Develop ideas for marketing materials that people can use to locally promote FMS

[MyfanwyNixon]

I've been looking at what other organisations do. Tl;dr:

• Offer downloadable materials such as posters and information packs (we currently have some rather dated posters and fliers);
• Send out materials such as posters and stickers on request, sometimes charging a small amount to cover postage, and sometimes just hinting that it'd be nice to have a donation to cover costs. Usually there's a limit on how many you can order unless you can prove you're from an organisation that will put them to good use;
• Sell promotional goodies in an online shop.

The main impediment to all of these is that they require a degree of enthusiasm and proactiveness from users. We're a bit unusual as a charity in that we don't really fundraise or try to change people's minds; we just want them to use the site. There's no real concept of 'belonging' to FixMyStreet in that way, and it's unlikely (IMO) that anyone but our closest friends and partners would want to wear a FMS t-shirt.

Having said that, we do receive a small number of emails from users to say they would like to help promote us. Maybe those are the people we're looking at here.

In any case I think we can drive this more by taking the following steps:

• Have a prominent link on the site labelled something enticing (everyone clicks on 'Shop' - we could label it 'Shop'; or if not, something like 'FixMyStreet goodies').
• Also link to it from the end of the user journey, although obviously this conflicts with my recommendations for social media button placement, and current cross-linking of sites, so we'd need to think about that carefully.
• On that page, offer a few items (see below for details) which can be downloaded for free or sent by post (we'd need to decide whether the potential benefit of the word being spread was worth us covering the postage). This also involves someone being willing to store materials, manage ordering of materials when stocks are low, and do a regular run to the post office.

Suggested offerings: Downloads -

1. 'FixMyStreet activist pack' Free download with advice on how to write an article about FMS for your local paper, start a Facebook page on local problems, run a 'pothole walk' or other such ideas; downloadable poster and leaflet. 1a Activist pack for schools Downloadable lesson plans and worksheets, sponsored pothole spotting instructions, etc... potentially we could also send a stack of stickers for kids. 1b Activist pack for local community groups or civic societies Factsheet for their newsletter; graphic for a FMS advert in their newsletter; leaflet download.

2.Free poster downloads With encouragement to stick them in your front window or ask to put them up in your local library.

3.Dog poo flags - For the LOLs/potential to go viral? As per http://www.leicestermercury.co.uk/Couple-flag-horrendous-dog-mess-problem/story-20882885-detail/story.html but FMS branded.

Then actual concrete goodies: 4.Car/window stickers with snappy messages like:

• Potholes? Flytipping? Dog fouling? Report local problems with fixmystreet.com
• Improve your local community with fixmystreet.com

5.Tote bags- As I say, I can't see people wearing a FMS t-shirt all day long, but they might well carry an 'I fixed my street with FixMyStreet.com' bag with pride.

6.Badges - Just saying 'FixMyStreet'.

We should also give a good bunch of each of these to all mySociety employees, who could do a bit of handing out locally; and take badges, stickers and leaflets to our events (data breakfasts and pub meets) to give to attendees.

[MyfanwyNixon]

Question for @abimysoc: Would we have to change our status/do anything complicated to be able to sell things online?

[abibroom]

I'm not even going to consider that question until you've got a page set up with a load of free downloadable stuff on it and monitored how much interest there is.

[garethrees]

Monmouth does an interesting thing where they have plaques with (sigh) QR codes that bring up the wiki page about the particular building/attraction.

Wonder if we could do something similar like attach a little sign/flag to street signs where you can scan it with the app (EDIT: or enter a short url) to pre-fill some form data and/or show you current/historical reports.

I have no idea if this is a good idea.

[MyfanwyNixon]

@abimysoc Hooray, I'll count that as an endorsement for free downloadable stuff then, and get cracking on that :)

[MyfanwyNixon]

@garethrees Wow! So, one of my abandoned ideas was an 'I reported this on FMS' sticker, which is obviously a bad idea because a)if it doesn't get fixed, that's negative publicity and b) it counts as us flyposting, effectively.

This is much more intriguing though - "see what's been reported here" would be good. I'm not against QR codes where they are used sensibly and in a way that actually works. But this looks well pricey. Maybe we could sell it as an option on FMS for Councils!

[garethrees]

But this looks well pricey.

I was thinking less lovely stone plaque and more little plastic thing zip tied to the leg of one of these.

Maybe we could sell it as an option on FMS for Councils!

Now that's an idea!

[MyfanwyNixon]

If we go for the free downloads first, we could also include a little box on the page where people could suggest things they'd actually like to buy.

[MyfanwyNixon]

I've started to write copy for downloadable materials and collate them all here: https://docs.google.com/a/mysociety.org/spreadsheets/d/1qc7pHb7zrfCNOJY6Yn0V6rAJOMcrEttOg09AmV5v0g0/edit#gid=0. When I've finished this process I'll add the necessary bits to the design backlog list. There's currently one piece that could also do with dev help - see that spreadsheet for details.

[MyfanwyNixon]

Copy written, designers briefed.

[zarino]

Some ideas from a crazy coffee-fuelled hangout with @wrightmartin:

• Gigantic black cardboard rectangles, to censor graffiti. With a tiny little "This graffiti censored by FixMyStreet" or something at the bottom. 5 sizes, from Large to Extra Extra Extra Extra Extra Large.
• Hats for pets. Or some sort of pet accessories. So cuuuute.

[paullenz]

HATS FOR PETS!

On 14 November 2014 16:00, Zarino Zappia notifications@github.com wrote:

Some ideas from a crazy coffee-fuelled hangout with @wrightmartin https://github.com/wrightmartin:

• Gigantic black cardboard rectangles, to censor graffiti. With a tiny little "This graffiti censored by FixMyStreet" or something at the bottom. 5 sizes, from Large to Extra Extra Extra Extra Extra Large.
• Hats for pets. Or some sort of pet accessories. So cuuuute.

— Reply to this email directly or view it on GitHub https://github.com/mysociety/fixmystreet/issues/726#issuecomment-63085339 .

[MyfanwyNixon]

Hats for pets? I'm definitely putting my 'FixMyTrousers' patches back on the table then.

[MyfanwyNixon]

[paullenz]

Hats for Pets is genius - people would Facetweet the pictures in Instatumblr or whatever you young people do

On 14 November 2014 16:01, MyfanwyNixon notifications@github.com wrote:

Hats for pets? I'm definitely putting my 'FixMyTrousers' patches back on the table then.

— Reply to this email directly or view it on GitHub https://github.com/mysociety/fixmystreet/issues/726#issuecomment-63085634 .

[MyfanwyNixon]

"My mummy picks up my poops - so we're not on FixMyStreet"

[wrightmartin]

Popular YouTube channels get rewards at certain milestones, maybe we could do the same for prolific reporters? https://www.youtube.com/yt/creators/en-GB/rewards-details.html

[MyfanwyNixon]

Oooh careful there though Martin, it's a fine line between prolific and vexatious...