Tip: Advertise Through Altruism

Phil Orford, the CEO of the Forum of Private Business, is doing something this week that’s worth mentioning on its own merit: hiking 84 miles in four days for the sake of a children’s charity.  But his endeavor also serves as a good reminder of how benevolent gestures can make for good advertising.

Although people have become quite skilled at ignoring normal marketing efforts, they still pay attention to humanitarian stuff.  If you doubt this fact, note how news programs frequently turn to feel-good stories even when important events are occurring, and how major corporations are often the sponsors of those segments.

So if you’d like to draw a bit of attention to your business and wouldn’t mind doing something positive, consider a charitable act.  The bigger, the better.

Which brings us back to Orford and his 84 miles in four days.  Your humble author once hiked 20 miles in about five hours.  Walking proved difficult the next day, however, so my hat’s off to him.

Orford’s hiking along Hadrian’s Wall to raise money for the Children’s Cancer and Leukemia Group.  You can follow him on Twitter, or even sponsor him via PayPal on the CCLG site.