The Role of Brands and Branding for NGO’S
PhD Up-Date for INDIGO Day
June 7th 2011
Student: Karen Hand
Supervisor 1: Prof. Malcolm Maclachlan
Supervisor 2: Prof. Stuart Carr
Appraiser: Dr. Nicholas McDonald
Contents
• Background
– NGO’s in Brief
– Potential roles for Brands in NGO’s
• Research Question
– Overall
– Study 1
– (Subsequent Studies)
• Research Design – Study 1
– 3 Case Studies
– Triangulation of Data Sources
• Any input or questions?
NGO’s in Brief
• NGO’s have played a growing role in development since
World World II (Werker & Ahmed 2007)
• More than 20,000 NGO’s in development space
– (Union of International Organisations, 2005)
• Defined by the World Bank (Operative Directive 47) as
– private organizations “characterized primarily by humanitarian
or cooperative, rather than commercial, objectives… that
pursue activities to relieve suffering, promote the interests of
the poor, protect the environment, provide basic social
services, or undertake community development”
• Recent Critiques of NGO centre on ‘accountability’
– To Donors? (e.g DIFID 2011)
– To Recipients? (e.g Wallace, Bornstein & Chapman 2007)
– To ‘Shared Value’? (Porter 2011)
Potential Global ‘Donors’
E.G Donors of Food Aid (US $M)
© Copyright 2006 SSAI Group (University of Sheffield ) and Mark Newman (University of Michigan)
‘Potential’ Global Recipients
E.g : Living on US $10 to US $20 a Day
© Copyright 2006 SSAI Group (University of Sheffield ) and Mark Newman (University of Michigan)
Difficulty of Measuring NGO ‘success’
• Separation of ‘donor’ and ‘recipient’ as entities
• Separation of time/location of donation and time
/location or recipients
• ‘Weighting’ of different stakeholders – Global
Fund vs. children ‘at risk’ of hunger
• Deliberate absence of ‘profit-motive’ can allow
collective inefficiency or individual opportunism
The Role of Nonprofit Enterprise : Henry B. Hansmann, The Yale Law Journal,
Vol. 89, No. 5 (Apr., 1980), pp. 835-901
Accountability as ‘Shared Value’?
Can the ‘shared
value’ model be
applied to NGO
effectiveness?
‘Governments and NGOs often assume that trade-offs between
economic and social benefits are inevitable, exacerbating these
trade-offs through their approaches’. (Michael Porter , HBR, 2011, pg 11)
Potential Role of Brands for NGO’s?
• Self-focused
– To promote the NGO
agenda to donors and
secure funds
• Ritchie et al 1998
– To promote the NGO
‘values’ to itself and
outwards
• Stride, 2006
– To survive /grow versus
others
• Levine 2009
• System –focused
– To harness help outside
themselves
• McLeod Grant &
Crutchfield (2007)
– To help drive solutions
around ‘shared value’
• Porter 2011
– To help drive universal
values around ‘common
purpose’
• Lakoff 2008
• Crompton 2010
• Darnton & Kirk 2011
At the heart of these debates lies the tension between competition and
collaboration , between self-interest and common purpose
Research Question (s)
Overall – Are NGO’s representing the change they want
to see (in the world)?
Study 1 – How do NGO’s currently understand and apply
brands with their key stakeholders?
Subsequent Studies – Possibly lab-based experiments or
web-based simulations based on specific hypotheses
arising from Study 1
Study 1 - Design
• 3 Case Studies with NGO’s
• Proposed Sample: Concern, Oxfam and the International Red Cross
• Sample Rationale – brands with high public awareness in
domestic/international arena
• Proposed Theoretical Framework – Grounded Theory (Glaser &
Strauss, 1967)
• Proposed Methodology – ‘Triangulation’ of Data Sources within
three case studies
– Internal document/external comms review – sample list attached
– Internal Interviews (minimum 5 per NGO) – ‘snowball’ recruitment
– Internal Survey (minimum 30 respondents per NGO) – ‘snowball’
recruitment
Study 1 – Design
Internal Documents /External Comms Review
Internal Documents
/External Comms Review
International
Red Cross
Internal
Interviews
Internal Documents
/External Comms Review
Internal Survey
Concern
Internal
Interviews
Oxfam
Internal Survey
Internal
Interviews
Internal Survey
Concern- Homepage – Word Cloud
Retrieved May 2011 - khand
Oxfam - Homepage – Word Cloud
Retrieved May 2011 - khand
International Red Cross – Homepage –Word Cloud.
Retrieved May 2011 - khand
Prong 1. Request for Relevant NGO Literature
1
2
Key ‘Must-See’ documents to explain the essence of what this NGO is about and does – could
include missions, charters, historical books/papers and media archives, films, radio
broadcasts etc
Some key examples of programmes /activities with ‘typify’ this particular NGO and what
makes it different than others in either focus or approach.
1
3
4
5
Any documents or practices that refer to brands and branding within this NGO.
Any concrete examples of how the brand fits within this NGO’s objectives? How does the
brand and branding fit within this NGO’s programmes and activities? How does it fit within
this NGO’s people strategy and practices? (If it doesn’t – why doesn’t it?)
Some key examples of campaigns or communications which typify this NGO’s approach to key
stakeholders
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
6
(This could include in field, fundraising, advocacy, partnership, internal activities etc)
external –donor countries
external – recipient countries
external – donor bodies
external – other international organizations
external – other local organizations
internal – head office
internal – field offices
Other
If there is an organizational map/diagram of the NGO – where does the primary /secondary
responsibility for the brand lie?
1
- ideally draw on a copy of the organization map
Prong 2 – Internal Interviews - Schedule
• History of NGO – the journey to here
• ‘Typical’ behaviour (s) of this NGO (vs. others)
• How ‘brand’ fits /doesn’t fit with NGO goals?
– By stakeholder type: internal, external, systemic
• How ‘branding’ is used with different
stakeholders?
• What sums NGO’s up? Non-verbal photo sort
• What sums ‘brands’ up? Non verbal photo-sort
• What do NGO’s and brands have in common (if
anything)?
Prong 2 – Internal Interviews – Schedule contd.
• Possible conflicts with this NGO at present?
– E.g getting funds versus spending funds
– Serving agendas vs. setting agendas
– Competition vs. collaboration
• How this NGO is dealing with these conflicts?
• What role does brand have within these
conflicts?
• If you were trying to solve a social/global
problem tomorrow – would you start an NGO?
– What role, if any, would ‘brand’ play?
Prong 3. Internal Survey – Key Elements
• Length of Service in this NGO
• Role in this NGO
• Personal View on Key Factors for this NGO’s success (5-point)
–
–
–
–
–
–
–
–
–
–
Running effective programmes on the ground
Using scientific evidence to make programme decisions
Lobbying effectively to funding bodies
Building awareness of X with the general public in donor countries
Building awareness of X with the general public in recipient countries
Building awareness of the need for action in developing countries with
the general public in donor countries
Advocacy on specific X priority issues
Strong internal leadership
Good employee incentives
Other (write in)
• Personal View on each Other Stakeholders Views of this
NGO’s success (as above) -5 –point scale
Case Study Analysis – Framework – Yin (2000)
TYPE OF RIVAL
Description or Examples
Craft Rivals
1. The Null Hypothesis
Observation is due to ‘chance’
2. Threats to Validity
E.G history, maturation, instumentation, regression etc
3. Investigator Bias
‘Experimenter effect’, reactivity in field research
Real-Life Rivals
4. Direct Rival
(Practice or Policy)
An intervention other than ‘the intervention’ (‘the butler did it’)
5. Commingled Rival
(Practice or Policy)
Other interventions contributed to the results (‘wasn’t only me’)
6. Implementation Rival
The process vs. the ‘intervention’ (‘did we do it right?’ )
7. Rival Theory
A theory different /better than the previous theory (‘elementary
dear Watson’ )
8. Super Rival
A force bigger than us, including us’ (it’s bigger than both of us’ )
9. Societal Rival
Social trends , not a specific intervention (‘the times they are a
changin’)
Proposed Next Steps
• Research Design /Details currently with Ethics
Committee in Trinity School of Psychology
– Feedback due end June 2011
• Presentation at INDIGO Day
– June 7th 2011
• Contact Relevant NGO’s and Proceed with
Case Studies
– July – September 2011
Many Thanks
Any input or questions?
The Role of Brands and Branding for NGO’S
PhD Up-Date for INDIGO Day
June 7th 2011
Student: Karen Hand
Supervisor 1: Prof. Malcolm Maclachlan
Supervisor 2 : Prof. Stuart Carr.
Appraiser : Dr. Nicholas McDonald