Being de Rothschilds he has some sponsors, but also important in environmental and other sponsor supporter causes is building public awareness. de Rothschild made a mistake in not differentiating his project to secure a unique position in the mind of his global sponsors. [For more on Differentiation ask me 650. 867.3700.]As Colapinto relates, de Rothschild encountered a glitch in his plan – competition. A project not the same, but close enough. de Rothschild is building Plastiki, a bottle boat, sailboat made entirely of recyclable plastic products, using thousands of pressurized clear plastic water bottles as hull and flotation.
The competition is Junk Raft, which is made of fishing net pontoons full of unpressurized bottlers supporting a discarded Cessna fuselage with a sail.
de Rothschild Differentiation/Sponsor Problem
The junk raft embarked from Long Beach, California, with a crew of two, its sendoff broadcast on local television. "That's the competitiveness of these green groups and adventurers," de Rothschild said bitterly. "Because we're competing for corporate sponsors, they nudge in front of you."
He was discovering an unsavory truth about environmental activism – the kind that depends on sponsors and publicity to achieve its aims. The jockeying over money, attention, and ideas taints even the most virtuous with vanity and self-promotion. To de Rothschild's irritation, for the past few days prospective sponsors had been calling asking to know how Plastiki differed from the junk raft." (The New Yorker © 2009 Condé Nast)
Lesson: We live in an age of narrative, this New Yorker content is a prime example. UTube is another example. Narrative is important to help donors feel rewarded. Awareness, education & publicity are marketing issue, about which I know something. Give me a call. - doug
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