Congratulations to Instict for instigating a socially beneficial initiative in the way that advertising budgets can be utilised and hope that their efforts are recognised in this competition
What an incredible concept! This is the first time I've seen a social enterprise working at the interface of infrastructure/public goods and advertising - very exciting. It seems like such a natural fit between business objectives and public needs!
I had a few questions about the initiative... first, I'd love to hear more about your engagement with government. What types of government partnerships have you established or are you seeking out?
And second, is your model's financing largely dependent upon ad budgets? Or are there any 'backup funds' if ad budgets dip during a certain time period? I'd be interested to hear more about the financing model.
We are engaged with government bodies in different ways depending on the product. For the tricycle product we engage ministries and local government representatives into our stakeholders involvement process as we need to get support for them to introduce the system to the communities and run our quite unusual transport vehicles.
For the lampposts, we are working with the municipality of Accra to determine the positioning of the poles and for the agreement on the advertising concessions.
Our model depends fully on advertising budget with a "fill rate" % at which our model is sustainable even if the budget dip and we do not reach 100% fill rate.
I hope this helps in understanding better the way we work. If you see any ways we could cooperate with your organisation, let me know.
Hi Magali, I am thrilled about your model. I was reading the entry and I felt "this idea can be replicated almost anywhere". Are you already in contact with other organizations or social entreprenuers doing a similiar work? are you connected with Ashoka?
cheers
Gaston
Thanks for your comments. Indeed, the model is scalable and we are looking forward to be able to replicate it so other communities can benefit.
In fact, our goal is to advocate and promote the concept of "socially intelligent marketing" as a upcoming communication strategies for corporations to dedicate up to 20% of their marketing budget to advertise on "socially intelligent" platforms. (you can find more on that on our website www.sociallyintelligentmarketing.com)
I am (since pretty recently) in touch with Ashoka in Africa. The SA office made an intro to the person in charge of Ghana and I am expecting her reaction to be able to apply to the fellowship. However, they have a focus one agric so I am not sure I will fit in.
I am also trying to get together with some other social entrepreneurs working on similar models. I proposed to organise a meeting with Charles Maisle, Shane Immelman (lapdesk) and Trevor Field (playpumps) through Charles.
The concept and the company has a lot of potential to create massive impact, especially when combined with the cooperation of other entrepreneurs in the same field. Right now, we are focusing on getting the necessary financing to run the Ghana operations and bring them to a sustainable level.
I'll be looking forward to link up with you if you have more ideas on how to help us move things forward.
The main challenge is access to funds. Traditional investors are very skeptical of social business models. They fail to see how a business can be successful with a strategy serving a social impact. Social Investors are still rare and the amount of social entrepreneurs competing for funds is growing quicker than the investment base.
The second challenge is to secure clients. Social products or services still cary an image of a once-off purchase. A "gesture" the buyer does to feel good rather than a habit of buying "ethical products by ethical enterprises". This is true for corporate clients as well as end consumers.
The challenge that social enterprises have to overcome is to prove that they can be profitable at the same time and doing good and that their products and services are as good as any others.
I feel that inspiring success stories such as the Body Shop, Lush or Ben & Jerry are not sufficiently used as a case study of what social enterprises can achieve.
Comentarios
Congratulations to Instict for instigating a socially beneficial initiative in the way that advertising budgets can be utilised and hope that their efforts are recognised in this competition
Hi Magali,
What an incredible concept! This is the first time I've seen a social enterprise working at the interface of infrastructure/public goods and advertising - very exciting. It seems like such a natural fit between business objectives and public needs!
I had a few questions about the initiative... first, I'd love to hear more about your engagement with government. What types of government partnerships have you established or are you seeking out?
And second, is your model's financing largely dependent upon ad budgets? Or are there any 'backup funds' if ad budgets dip during a certain time period? I'd be interested to hear more about the financing model.
Looking forward to hearing more!
- Grant
Dear Grant,
Thank you for your interest and your questions.
We are engaged with government bodies in different ways depending on the product. For the tricycle product we engage ministries and local government representatives into our stakeholders involvement process as we need to get support for them to introduce the system to the communities and run our quite unusual transport vehicles.
For the lampposts, we are working with the municipality of Accra to determine the positioning of the poles and for the agreement on the advertising concessions.
Our model depends fully on advertising budget with a "fill rate" % at which our model is sustainable even if the budget dip and we do not reach 100% fill rate.
I hope this helps in understanding better the way we work. If you see any ways we could cooperate with your organisation, let me know.
Kind regards,
Magali
Hi Magali, I am thrilled about your model. I was reading the entry and I felt "this idea can be replicated almost anywhere". Are you already in contact with other organizations or social entreprenuers doing a similiar work? are you connected with Ashoka?
cheers
Gaston
Dear Gaston,
Thanks for your comments. Indeed, the model is scalable and we are looking forward to be able to replicate it so other communities can benefit.
In fact, our goal is to advocate and promote the concept of "socially intelligent marketing" as a upcoming communication strategies for corporations to dedicate up to 20% of their marketing budget to advertise on "socially intelligent" platforms. (you can find more on that on our website www.sociallyintelligentmarketing.com)
I am (since pretty recently) in touch with Ashoka in Africa. The SA office made an intro to the person in charge of Ghana and I am expecting her reaction to be able to apply to the fellowship. However, they have a focus one agric so I am not sure I will fit in.
I am also trying to get together with some other social entrepreneurs working on similar models. I proposed to organise a meeting with Charles Maisle, Shane Immelman (lapdesk) and Trevor Field (playpumps) through Charles.
The concept and the company has a lot of potential to create massive impact, especially when combined with the cooperation of other entrepreneurs in the same field. Right now, we are focusing on getting the necessary financing to run the Ghana operations and bring them to a sustainable level.
I'll be looking forward to link up with you if you have more ideas on how to help us move things forward.
Kind regards,
Magali
Dear Magali, according to your experience what are the main barriers or challenges so that social business models can thrive?
cheers
Gaston
Dear Gaston,
Thank you for this important question.
The main challenge is access to funds. Traditional investors are very skeptical of social business models. They fail to see how a business can be successful with a strategy serving a social impact. Social Investors are still rare and the amount of social entrepreneurs competing for funds is growing quicker than the investment base.
The second challenge is to secure clients. Social products or services still cary an image of a once-off purchase. A "gesture" the buyer does to feel good rather than a habit of buying "ethical products by ethical enterprises". This is true for corporate clients as well as end consumers.
The challenge that social enterprises have to overcome is to prove that they can be profitable at the same time and doing good and that their products and services are as good as any others.
I feel that inspiring success stories such as the Body Shop, Lush or Ben & Jerry are not sufficiently used as a case study of what social enterprises can achieve.
Magali
Excellent, thanks a lot!!!!!
cheers
Gaston
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