Blue Dot aims to revolutionise the way people and
businesses engage with charities by providing a new social currency
of, you guessed it, 'bluedots'. You earn 'bluedots' by sharing
non-profit organisations on Facebook, with your friends or by
making a donation, then can exchange your dots for
rewards.
0-5 seconds: Sum your business up in a
sentence
Blue Dot is the new digital currency used to reward people who
do good things for their favourite charities - sharing on social
media, volunteering and donating to any one of 100k non-profits
globally.
5-10 seconds: What's the business model?
It's free for charities to start using the service to
incentivise and reward their donors, fundraisers and volunteers.
Paid-for, premium packages are also available for charities.
For businesses, Blue Dots can be bought to 'amplify' the good
actions their employees and customers are already doing, increasing
ROI on CSR and marketing spend. Blue Dots can also form the
cornerstone of innovative cause-related marketing campaigns, on
which we also advise and provide agency services.
10-15 seconds: Who are your competitors?
We don't have any close competitors, although there are loyalty
schemes out there that do some similar things in different
sectors.
15-20 seconds: What's your USP?
We provide exclusive celebrity rewards such as sold-out Coldplay
tickets or a signed England shirt to incentivise people to support
good causes. Any charity can benefit from promoting our rewards to
incentivise new and existing supporters.
20-25 seconds: How have you funded it so
far?
We've got a number of private investors from the fields of
social enterprise, media and entertainment.
25-30 seconds: What were you doing
before?
I was previously a Director at Comic Relief and then 1 Goal, the
social legacy of the World Cup, where I raised hundreds of millions
for good causes. I have also successfully built and sold two
award-winning commercial marketing agencies.
30-35 seconds: Where did the idea come
from?
After raising £482m for good causes with Comic Relief and 1
Goal, I read that shoppers that year had spent £870m shopping in
Westfield shopping centre in London. I wanted to harness the power
of big brands and celebrities to enable every charity to motivate
more people to do good, every day of the year.
35-40 seconds: What's the smartest thing you've done
so far?
Our recent promotion with BBC Children in Need helped them raise
a record £26m for charity, it's a great credential for us and I got
to film exclusive backstage performances with Coldplay, JLS, One
Direction and many of the biggest artists in the world (you can see
these on our site if you make a donation).
40-45 seconds: What's the stupidest?
I forgot to take my autograph book with me to the BBC Children
in Need gig!
45-50 seconds: If your business was a biscuit, what
would it be?
It's got to be a Jammy Dodger - the jam in the centre is good
reward, just like Blue Dots!
50-55 seconds: Which idea are you a bit jealous
of?
Klout (the 'Standard for influence') is a great concept. We are
aiming to become the 'Klout for good' in the future.
55-60 seconds: Where are you going to be in 12
months' time?
We'll be working with the most forward-thinking charities to
help them engage new and existing supporters and we'll be helping
innovative brands to market themselves to the growing masses of
socially-aware consumers.
We'll also be a much bigger, recognised brand - so people will
know what it