the branding of live 8

07/05/2005 04:28:00 AM
While there were complaints from some quarters about the event; the presence of corporate sponsors, the dominance of ageing artists in the line-up and questions about it's long-term impact, in terms of sheer audience size and the level of participation, the effort looks like a success.

Much of this is due to the organizers thinking about the event from a brand perspective and doing certain things really well.

1. A clear objective- Raise public awareness and get the G8 to pay attention

2. Great name- Connecting the event to the G8 and the original event 20 years ago

3. Great identity- A logo that linked the event to the cause-Africa to music

4. Lots of clear messaging- they took a complex issue and made it understandable from an emotional perspective. The theme, "Make Poverty History" and the problem, every three seconds an African dies, were universally understood.

5. Give it away and millions will participate- Taking a lesson from the marketing of online software- organizers made the event free and in London got 250,000 to attend

6. Use of technology- Technology was everywhere- from video screens, to 100s of web logs, to 26 million people sending a text message,to a single being made available on 200 online stores within hours of the performance

7. Making the cause apolitical- many causes fail to grab attention because they place the blame on a political party. This cause blamed everyone and singled out no one particular party, It encouraged all leaders to do the right thing

One.org has to continue to communicate the success of their efforts to a public that's only too ready to turn cynical and turn off. This means making sure the issue doesn't leave the headlines.

While Live 8 may be over, for One.org, its branding effort has just begun.
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