"We too must master the rules of the game".
Nonprofit marketer Lorenz Spinas on the communicative power of morality
Nonprofit advertiser Lorenz Spinas on the communicative power of moralityLeading the way in advertising for nonprofit organizations (NPOs) are the English, says Lorenz Spinas*. Their sense of humor sometimes allows for self-deprecating advertising looks. In Switzerland, too, Spinas is observing a departure from the stuffy educational work of NPOs in the spirit of the seventies.Lorenz Spinas, do you feel more comfortable in your skin today than when you were still advertising for profit-oriented companies?
Lorenz Spinas: Yes, definitely. And not because I feel like a better person, but because political and social things have always interested me more than the product world. Now I can finally deal on the job with the topics that attract me. In addition, commercial advertising is often about staging artificial worlds. In nonprofit advertising, on the other hand, authenticity is called for, and that just suits me personally better.
It sounds like a certain sense of mission is not necessarily part of the nonprofit advertiser's basic equipment.
Spinas: We see ourselves as professional communicators of ideal content that is precisely defined by the client. Even though we generally support the statements of our clients, we do not act as whisperers, but as mere service providers.
Their job is therefore ultimately to make the product character of political content recognizable and capable of gaining majority support.
Spinas: Something like that. It's true that even the most charitable association ultimately has to get its message across to women and men in a competitive opinion market. More and more smaller NPOs are now realizing that without know-how and a little courage to take communicative risks, even the most noble and necessary causes will not be heard. The idealistic enthusiasm of the seventies and eighties, when it was all about raising awareness, simply no longer generates attention. The self-image of environmental and human rights organizations is also different today. Back then, people were more activists and belonged to a movement; now, many of them see themselves as professional employees who provide services to society in a very matter-of-fact way. Our work reflects this change.
On the occasion of the declaration of Bern campaign against "sexy lingerie from Burma" one has
Your agency has been accused of sexist showmanship. Are you trying to beat conventional advertising with its own resources?
Spinas: It's not about defeating them, but about standing up to companies that misbehave socially or ecologically with a fraction of their advertising budget. As with the barbed wire bra, it can happen that you put your foot in your mouth with certain people. But I find that less of a problem than failing to achieve anything because of the noble restraint. The vast majority of responses to the ad were positive, and the media echoed as far away as England.
The question remains as to how lasting the effect of striking eye-catchers is. Do you want to shock or sensitize with such provocations?
Spinas: One does not exclude the other, on the contrary. Even political or so-
cial messages need the attention of the audience. And here, they are in direct competition with the flashy purchase requests of the economy. These are the rules of the game. Lamenting won't help; we have to accept them and master them at least as well as the conventional agencies. Apart from that, provocation is not always appropriate or necessary. Because of their serious background, political messages have more power than product advertising. It is important to exploit this power, and to do so with a wink of the eye rather than with a raised forefinger.
In other words, good NPO advertising should also be fun and not just make you feel bad. Which campaign do you consider particularly successful in this respect?
Spinas: The Pro Infirmis campaign for the acceptance of physically handicapped people is certainly a role model. The subjects are striking without somehow exploiting the otherness shown. More importantly, however, the sensitively staged disabled people come across as fun-loving and not morally sour.
Which country is currently setting the international benchmark in the nonprofit sector?
Spinas: The avant-garde here, as in the for-profit world, is clearly England. The main reason for this, apart from the legendary British sense of humor, is the incredible density of nonprofit organizations on the island. This immense competitive pressure has resulted in a professionalization of NPO communication. In addition, donations play a far more important role in society there than they do here.
What's more, British advertisers are more playful about the left-wing moral code known as political correctness than their beer-serious German-speaking colleagues.
Spinas: That's right. A good indicator of this difference in mentality is Greenpeace advertising. Compared to Germany, where sober facts are still used to educate the public in a serious, but fun-hostile way, the calls for donations or boycotts by the British rainbow campaigners seem downright frivolous, lifestylish and occasionally even self-deprecating. In terms of communication, the Swiss Greenpeace office set out for England in the nineties and is probably one of the pacemakers for Swiss NPO advertising today. Interview: Oliver Classen
*Lorenz Spinas (41), is co-owner of Spinas Gemperle, a campaign communications and fundraising agency founded in Zurich in 1999. Before that, the trained economist was a copywriter/concept developer at GGK Basel and then marketing manager at Greenpeace Switzerland for two years.
Lorenz Spinas: Yes, definitely. And not because I feel like a better person, but because political and social things have always interested me more than the product world. Now I can finally deal on the job with the topics that attract me. In addition, commercial advertising is often about staging artificial worlds. In nonprofit advertising, on the other hand, authenticity is called for, and that just suits me personally better.
It sounds like a certain sense of mission is not necessarily part of the nonprofit advertiser's basic equipment.
Spinas: We see ourselves as professional communicators of ideal content that is precisely defined by the client. Even though we generally support the statements of our clients, we do not act as whisperers, but as mere service providers.
Their job is therefore ultimately to make the product character of political content recognizable and capable of gaining majority support.
Spinas: Something like that. It's true that even the most charitable association ultimately has to get its message across to women and men in a competitive opinion market. More and more smaller NPOs are now realizing that without know-how and a little courage to take communicative risks, even the most noble and necessary causes will not be heard. The idealistic enthusiasm of the seventies and eighties, when it was all about raising awareness, simply no longer generates attention. The self-image of environmental and human rights organizations is also different today. Back then, people were more activists and belonged to a movement; now, many of them see themselves as professional employees who provide services to society in a very matter-of-fact way. Our work reflects this change.
On the occasion of the declaration of Bern campaign against "sexy lingerie from Burma" one has
Your agency has been accused of sexist showmanship. Are you trying to beat conventional advertising with its own resources?
Spinas: It's not about defeating them, but about standing up to companies that misbehave socially or ecologically with a fraction of their advertising budget. As with the barbed wire bra, it can happen that you put your foot in your mouth with certain people. But I find that less of a problem than failing to achieve anything because of the noble restraint. The vast majority of responses to the ad were positive, and the media echoed as far away as England.
The question remains as to how lasting the effect of striking eye-catchers is. Do you want to shock or sensitize with such provocations?
Spinas: One does not exclude the other, on the contrary. Even political or so-
cial messages need the attention of the audience. And here, they are in direct competition with the flashy purchase requests of the economy. These are the rules of the game. Lamenting won't help; we have to accept them and master them at least as well as the conventional agencies. Apart from that, provocation is not always appropriate or necessary. Because of their serious background, political messages have more power than product advertising. It is important to exploit this power, and to do so with a wink of the eye rather than with a raised forefinger.
In other words, good NPO advertising should also be fun and not just make you feel bad. Which campaign do you consider particularly successful in this respect?
Spinas: The Pro Infirmis campaign for the acceptance of physically handicapped people is certainly a role model. The subjects are striking without somehow exploiting the otherness shown. More importantly, however, the sensitively staged disabled people come across as fun-loving and not morally sour.
Which country is currently setting the international benchmark in the nonprofit sector?
Spinas: The avant-garde here, as in the for-profit world, is clearly England. The main reason for this, apart from the legendary British sense of humor, is the incredible density of nonprofit organizations on the island. This immense competitive pressure has resulted in a professionalization of NPO communication. In addition, donations play a far more important role in society there than they do here.
What's more, British advertisers are more playful about the left-wing moral code known as political correctness than their beer-serious German-speaking colleagues.
Spinas: That's right. A good indicator of this difference in mentality is Greenpeace advertising. Compared to Germany, where sober facts are still used to educate the public in a serious, but fun-hostile way, the calls for donations or boycotts by the British rainbow campaigners seem downright frivolous, lifestylish and occasionally even self-deprecating. In terms of communication, the Swiss Greenpeace office set out for England in the nineties and is probably one of the pacemakers for Swiss NPO advertising today. Interview: Oliver Classen
*Lorenz Spinas (41), is co-owner of Spinas Gemperle, a campaign communications and fundraising agency founded in Zurich in 1999. Before that, the trained economist was a copywriter/concept developer at GGK Basel and then marketing manager at Greenpeace Switzerland for two years.
