Natasha Hill's diminutive frame belies a steely determination. What's more, at Cancer Research UK she is putting that drive to good use. The organisation's strapline, "Together we will beat cancer", is certainly an ambitious objective.
"Our motto is a bold statement," the director of supporter marketing admits. "It was a big step to say we will beat this complex disease, but I believe that we will. We won't necessarily be able to cure cancer, but one day people will die with it, rather than of it. Like diabetes, we will be able to control it."
Hill's genuine passion for such a noble cause is evident. But a tough economic climate, alongside May's earthquake in China and humanitarian crisis in Burma, can't make her job an easy one. "We haven't yet measured the effect of the crisis in Burma on donations," she explains. "But we found that after the 2004 tsunami, the public became less apathetic generally. A lot of charities found it was not the case that people were giving to one or the other cause."
However, following steady year-on-year revenue growth at Cancer Research UK, which was formed in 2002 by the merger of The Cancer Research 北京赛车pk10 and Imperial Cancer Research, donations this year have been disappointing, she admits. "Market conditions have had an impact, but the real challenge for fundraising is that there is an unfortunate push/pull situation," Hill says. "People don't necessarily go out looking for a charity to give to in the same way as they might for car insurance. You have to interrupt them, and we haven't found the silver bullet yet."
Plaudits and innovation
Against this negative background, Hill and her team have created and implemented award-winning marketing in recent months - netting the Grand Prix at Cannes for its 'Smoke is poison' campaign, and a quintet of gongs at the 北京赛车pk10 Direct Awards. But it's not all about notching up awards: one project Hill is particularly excited about is Cancer Research UK's aim to merge its five donor databases into a central resource. Deloitte was recently hired as a partner on the programme, which is due to finish in 2011. The database is more than a new technology platform: it will look at internal processes and affect the way teams operate, with all fundraising directors involved.
"Supporter relationship marketing is driven by our strategy of building deeper relationships, and the internal database infrastructure was preventing this," Hill says. "We have six million contacts but we can't see where the crossover is. We aren't getting the value out of our database that we could be. Being able to segment more effectively and to take a strategic view of all our marketing will add significant value. The contacts on our database are warmer than the general public - approaching the market cold is more costly."
Having joined the charity last September as its direct marketing director, Hill took on her current role last month - a move that is testament to the organisation's faith in her abilities. Her marketing experience in the not-for-profit sector is substantial. Having spent 12 years at WWAV Rapp Collins, latterly as group account director on the fundraising side, Hill claims that the move from poacher to gamekeeper was smoother than anticipated. "I had expected some negatives in the move from agency- to client-side," she admits. "I thought there might be less variety and creativity, but this is such a passionate organisation and I still work with creatives, albeit not as much."
Switching sectors
Artistic by nature, Hill - who has a degree in art and English - paints in her spare time. "I didn't want to go into purely creative work," she says. "Marketing appealed to me because I've got a commercial side. I'm also a good organiser and have good people skills, so the idea of account management appealed. What daunted me about creative work was the idea of having to come up with concepts in three minutes. I don't want the pressure of being creative within someone else's timeframe."
Hill "fell into" fundraising while at WWAV, after stints in the automotive and financial services sectors, and says the practice opened up "a whole new world". Working for agency client Great Ormond Street Hospital carried a particular resonance because her daughter had a heart problem. "Fundraising has a completely different terminology to financial services. I felt a close connection with it, and I was enthused," she says.
Heading up a department of almost 100 people was a "massive consideration" when taking on her new role, but Hill is keen to get to know her staff and remain approachable. Another challenge for Hill is the not-for-profit sector's relatively low spend on digital compared with the commercial sector because of charities' need to be extra vigilant on ROI. "We can't just throw money at problems," she says.
Digital marketing will have a growing importance for charities in this respect, she believes. "Don't think of digital in the same way as you would an offline channel. Think beyond simple banners and buttons." According to Thomson Intermedia figures, the charity's month-on-month internet spend rocketed from £19,227 in February 2007 to £62,857 in February 2008.
Meanwhile, Hill says she remains a firm believer in the "tried and tested" medium of direct marketing - despite Cancer Research UK reducing its DM spend by well over £2 million between 2006 and 2007. She is also keen on TV, where the charity has spent more than £2m since January.
Late last year, Cancer Research UK ended its relationship with Agency Republic and handed its digital advertising and media planning briefs to OgilvyOne and Mediacom. "We just weren't getting the results we wanted," Hill explains. "We needed some fresh thinking."
Hill says behavioural targeting is vital, and pay-per-click search has been the best performer for Cancer Research UK. "It's cost-effective," she says. "And although we're keen to use more rich media on the web, this comes at a price. We are less able to take risks, and have taken a low-cost, broad-brush approach with display advertising. It doesn't pay for us to be targeted on the web; we just need to buy cheap and have a presence.
"Most importantly, we can't stand still. It's tough out there," she adds. "But what better cause is there?"
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POWER POINTS
- Hill joined the charity last year as its head of direct marketing
- The charity is merging its five donor databases into a central resource
- Spend on DM is down, while online spend has rocketed
HILL ON ...
THE COMMUNICATIONS MIX
"Direct marketing is incredibly important to us. We use DM, press, television, door-drops, outdoor, advertorials and leaflets. Radio is also used for a few of our products, but mainly to lift response in other channels. We have been trialling applications on the popular social networking sites such as Bebo and Facebook. Our 'message wall' on the Race for Life website is popular as it builds on the emotion of the event."
INTEGRATING DIRECT AND DIGITAL
"Direct and digital shouldn't be looked at as discrete channels. Digital is a fantastic channel for direct marketers as it offers unprecedented opportunities to track consumer behaviour. Its depth in measurement is incredibly powerful in driving insight. But a common mistake is to think that digital should be approached in the same way as offline media, rather than exploiting the greater potential this interactive media group inherently holds."
DRTV
"Watson Phillips Norman designed our 'New dawn' advert, which was even more successful than the 'I can' ad five years ago. We had been cutting back spend on DRTV due to diminishing ROIs and the high investment involved. We took a back-to-basics approach with an ad that has strong direct marketing principles (90 seconds in length, strong calls to action and a simple, emotive case study). The plan is to invest further in this channel this year to try and increase our volume of new recruits. The channel delivers a type of donor we may not reach through other media."
MOBILE MARKETING TECHNIQUES
"Cancer Research UK has had limited experience of this. It has worked as a response mechanic in certain circumstances, but not across the board. I would say that fundraising isn't ahead of the curve on this, although more and more charities are using SMS as a way to gather prospect pools. The latest developments are taking place in other sectors such as the technology and music industries. It's certainly an emergent channel which gives great potential for marketers, both on a product purchase and brand experience platform. It's easier for 'pull' products than for 'push' ones."