The South Pole Flag

The South Pole Flag – A New Beginning

Monday, 1 September 2008

“Janek has an idea for some kind of viral marketing campaign” Simon said. This comment came about ten days ago as I was deep in the trenches, fighting to reach potential corporate sponsors.

“Sounds interesting...” I said. I meant it. I was up against the global economic slow-down and my corporate contacts who loved the idea, wanted to get involved and saw the opportunities for their businesses had a freeze on their spending decisions.  I knew roughly what viral marketing was, how it was changing advertising and marketing, but I didn't know how it would help us get to the South Pole. Neither did Janek and Simon. But, after so many months making so many pitches, it sounded different to the direct corporate approach I had been making so far.

The three of us met last Wednesday. “What’s the story Jan?” I said. The answer was pretty simple. “If you can’t get one big sponsor, then why not get lots of people who are excited about what you are doing to get involved. So, if you need €100,000 then you could get 100,000 people to pay €1 each or 10,000 to pay €10, or whatever...”

I got the concept instantly. In business you have to create demand. Create something that lots of people want and are happy to pay for and then work hard, get yourself out there and sell it to them. This was something I could do.

“What about a flag” Simon said. "After all, a flag is what people would expect you to plant at the South Pole." And so an avalanche of ideas came. This was great; this was a democratic expedition to the South Pole!

Over the next three months we have a chance to make this work and get ourselves to the start line.  We need 10,000 people on the virtual team. 10,000 faces on our South Pole Flag backing our bid to race to the South Pole - a fantastic common purpose. The idea was born and this week will become a reality: -

The South Pole Flag- Come to the South Pole for a tenner!

The meeting only lasted about an hour. But like all ideas that work, the detail came fast - the website name: www.southpoleflag.com, the price, and most importantly the 'why' for why we were doing it. All we have to do now is to sell the spaces.

I am so excited about this, because I hope it will put our funding problem within our control… If I have to pull a tire from Belfast to Dublin, or go around the houses getting faces for our flag, I can do that.

For weeks now it has felt that securing the finance was out of my control. I hate that. I have that feeling every day when I want to do simple things - browse a menu, stroll through a new city or catch the eye of a passing girl. The blindness has taken these things from me.

It started with an idea that Jan didn’t know much about, and I suppose I don’t yet know if it will work but I think we all have a chance to make it work. We can take control of the finances, away from the recession, the decision by committee, the tightening sponsorship budgets and the dreaded “misalignment with company policy”.

I think there are 10,000 people out there with €10 to spend…it is up to us to find them. Maybe we’ll have to make 10,000 sales, maybe 10 companies will buy 1,000 slots on the flag and give them away to staff and clients, maybe we’ll get the elusive big sponsor… watch this space….