I don’t know how many of you have bought a car recently, but have you ever noticed that BEFORE you actually buy the car, you don’t really notice how many are on the road? And then once you own it, it seems as though every car that catches your eye is the very same one you thought was so unique? It’s uncanny. 

I’ve noticed the same phenomenon occurring when it comes to “Integrated Marketing.” It seemed when we kicked off the idea of the IMAB back in October 2011, there were lots of people talking about this topic, but the actual number of good case studies and thoughtful research were few and far between. But seemingly overnight every publication I pick up is featuring great content. 

But unlike my car example, when you are depressed realizing that every car looks like yours, I view this as a  GREAT development, because we all know there’s no cornering the market on a great, innovative idea, and you never get tired of seeing more.

This month's Fundraising Success cover story, “Healthy Fundraising” features two organizations in the health field that have both seen some amazing results with recent multi-channel, integrated marketing campaigns. In the spirit of full disclosure, I’m proud to say that CaringBridge is a Convio client, so of course I am thrilled to see their work showcased, knowing that Convio has some small part in powering it. The second organization, HealthConnect One (not a Convio client, but now they are on my prospect list) provides an interesting twist on the definition of “channel” – by viewing their Board of Directors as just that – and putting that channel to work. Be sure to read the article to see how both these organizations got spectacular results out of both these multi-channel, integrated efforts.