Why Lua Cooper is working with the Octavia Foundation

We caught up with Lua, marketing manager at Active International, to get her thoughts on supporting the Octavia Foundation.

What inspired you to participate in marketing for good?
I’ve been in my current role for two years, but often do consultancy projects for other start-ups. Often charities don’t get access to the kind of people they really need to help drive them forward, normally due to budget constraints. Unless you are Greenpeace, Oxfam or Amnesty – who are sexy enough to have marketers throwing themselves at them to get involved – the people that really need the help and guidance often miss out.
 
Marketing for Good makes that link, and connects the right people where they can offer the most help.

Why did you choose the Octavia Foundation?
I’ve been aware of the Octavia Foundation for a number of years now; they had a shop in Kensington near my old apartment and worked heavily with the local community so I was keen to lend a hand when I saw that they were looking for some advice on their marketing activities.
 
What challenges were they facing?
Like most charities that run a number of charity shops, they face similar issues including encouraging donations, attracting customers and educating those customers on what projects they actually run outside of the store. While a small contingent of customers may be ‘brand advocates’ or at least familiar, the bulk of people that walk through the door often have little to no understanding of what Octavia is trying to achieve
 
How were you able to help them address those challenges?
I did a bit of research and together with my own knowledge of retail, their market and the charitable sector I helped them come up with some new disruptive ideas to create a bit of buzz and to drive more interest in their work.

A great example of a charity doing this is Housing Works in New York who fight to end the crisis of AIDS and homelessness in the city. They have very popular cafes, auctions on their gem finds, and shopping in their stores is a cult NYC experience. That is the kind of buzz charities shops in the UK need to create, and that is the theme that I put to the Octavia Foundation.
 
How have you benefited from the experience?
It’s really easy as a marketer to get stuck in your comfort zone. Most marketers specialise in one area, but without dipping your toes outside of this – it is easy to lose your edge. Working with Octavia gave me a completely different set of problems to work with but I was able to help them because I was looking at it from a different angle. Working on projects outside of my day job keeps my mind ticking over and keeps me sharp.
 
What would you say to other marketers considering getting involved?
Take a project that resonates with you but look at it as a problem-solving exercise. Charities already have people working for them who know their business, but having a fresh perspective from the outside can be invaluable to them. We are all time-poor in this world, so being busy isn’t an excuse. Think of working on an outside project as something you need to keep your edge – but in this case, it also does some good. We need it as much as they do.

If you would like to find out more and see how you get involved, please get in touch with Sarah Woodley. And you can browse more marketing for good content in our Clubhouse.