PRODUCT RED - In the black?
Over at PSFK, Piers Fawkes points out that Bono’s PRODUCT RED 
products have only brought in $11.3 million in contributions. The total marketing budget wasn’t available, but most of us ROI-focused marketers are left wondering… was it worth it? Surely the spend from partners was more than that.
Also, it also points out that the brand messaging didn’t raise awareness of the plight of Africans with regards to AIDS, tuberculosis and malaria, which, besides financial/donation gain, was the focus of the campaign. 
While I’m very glad to see something this large happen, especially with all the involvement of brands like Apple, Motorola and American Express… I can’t help but thing that the brand and messaging, while “cool” hardly was clear and focused enough.
I was interested in purchasing a RED iPod nano for my wife recently (Valentine’s Day gift). At both Best Buy and CompUSA, the staff said that iPods “didn’t come in red” and never heard of the “project RED/AIDS in Africa-thing.” After finding it at the local Apple store, the packaging was very subtle, (yes, I know ALL of Apple’s packaging is subtle! 8-) and there was only the “Product RED” name on the top of it. Inside, there was a business-card sized red card with only the text:
As a (PRODUCT) REDTM partner, Apple will give a portion of your iPod nano purchase to the Global Fund to fight AIDS in Africa. Learn more at www.JOINRED.com.
The JOINRED.com link doesn’t even talk about the issues, it just has a sparse page with the 6 RED branded products. The “Manifesto” has an overview, but only the “Global Fund” link has any info on the issues… A single page with the issues. Even the information design of the animation with drill down data was not as compelling as it could be.
Perhaps they didn’t want to go overboard on the scary/sad messages, but it still seems rather underwhelming. They really aren’t educating anyone. They aren’t even playing the “ace card” that charities have… emotional and guilt triggers.
I think their online marketing efforts could have been a lot more effective. Let’s hope they’ll improve it. What do you think?
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