The wording on the cup reads:

WE HAVE YOU
TO THANK
Because of your loyalty and support,
we are able to give millions of dollars to
local and national charities each year.

Let’s consider the message that the cup conveys:

Wawa values our patronage: Right there in big, block letters, we can read that Wawa is grateful for us shopping at their stores. Notice the reasoning for Wawa’s gratitude: so that they can support charities. Forgetting our urge to be cynical, we can see very clearly that Wawa is deeply committed to its social responsibility program.

Wawa acknowledges our role in their social responsibility: Wawa does not put itself forward as the key actor in donating millions of dollars to charity. It clearly names its customers — us — as responsible for that. Wawa shares the credit with those who make the donations possible. That’s a humble and transparent approach.

Wawa supports the local area: Aside from employing thousands of people locally, Wawa reminds us that it is committed to the local area by donating to local charities.

Wawa remembers the customers just passing through: Not everyone who shops at a Wawa is a local. Some will be on a business trip or in town visiting family. Wawa has thought of those customers as well by thanking them for helping Wawa support charities that may be operating in their own home towns and cities.

Yet again, Wawa has proved itself savvy when it comes to marketing and building customer loyalty. No doubt I shall find myself in their stores again soon buying something, doing my bit to help local charities.

Related Posts:

• An Ongoing Campaign from Wawa
• Wawa continues to impress
• Well done to Wawa!

As I come to the end of Colin Powell’s autobiography, I find myself even more impressed with the man than I had been before reading his story. The son of immigrant parents of modest means, Powell worked his way up to the highest rank in the US military, eventually becoming the first African-American to serve as Secretary of State in the US.

The first to admit that I do not agree with all of his decisions or all of his politics, I still find myself looking to the man as an example of how to work hard, think clearly and act decisively. I can learn a lot from his example.

I’d like to share General Powell’s Rules which he developed over this 35 years of active military service and which are included as an appendix to his autobiography.

1. It ain’t as bad as you think. It will look better in the morning.
2. Get mad, then get over it.
3. Avoid having your ego so close to your position that when your positions falls, your ego goes with it.
4. It can be done!
5. Be careful what you choose. You may get it.
6. Don’t let adverse facts stand in the way of a good decision.
7. You can’t make someone else’s choices. You shouldn’t let someone else make yours.
8. Check small things.
9. Share credit.
10. Remain calm. Be kind.
11. Have a vision. Be demanding.
12. Don’t take counsel of your fears or naysayers.
13. Perpetual optimism is a force multiplier.

Powell’s rules strike me a relevant for running a small business as well. I especially like the emphasis of perpetual optimism: I try to attack each day with a glass half-full approach. Knowing that such an approach helped Powell reach the pinnacle of professional success goes a long towards convincing me of the value of that approach.

A late convert to the wonders that are Apple products, I wanted to pay a small tribute to the man whose influence on my own career flows through my office on a daily basis.

Others will be more eloquent in their eulogies. Others will be more profound in their reflections. My own tribute to Steve Jobs is small and will definitely go unnoticed by most of the world. Yet that is a testament to the ubiquitous presence of Steve Jobs in this world — he spread design, innovation, enthusiasm and more into every corner of the world.

Photo: Shot on and emailed from an iPhone 3Gs. Edited and posted to the internet on a MacBook Pro. Says it all, doesn’t it?

Today marks the 17th anniversary of the start of the Rwandan genocide. On 06 April 1994, the plane carrying the presidents of Rwanda and Burundi was shot down as it prepared to land in Rwanda. Within hours of that, roadblocks were set up around Kigali (the capital of Rwanda) and the killings started.

Although I am not normally inclined to quote the religious on this blog, today I think it appropriate to share what may be called a credo of sorts by Mother Teresa.

Life is an opportunity, benefit from it.
Life is a beauty, admire it.
Life is bliss, taste it.
Life is a dream, realise it.
Life is a challenge, meet it.
Life is a duty, complete it.
Life is a game, play it.
Life is costly, care for it.
Life is wealth, keep it.
Life is love, enjoy it.
Life is mystery, know it.
Life is a promise, fulfill it.
Life is sorrow, overcome it.
Life is a song, sing it.
Life is a struggle, accept it.
Life is a tragedy, confront it.
Live is an adventure, dare it.
Life is luck, make it.
Life is too precious, do not destroy it.
Life is life, fight for it.

To learn more about the Rwandan genocide, and more importantly, to see how you can help survivors of the genocide in their continued struggles for survival, please visit www.survivors-fund.org.uk, www.hmd.org.uk and www.hope-survivors.org.uk.

The image featured in this post is © Survivors Fund (SURF) / Andrew Sutton and is used with permission. The image shows the remains of victims of the genocide at the Ntarama Memorial.

Although I’ve posted notice of this some weeks ago on lbdesign’s website, I suddenly thought ‘Hey! I should post something about it on my own blog as well.’ So, that’s what I am doing.

The FSI is an amazing organisation that works to support and help small UK charities as those charities grow. The FSI provides not only real-time support in a variety of areas (think accounting, marketing, fundraising and more), they also provide free training.

I’ll be speaking on the topic of online marketing, hoping to share valuable insights on how to successfully structure and implement such strategies.

(Note: The FSI’s Workshop 2011 is not actually taking place at Earls Court. I just added that for dramatic effect.)

As part of its efforts to encourage the commemoration of Holocaust Memorial Day, the Holocaust Memorial Day Trust has produced a powerful film trailer that features 11 survivors of different genocides. It’s a moving piece that is well worth watching.

I invite you to learn more about Holocaust Memorial Day and the Holocaust Memorial Day Trust:

Light a virtual candle to mark HMD2011
Watch short testimonies from the survivors featured in the above films
Follow the Holocaust Memorial Day Trust on Twitter
Find the Holocaust Memorial Day Trust on Facebook

I picked up a leaflet a few months ago in my local post office that listed a number of ways to reduce unwanted junk mail showing up in your mailbox.

Following the directions on the flyer (which you can download below as a PDF), I rang Trans Union to ask for my name to be removed from lists offering credit cards and loans. I have to admit that it worked! I now get almost no credit card offers any more. It’s wonderful.

By the way, you’ll see that on the PDF that the telephone number for Trans Union has been changed to 888-567-8688.

Anyway, in the interest of paying it forward, I am posting this information online in the hopes that it helps someone else reduce the daily arrival of clutter in their mailbox.

How to Reduce Unwanted Mail (PDF: 728KB)

I wanted to post a short note to say that Wawa might always use their hot cup sleeves in support of charities. As we can see in the picture above, Wawa was supporting Susan G Komen Race for a Cure, which is a massive fundraiser for breast cancer research.

If you’re in London this April, I invite you to join the Hope Survivors Foundation at their official commemoration.  This important event will feature talks, testimonies from Holocaust survivors and 7/7 London bombings survivors, poems, films and music.

Date: Saturday, 17 April 2010
Time: Doors open at 13:00 – the event starts at 13:45
Place: Amnesty International UK, The Human Rights Action Centre, 17-23 New Inn Yard, London EC2A 2EA

The event is open to all; however, space is limited so please RSVP directly to the Hope Survivors Foundation.

If you’re looking for more information on the Rwandan genocide, the ongoing plights of its survivors and the work being done to help those survivors, I recommend visiting the Survivors Fund website.

The cardboard protective sleeve around the paper cup notified me in a bright, clear way that Wawa was a regular and dedicated supporter of the American Red Cross. “Hmm …“, I thought, “that’s good to know. I am glad that such a big company is actually a decent one too. I wonder if it’s more than just a publicity stunt.”

A bit more analysis

Back home, I sipped the good coffee and thought a bit about the value of Wawa’s support of The Red Cross. There were a number of value insights to be garnered from a review of Wawa’s actions.

The following are just a few points:

• A highly visible CSR initiative: By promoting its support of the Red Cross in such a visible way, Wawa is broadcasting in a very effective way that it is a responsible and socially aware company.
• More than just show: A perusal of Wawa’s website makes it pretty clear that the company is committed to charitable/social causes. There is a grant system with a clearly stated set of interests. The press releases section of the Wawa website includes a number of events and programs that Wawa has to support the Red Cross.  Within those press releases are several quotes from Red Cross executives thanking Wawa for their commitment to the Red Cross.
• Crafting CSR into daily operations: Wawa must go through thousands of hot cup protector rings in a day. That the company used such a regular part of its commercial offering as a method of showing their support for a charitable organization suggests that CSR has deep roots at Wawa.
• Putting its money where it asks customers to: A review of Wawa’s website shows that Wawa conducted a campaign in January to aid the  Red Cross with its effort to assist in Haiti. Wawa’s customers donated $350,000 to the effort, to which Wawa added $50.000 of its own money. That’s a big company following through on what it asks of its customers. Wawa didn’t just ask for others to help — it put its own money in.  (Of course, organizing donations through its sales system would also have cost money to implement.)
• A possible reduction of production costs: It would not surprise me to discover that Wawa might have been able to convince the company that prints its protective sleeves to provide the ‘Red Cross’ sleeves at a discount as it was part of an effort to raise support for the Red Cross.

So, “Well done” to Wawa for getting so much right!  They certainly caught my attention and I shall be studying them in the future, looking to learn from their business savvy.

Going the exta step

About the only thing I could say against Wawa in connection with this post is that there doesn’t seem to be a mention of the Red Cross on the company’s website.  For a retail company like Wawa, recreating the inviting atmosphere of its shops on its website seems a natural progression.  I would have liked to see a logo and link on the Wawa home page to the Red Cross website. (In fact, I didn’t see anything on the Wawa website about being Twitter or Facebook.  A check of Facebook shows that Wawa has a very active fan page.)

The American Red Cross is online at http://www.redcross.org; the International Red Cross can be found at http://www.icrc.org.