GENERAL OVERVIEW OF THE MSF ORGANIZATION
It is in 1971 that a group of doctors and journalists created a french medical humanitarian organization called Medecins Sans Frontières. Borned in Paris, MSF aimed at bringing medical assistance to populations for who life and health is in danger especially due to war, but also due to epidemic problems or natural disasters. MSF is mostly active in Africa, but also in Asia, Europe and Middle East. Independant from political, military and religion powers, MSF focuses on countries that have poor medical services after evaluating the need of the populations. Of course, in order to intervain in such cases, the association needs to raise founds. Just to know that more than 90% of its financement is made by private donors, This is at this point that we can go further with their marketing strategy and see how Medecins Sans Frontières organization tries to attract more an more funds to finance their interventions.
WHAT ARE THE MSF’s COMMUNICATION TOOL ONLINE ?
- MSF online communication tools
Facebook
Twitter
Email
Daylimotion
Instagram
Newsletter
-> MSF social media data in comparison with La Croix Rouge, one of its «COMPETITOR» (French data taken the 17/11/2015 at 21h13)
| Medecins Sans Frontières | La Croix Rouge | |
| Facebook (likes) | 329 275 | 462 540 |
| Twitter (subscribers) | 59 100 | 300 000 |
| Instagram (subscribers) | 2 183 | 2 175 |
| Daylimotion – Youtube (subscribers) | 128 | 1 777 |
We can see that in comparison with La Croix Rouge, MSF has less followers for the social medias and has to improve it. But do not forget that La Croix Rouge is not only active on medical support but also on food support and other support that can justifies its better social presence.
- French MSF Website
On the first website first page we can se that MSF well opitimizes its information ; clear and concise website with the box on the right in which people are directly called for donation and/or for being part of the French MSF community. At the bottom, social medias are well visible.
HOW DOES MSF France COMMUNICATE ?
- Celebrity marketing endorsment
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S3LaxMfBSgE
One of the best productive communication tool for NPO, is using artists to widespread a strong message about the organization actions. In, this youtube video, we can see different artists, French ones, talking about Ebola. For an organization, the most important thing is not to « use » celebrities to promote the NPO actions and therefore to incite people for donation. The most important thing is to choose the best celebrities, that are known for having humanitarian values, and that are really appreciate by a specific population. Here for example, we have a french video in which we can see artists like Jenifer, known for its several and diversified implications in humanitarian actions. In this video, MSF is doing quite well by choosing its celebrities communicators. We have singers and non singers. Singers representing different music style. We have Young, middle age and grey age people, from differents origins. Different celebrities, for different targets. It is the best way to make all people united and involved into a common goal, a common action.
- Storytelling
Do you know what is a storytelling ?
Stoytelling is the art of telling story. It is a narrative tool that consists in communicating through stories to get the attention of the consumer and create an emotional connection with the storyteller.
This is exactly what MSF is using in its Blog. Above you can see a preview of the French MSF blog. On the top it is written « Discover MSF on-field actions through this blog, pictures and our volunteers’ stories ». As you can see, through this blog, MSF communicate through storytelling. That’s nice to tell what you are doing using only action verbs, or pictures, but sometimes it is irrelevant. People need stories, to get emotionaly connected with what the organization is doing. It is the same thing as reading a book. Once you start reading, you keep going until the end because you feel something special that maybe you cannot describe. You are indirectly involved and you indirectly feel like you are part of the story. And often you identify yourself as one of the characters of that story.
In this example (on the preview) the volunteer wrote the story of a baby girl infected by the measles and how her parents, was struggling to cure their baby-poo. Difficult to say in one word what they are living. And since we are not on-field, we need to experience what MSF volunteers and also populations are facing.
- Sharing volunteers’daily life
Thanks to pictures and videos about volunteers’ daily life, MSF gives to the donors a global look on what their money are used for, because people need to be reassured and it is on the interest of the organization to create a relationship based on trust to keep them engaged.
WEEKNESSES AND RECOMMENDATIONS
- Website design
Even if we disintguish clearly the most important information, the website design remains very “brut” and simpl. It seems consistent with the brand image and with what really happens inside those populations. However MSF France should also transmit through its website the notion of hope and happiness which the volunteers at the same time transmit and gather from those populations affected by precariousness and health issues.
On the French website, their should be more content on the first page, but well organized, with colors, pictures and eye-catching informations.
- No consistency between national MSF websites
When we compare the French website (on the left) and the American one (on the right), we can see a real difference in design and content. This is a weeknesse since French people do not see in the same way the consistency of the website and it does not attract them in the same war as the American MSF website (Is it the reason why with have more american donors than Frenc ones?)
- Not so much direct call to actions and campaigns
MSF France doesn’t ask directly people to donate. It is more about indirectly make them sensitive to their stories. This is a real good point but if MSF France wants to raise more money, it has to ask directly people to donate thanks to online challenges.
An example of call to action on facebook could be as follow : « there are 200 babies in Katanga affected by the measles disease. We need 200 vaccines to help them to be cured. 1 euro a person would be a big humanitarian gesture. Support us.» (call to action combined with a daily rundown to make it chanllenging).
To conclude, MSF is part of the tenth most popular humanitarian NPO, and is one of the most important in terms of actions. Through its actions around the world, MSF really needs to raise money in order to build infrastructures, to buy medical products and devices to carry out successfully its interventions, all the more since their infrastructures are sometimes destroyed by civil wars in some countries.
In order to raise money, MSF France really needs to build a community that is awared of what is hapening in the world and to incite them to be part of a wonderful humanitarian story. MSF France has the tools to successfully reach its goal, but it still needs to improve its online presence and call to action.
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