Product Placement with BiddingForGood: A New Marketing Program Rapidly Scaling with Top Brands
Online Charity Auctions: New, Measureable Marketing Platform
Cambridge, Mass., August 5, 2009 —BiddingForGood (cMarket)/BiddingForGood, the leading online auction platform connecting charity auctions, affluent consumers, and marketers is reporting remarkable traction with a new online experiential marketing program that turns charity auctions into a measureable marketing platform that delivers customers, leads, and deep engagement awareness.
Just half way through the 2009 fiscal year the company, which booked $1.3 million in product placement advertising commitments in 2008, the program's first year, has already booked $4.9 million YTD and is tracking to $9 million in marketing commitments for 2009.
This new marketing program from BiddingForGood boasts some leading "A list" luxury brands including LVI/Thomas Cook Travel, DKNY Jeans, Reebok Outlets, Kimpton Hotels, and The Taj Hotels. More are expected in the coming months as the company is signing new brands on a weekly basis. BiddingForGood connects these brands to some of the leading charities and their donors in the U.S such as Muscular Dystrophy and the South Beach Food and Wine Festival. The company works with 41 of the top 100 charity rated brands in the U.S. as well as many prestigious private schools such as Phillips Andover Academy and Menlo School. The company's auction platform is a major player within the $16 billion charity auction market.
Items from these brands are selectively placed within charity auctions that raise money for local causes. The program generates a measureable ROI backed with hard metrics for the participating marketers, something traditional advertising vehicles have often not been able to offer.
"Because online charity auctions reach affluent consumers through their trusted causes just as they are making discretionary purchasing decisions, they are a highly measureable and performance based experiential marketing channel", says BiddingForGood (cMarket) CEO Jon Carson. The "experiential marketing" program allows hundreds of thousands of affluent consumers to experience a brand with an average person spending over 40 seconds on a microsite built with rich media to optimize the consumer's brand experience.
The BiddingForGood's product placement marketing program involves a commercial entity providing a sample offer of meaningful value to be placed into live online auctions, enabling the marketer to reach category specific, affluent donors just at the time their spending decisions are being made. The client receives detailed awareness and engagement reporting with an outreach program to winning and losing bidders, providing highly qualified lead and customer generation. "As more and more marketers see the measureable value that can be extracted from online charity auctions, we expect to see more and more brand names getting involved", says nationally recognized Four Seasons hotelier, Robin Brown who is on the company's board.
BiddingForGood's product placement program has been so successful that brands are not only renewing their agreements, but also expanding them at the same time. "All clients that call in and book their mini vacation are happy and have nothing but good things to say about BiddingForGood (cMarket) and our product that they purchased, says Reyna Anne Haseman, Director of Incentives at Premier Cancun Vacations. Because of the positive outcome and experience from BiddingForGood (cMarket)'s efforts, we have decided to donate another 200 certificates to our new Eco Luxury Resort in the Mayan Riviera. Haseman adds, "We see a bright future in our relationship with BiddingForGood (cMarket) for many years to come."
The company believes that three tectonic trends are re-shaping the advertising/promotion markets;
- Increased targeting efficiency/reduced waste; Pay only to reach target consumers who continue to have spending power in your category
- Performance based, guaranteed marketing ROI
- Reach consumers when they are making spend decisions (not twittering)
"We have had great success working with brands and look forward to our future relationships", said Mr. Carson. "We can help charities raise more funds while giving brands access to a performance based specialty marketing channel."
The BiddingForGood 2009 calendar has included multiple multi-million dollar agreements including a recent $1.5 million deal with LVI/Thomas Cook, as well as the addition of nationally recognized Four Seasons hotelier Robin Brown, principal at CWB Boylston, LLC, instrumental in the development of Mandarin Oriental - Boston, to the Board of Directors.
The company also launched its unique AIRS service, (Automated Item Request System) program that reduces friction associated with inbound item requests, and has successfully implemented it into nationally recognized restaurants and hotels.
The AIRS program has had a welcomed reception by those using the system. The program allows for donated item requests to be handled directly through a customized auction request website, with significantly reduced administrative resources, all while giving a professional experience to the item donor (often an influential member of the local community).
Sean Reardon, VP Marketing, Liberty Hotel, currently using the AIRS system says "Charity auction requests are one of the most inefficient parts of my job. I'm glad a system has come along to make this administrative headache go away."
About BiddingForGood
BiddingForGood is the leading online auction platform solely for organizations engaged in fundraising for nonprofit causes. With more than 8,000 customers, online auctions powered by BiddingForGood have generated over $75 million for non-profit organizations by allowing organizations to secure more items, more bidders and ultimately raise more money. The company also works with brand marketers through its unique product placement advertising program to enable them to reach affluent donors while they are spending in a trusted environment. You can experience our marketplace at www.BiddingForGood.com. BiddingForGood is headquartered in Cambridge, Mass.
