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As part of my commitment to offer free ad space on wordpost.org in 2010, I recently interviewed Abby Wambaugh about Project 7, a socially-conscious, socially responsible, social business.
Project 7 exists to turn the seven deadly sins on their head—instead of falling to the sin of gluttony, they vow to “feed the hungry,” etc. But they aren’t built on a non-profit business model. Find out what’s going on at Project 7 in the interview and my and reaction below:
[If you can't see the video, click to visit]
What Project 7 Is, Does
The small, Dallas-based business sells cleverly designed bottled water, mints, and gum. A Blue Ocean by no means.
But since 2008 they’ve somehow managed to get their products distributed to Caribou Coffee outlets as well as a few Whole Foods locations. Not bad for less than two years and five people.
Their model, which gives money to seven nonprofits in seven critical areas of need, works like this (from Project 7’s about page):
You buy, we give. Purchase any Project 7 product and 50% of the profits are given back to the cause the product represents. You, our consumers, select the non-profits that will receive the funding. Once a year we hold a vote where our community selects from three finalists per cause, choosing the winning non-profits for the year.
Their motto: “Change the Score.” You can check out more about their model and their other services (like coordinating volunteers) on their Vimeo page and on their Twitter feed.
Why it works
What’s fascinating to me is that their main competitive advantage isn’t doesn’t completely fit within in the traditional product, price, promotion, place marketing mix. Their competitive advantage fits within the newest “p” of the mix (at least what Hank Wasiak says is the newest “p”)—people.
You are motivated to by Project 7 because you know your money is going to support people in need.
Moreover, the Project 7 turns over the choice of which nonprofits to fund to their network of people.
This strong emphasis on people and their networks means that social tools are a natural channel for many of Project 7’s marketing efforts. In fact, I’d argue that Project 7 is a true social business, at least as Stowe Boyd defines it:
A social business is an organization designed consciously around sociality and social tools, as a response to a changed world and the emergence of the social web, including social media, social networks, and a long list of other advances.
Amplification
To me, this model is more complex and interesting than a one-for-one Tom’s Shoes-esque project because it requires that people actively select which non-profits get funded.
This means that the Project 7 brand and marketing message is amplified not only *to* thousands of voters, but also *by* the finalist nonprofits who are in the running to get funding from Project 7.
With three finalists in 7 categories, every year Project 7 has 21 nonprofits telling their constituents (1) check out Project 7 and vote for us, and (2) buy more Project 7 stuff because it helps us out.
This is one of the most exciting business models I’ve seen.
For me, it scratches every itch—it satisfies my capitalist impulse, it supports non-profits who are trying to “change the score,” and it centers around social interaction using new social tools.
What do you think? Does this business model work for you?
While you’re pondering, don’t just sit there, check out Project 7. Change the Score.
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