Suze Bragg

Getting Involved with Cause Marketing

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Tomorrow is Leave a Can in the Mailbox day to help supply food for the food banks. This successful drive accounts for 70% of all the canned goods that food banks receive per year. Campbells has been advertising, hoping people buy their soups and other foods for this charity event. This type of marketing, called cause marketing, has become more and more popular, and is different than philathropy. Citing an IEG, Inc. study, $1.11 billion was spent in 2005, an estimated $1.34 billion will be spent in 2006, and the number is expected to rise further in 2007. According to Wikipedia, several examples they give are:

• The partnership of Yoplait's "Save Lids to Save Lives" campaign in support of the Susan G. Komen Breast Cancer Foundation. The company packages specific products with a pink lid that consumers turn in, and in turn Yoplait donates 10 cents for each lid.

• In 1979, Wally Amos become the National Spokesperson for the Literacy Volunteers of America. According to the organization, Wally has alerted more people to the illiteracy problem than any other person in history. This strategic cause-marketing tie-in helped to tell the Famous Amos Cookie story while maintaining visibility and is responsible for many new and expanded literacy programs.

• An example of a nonprofit certification of a product (business) includes the American Heart Association's stamp of approval on Cheerios, the popular breakfast cereal.

• Launched in early 2006, Product Red is an example of one the largest cause-related marketing campaigns to date given the number of companies and organizations involved as participants as well as its reach worldwide. It is also an example of a cause marketing campaign that is also a brand on its own. Product Red was created to support The Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis & Malaria (aka "The Global Fund") and includes companies such as Apple Computer, Motorola, Giorgio Armani, and The Gap as participants.

According to the Cone Millennial Cause Study in 2006, 89% of Americans (aged 13 to 25) would switch from one brand to another brand of a comparable product (and price) if the latter brand was associated with "good cause". The same study also indicated that a significant percentage surveyed would prefer to work for a company that was considered socially responsible.

How can you get involved?

1. Find a cause locally that you believe in.
2. Ask how you can get involved.
3. Advertise it in your store and on your web site.
4. Be active with it (don't just pay it lip service).
5. Let your customers know and gain their involvment as well.

Posted by Suze Bragg on May 11, 2007 | Comments (3)