Cause Marketing: Good for the Marketer and the Cause

According to Forbes, cause marketing is “when companies and causes successfully collaborate on a strategic, mutually beneficial commercial effort.” Simply put, brands team up with charities and nonprofits to boost their sales and also their social footprint. The idea is that customers will want to buy from companies that support charitable causes.

And to a large extent, the research bears this out. Entrepreneur says that 87 percent of consumers would switch from their normal brand to another if that brand was involved with a charitable cause. And Ad Age points out that some companies do cause marketing very well, with as much as two-thirds of Patagonia’s sales coming because of its “Common Threads” initiative.

Not all cause marketing campaigns are successful, however, and poorly designed campaigns are beneficial for neither the brand nor the charity.

Gucci, for instance, spent millions promoting its “Chime for Change” program, but research has indicated that consumers are unfamiliar with it. It seems that, for luxury brands like Gucci, appearing genuine and relevant may be a challenge as well.

It’s important that a company invests in a cause that is related to the product it sells. It would make no sense for Ben & Jerry’s to donate to homeless shelters, but they also wouldn’t want to give to diabetes testing and research. Charity selection is very important.

A good cause for a brand like Ben & Jerry’s might be a food bank, or a scholarship fund (we college kids, after all, do love our Ben & Jerry’s).

It’s also important to integrate social media into any campaign. Not every cause can be the Ice Bucket Challenge, but brands can build social media momentum to get the press and the consumer talking about their product and the cause they support.

For retailers and other brands with physical franchises, point-of-purchase offers to donate have proven effective as well. Many consumers appear willing to tack on a dollar or two to their purchase in support of a good cause, and the donation may leave them with a favorable impression of the organization.

So while cause marketing campaigns are no sure thing, there are several ways to help them be successful for both the brand and the cause. The important thing is that the organization feels strongly about the charity it’s supporting. When an organization genuinely wants to help, it’s almost impossible to fail.

Although the consumer may be uneasy about the relationship between brands and charitable causes, cause marketing has raised millions for worthy organizations around the world and is a positive development in marketing today.

Sources: http://adage.com/article/agency-viewpoint/marketing-hot-pay-good/293537/

http://www.forbes.com/sites/davidhessekiel/2012/01/31/cause-marketing-leaders-of-the-pack/