Here Is a Video Designed for 2 People
A friend of mine works with Beyond Pink and the National Breast Cancer Coalition. Her name is Sarah, and she is 100% in when she takes on an issue, but she surprised me with a marketing ploy few would execute.
Sarah was participating in a federal lobby day. In the past, they have approached Sen. Joni Ernst more than 15 times to co-sponsor a bill called the Metastatic Breast Cancer Access to Care Act. This is not a political blog but a blog for some brilliant marketing.
The ask had been mostly the same in the past, but this time, the request to co-sponsor included a video made for just two people: Ernst and Sen. Charles Grassley. After watching the video, created by Sarah and her husband, Chris, Ernst signed on after so many ask. No word yet from Grassley, but there is still hope and a great video. This is the best example of targeted marketing I’ve ever seen. We should all take notice, from fundraising campaigns to Fortune 500. This is personalization at its best.
Mark Mathis
Mark wrote his first direct-mail fundraising letter in 1981 for the University of Iowa Center for Advancement. The effort raised a few million dollars in undiscovered wills and legacy gifts. From that day forward Mark discovered a love of the big idea that moves the needle.
After 12 years at KWWL, Mark became a business owner as a co-founder of ME&V — rebranded as AMPERAGE in 2015. After 25 years of leading creative teams in video production, graphic design, PR, writing and web development, Mark transitioned out of ownership in 2021. Today he serves in an employee role as special projects consultant.
He is creatively ambidextrous — son of an artist and engineer — and famous for distilling complex ideas down to a few words and a few visuals. Mark is a writer. When he found that many nonprofits struggled with complex branding puzzles, he wrote the book, “NonProfit-NonMarketing .” He also wrote a novel called “Reenactment.”
Mark is an active blogger OneMinuteMarketer® with nearly 1,000 readers each week on LinkedIn, Facebook, Twitter. One of his most popular YouTube videos is on “How to Look Good on Zoom.”
One of Mark’s fondest business memories was being named to INC 500 two times and attending the INC 500 conference with other winners. Mark is considered by some a Civil War expert (and that explains his novel). Mark also served as an adjunct professor in the business and in the communications departments at Wartburg College.
Mark is a graduate of the University of Iowa and is currently vice president of the University of Iowa Journalism and Mass Communications Advisory Board.
Mark is married to state Sen. Liz Mathis, and the two love to travel, even when it means being trapped by a volcano in the Czech Republic for three weeks.