One of the things we discussed today in our #MRKT4201 IMC (marketing) class was ALLIES. How do we create them, where do they come from?

Perhaps my favourite tool for this is the SPECTRUM OF ALLIES model available through Beautiful Trouble 👉🏼 beautifultrouble.org/principle/shif…

I love their explanation of how this model can be used for activism 👇🏼

And their example drawn from the Civil Rights movement is on point 👇🏼

So my students, who are creating marketing campaigns under one of the #UNESCO #SDGs are wondering, "who should my audience be?" (a simple enough question but a challenging one to answer)

What the SPECTRUM model offers is a way to segment the audience and identify, what I like to call, "the low hanging fruit". These are likely going to be those who are "passive allies" and can be converted to "active allies" with some sort of "hook".

You see the passive allies are already well-informed and require little persuasion. They're the armchair activists who are "liking" and "sharing" but doing little beyond that. A "hook" can be an invitation to do more: engage, volunteer, donate, advocate, influence. Be involved.

So I'll leave it there for now and wait to see what they come up with. From what I've seen so far, their work is creative, thorough, and well-supported. I hope the SPECTRUM model gives them a new angle to consider.

And before I forget...a special thanks to @thatpsychprof who spoke to my class today about open licensing their work. Everyone learned a lot about #CreativeCommons licensing and all the options available to them. I'll be carrying this message forward!