQ  should we expect new cookbook#rivercottage puppy?

 

And finally an intersting blog post here from @MB27_

I do wonder though, what would puppy meat be called?

 

Image courtesy of 23am Flickr Creative Commons