CRITIQUE - Oxfam in search of a big creative idea

by Simon S Kershaw, marketingdirectmag.co.uk 19-Oct-09, 12:20

If ever there was a need for charities with a creative big idea, it is now. Has Oxfam, one of the world's most high profile and campaigning charities, met the challenge? Simon Kershaw gives his view.

Charity. Never the easiest gig in town. And as the issues get bigger and more complex, the harder it becomes for any charity's communications to stand out, engage with their audience and involve them in the cause. And that's all before a recession hits.

These obstacles demand an uncompromising, single-minded approach. Insight. A big idea. Surprisingly executed.

But apparently not for Oxfam. Its current advertising is textbook "How not to". I have nothing against type-only ads, long headlines, chunky copy and the direct response call to action. But the first requirement for any communication is an IDEA. The bigger the better.

A feeble pun is not an idea. Setting the headline and copy "on the piss" (a technical typographic term, gentle readers) is not an idea.

Oxfam poster: 'tonally, the ads feel lukewarm at least'

What is the campaign supposed to be about? I have no doubt that Oxfam's main constituency is aware that developing countries already suffer from the effects of climate change.

These communications add nothing to that knowledge. Nor do they present any kind of solution ... or steps toward one. Is this merely an exercise in hand-raising? Why exactly would I send this organisation a text? Then what?

Tonally, the ads feel lukewarm at best. True, the art direction makes a limp-wristed attempt at "edginess" - is this because Oxfam is squaring up to big bad business and globalisation? More disappointing, the copy reads as if no-one concerned has ever visited a community whose land is turning into a dustbowl before their very eyes. There is no outrage, no urgency.

In other words, if you guys don't seem to care, why should I bother?