Rethink Breast Cancer is Unbound at the Sponsorship Conference in Chicago

The IEG Sponsorship Conference in Chicago is THE conference on sponsorship marketing with attendees from all over the world.  This year was my 5^th time attending and speaking at the conference and I am always so honored to be asked to be a part of this very special conference.    The theme for 2010 was Unbound which refers to the many ways that sponsorship marketing has shifted in this new era of social and new media.  The old rules of events and sponsors is being turned on its head with things like sponsors creating events and consumers being able to spread messages without the use of traditional media (two of many other changes going on out there!).

I was especially honored this year when I was asked to be part of the keynote.  Past keynotes have included bigwigs from Coke, Pepsi, Virgin Mobile and some amazing sponsorship gurus from around the world.  I think it is such a testament to MJ, the Rethink team and our incredible partner agencies that I was asked to be part of this keynote because of all the creativity and hard-work that goes into thinking differently in our approach to education, support, events and working with sponsors to further our movement.  During my keynote I wanted to address all the fear and madness that I am feeling from organizations around the new and social media.  Everyone wants to jump in and play yet many are terrified about where and how to get started-I believe that the core values of staying true to yourself (as an organization) and being authentic will always stay the same and guide you in the right direction.

Below is the 3 minute keynote that I gave on this topic and I welcome everyone’s thoughts on this issue that will affect how organizations like Rethink Breast Cancer grow and thrive to do our great work with young women with breast cancer.

It struck me over these past few days that I was actually lucky that I had never been formally educated in marketing, business or sponsorship.  When we set out to create a new breed of breast cancer charity in Canada 10 years we didn’t know the rules of the game and I think that was a good thing.  We were unbound and borderless in our thinking and  because we had no money we were forced to rely on our instinct about how we were going to engage this new young audience and attract companies-and their dollars- to our movement.  It was then, and still remains now, about connecting in a meaningful and relevant way with an audience.

We are living in a moment of big change-and with change brings a lot of fear (how many of you have that someone in your organization screaming daily about “what are we doing about social media!!” maybe that person is you).  My message in these 3 minutes is about calming down and remembering that the more things change the more they stay the same.  We all want to have a strong engaged audience who listens and participates in what we are doing, saying, selling.  This audience-made up of people like you and me-want authenticity.  This word is thrown around a lot but I truly believe that knowing who you are and what your audience wants from you is the key to the kingdom.  10 years ago the breast cancer cause was all about pink ribbons, teddy bears, angel heart pins and church basement bingos.  We knew back then that young people cared about this cause and we just needed to find a way to make it relevant to them. I want to share with you a public service announcement we did 10 years ago amid a landscape of fear based public service campaigns ( remember 1 in 9 women will die of breast cancer). This was the world on not only the breast cancer cause but all cause related campaigns.

AT THIS POINT I SHOWED OUR  MAN BREASTS PUBLIC SERVICE CAMPAIGN

This single act [THE MAN BREASTS PSA] of thinking differently and treating our audience with respect for their intelligence-making them think about why they aren’t being breast aware not just scaring them into it-launched our organization.   Nationally people came out to join our movement and of course the sponsorship marketers and brands weren’t far behind them.  There was no social media to spread this message-but the message still got spread.  Relevant and engaging stories always will. All this was done with next to no money and an organization made up of two people-including myself.

As we move forward at Rethink Breast Cancer to grow our audience and our sponsors we are finding new territory like our own breast cancer film festival, Breast Fest and creating our own feature film.  This film project, done in conjunction with sponsorship funding, will be a new source of revenue not only for our organization but for our sponsors as well.

I encourage everyone to remember that thinking differently, creativity and authenticity will always be rewarded.  This is a good news story for everyone-especially the little guy who can fly by the seat of his pants!  So Stay Calm and Carry on-as they say.

What are your thoughts on how social and new media will impact organizations like Rethink Breast Cancer?  Is it a new world or just new tools?