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AI Charity Effort Tests Sponsors’ PR Savvy; ExxonMobil Proves a Peach

Direct marketing firm SendTec examined the TV sponsors for Idol Gives Back, an event during which American Idol viewers were admonished to donate to charities.

Sponsors included ExxonMobil, Ford, Coca-Cola, AT&T, iTunes, Allstate and the M·A·C AIDS Fund. The study profiles how well ExxonMobil, iTunes, Ford and Coca-Cola maximized their public relations, writes MarketingVox.

ExxonMobil ran no spots during Idol Gives Back. Instead, it sponsored an in-show special on behalf of Malaria No More, which raised $9 million during the program.

Searches on Google yielded listings for MalariaNoMore.com on both paid and organic sections. The website referenced ExxonMobil.

A link to ExxonMobil also appeared on the American Idol website. Exxon’s homepage reiterated ExxonMobil’s charitable partnerships, as well as its partnership with American Idol for Idol Gives Back.

SendTec said these efforts enabled the brand to use the segment to maximize exposure to all its charity programs.

Ford ran commercials during Idol Gives Back. It also purchased visible display ads on AmericanIdol.com. A search engine query for Drive On, the catch phrase for its spots, yielded sponsored listings for the brand.

Ford did not otherwise incorporate references to its ties to Idol Gives Back. “Missing the chance to capitalize on this marketing opportunity, their participation in Idol Gives Back was not carried through any other initiatives online,” said SendTec.

While Coca-Cola has used TV ads to promote its contributions to higher education for students, it did not use its relationship with Idol Gives Back in ad messages during the show or on its site. Coca-Cola was dubbed “completely disconnected” in its marketing contribution to the segment.

iTunes is the premier provider of American Idol performance downloads. It donates a percentage of each Idol Gives Back performance download to certain charities.

Ads for its “Mac versus PC” campaign appeared during the show, but iTunes ties to Idol Gives Back was otherwise promoted solely by host Ryan Seacrest, who encouraged watchers to download performances on the iTunes service.

American Idol’s top 12 contestants, and links to performance downloads, appeared on the iTunes homepage without mention of its participation in Idol Gives Back.

“All major brand advertisers were off tune by not bidding on show related keywords such as American Idol, Idol Gives Back or donate now,” SendTec said. In terms of using a connection with the segment to leverage other good qualities, ExxonMobil was ruled an integrated messaging winner.

Beyond the four profiled sponsors, One.org and ABC News were observed to be the only brands that appeared in sponsored listings for Idol-oriented searches.