Forgive me, I still scratching my head as I write, trying to absorb the implications of Roger’s post last week on eschewing demographics as a targeting tool and then yesterday’s praising “The World’s Biggest Asshole”, a film supposedly aimed at Millennials, a classic case of demographic targeting.

Or is it?

The commentator Roger cites re ‘Asshole’ says what he “loves most” about the film is the strategy. And then he appears to credit the agency behind the film, viewed here, with having brilliant insight into the psyche of Millennials.

But didn’t Roger warn us against such blunt instrument targeting?

Maybe there’s no contradiction here. The real power behind the film is its insight into a deeply rooted aspect of human nature present and powerful in most of us … a yearning for forgiveness, for redemption of some sort (be it far off heaven or tomorrow’s simple reconciliation kiss from one’s partner).

That’s a deeply rooted motivator in Millennials, Boomers, GenXers … everybody. We’ve all sinned, or at least disappointed ourselves or someone.

The film is about — and touches something in — ‘everyman’ (and ‘everywoman’).

That Coleman Sweeney is a Millennial is irrelevant. I’ve sent the link to a few dozen people, none of whom is a Millennial and each of whom was blown away.

So the film is a brilliant read of the potential (organ) donor’s psyche.

And if you turn back then to Roger’s post last week, Are Demographics Garbage?, I would suggest his real point there is about the need to go deeper than broad suggestive categories if you really want to create effective fundraising. You need to ascertain individual preferences and interests. And in that process, you need to realise that what you are actually doing is probing into the motivations of that person, not a category to which he or she belongs.

Our colleague Kevin Schulman at Donor Voice put it succinctly with his comment on Roger’s demographics post: “Demographics will always describe and this can be useful for targeting and selection, which is all about efficiency. To be effective charities need to get into the why business of human behavior.”

The folks who created the ‘Asshole’ film had a keen insight into ‘why’ someone, whatever their age, might be moved to donate an organ. And they delivered creatively and brilliantly on that insight, touching a far broader audience than Millennials.

Tom