Enhancing Your Image with Ads about Community Service

Just as people are more inclined to purchase from companies they get to know better on social media and relate to, they are more likely to view companies positively that demonstrate their volunteer and charity programs in advertising. That is, if they do it effectively.

There are three secrets to highlighting good works and doing it well:

1. Create a strong headline.
2. Feature images of people.
3. Make ads about giving back (rather than touting product features and other sales pitches).

For example, this ad for Service King lures in the viewer with the headline: "Looking Out for You . . . on the Road and in the Community." It ties in well with the company's business, which is performing collision repairs. This effectively turns around a common distrust of car repair services. I'd be more inclined to trust a service that invests in causes I care about.

This Macy's ad also uses the headline effectively. It's clever to tie in fashion with giving and they certainly have an impressive list of programs they support. The use of people images is even better here because you see faces and emotions are evoked: family, cooperation and the satisfaction of doing something for others.

In this ING ad, you really notice all of the photos of people, especially children. There is no discussion of what the company does. Instead, the organization is identified by the logo at the bottom and the large lion symbol repeated in a tint in the background. This company gets it right that an ad about community service is not the place to talk about the benefits of your services, make special offers like price reductions or list out new products. As good as the Macy's ad is about using images, this one is even more powerful. Why? Photos of kids tend to be better at drawing attention!