Business Audience Marketing

In a recent interview done with Harvard Business Publishing, Peter Guber, Chairman and CEO of Mandalay Entertainment Group, spoke of the need for businesses to address their customers and clients as “audiences” – people that are not necessarily there to be sold to, but who are there to hear and engage with the “stories” that an organization has to say. In essence, he believes that marketers are really “storytellers,” and that the more authentic a story is, the more likely a person is to engage with it, embrace it, and share it with others.

Because engaging the right audiences is such a core part of Bizo’s message, this interview made me stop and think of the organizations I know that are already doing a great job at this. One of them is The Guardsmen, a Bay Area, all-volunteer organization that specializes in helping at-risk youth with outdoor education and scholarship support programs.

The Guardsmen is an example of an organization that has been telling its stories since 1947 through the numerous events it hosts throughout the year to raise money for its programs. For example, its “Tree Lot” sale during the holiday season has become somewhat legendary in the Bay Area. Over the years, The Guardsmen has done a fantastic job of educating the public about the group’s fund-raising mission, resulting in outstanding participation and strong donations year after year for all of its events. In some sense, each of its events, from the Tree Lot to its upcoming San Francisco Giants Opening Day Event, has become a living, breathing story for the organization, encouraging active participation from donors and the community, and successfully raising awareness for its causes.

As The Guardsmen continues to succeed through donations and the work of its volunteers, it’s apparent that its stories are working and that audiences are indeed listening. Bizo is honored to be a sponsor of The Guardsmen’s San Francisco Giants Opening Day Event at AT&T Park on March 31^st and invite you to join us and support The Guardsmen if you can.