CMOs, Brand Managers and the agencies that serve them seek to harness the power of social media. Whether they are dipping their toes in the water or diving in head first, they know the current is strong.
As Patou Nuytemans states in 21st Century Marketing:
Many focus on tactics, hoping to attract fans and followers with an if-we-build-it-they-will-come approach. Follow icon? Check. Facebook page? Check. YouTube videos? Check. While basic efforts will deliver results, they are unlikely to reach the desired level of volume, buzz and sales unless the primary consideration is content.
Content is the key, but it must be content that consumers care about. Aligning a product with a charitable cause gives consumers a reason to care and a reason to share.
Charitable Marketing (CM) is essentially cause marketing, but should not be confused with marketing for non-profits, even though they are the ultimate beneficiaries. Charitable Marketing is not a Corporate Social Responsibility initiative, important though they may be. Charitable Marketing ties a charitable donation to a consumer purchase and is the centerpiece of the marketing effort.
A Proven, Successful Strategy, Now on Steroids
In order to connect with citizen journalists and social butterflies, we need to give them a message worth sharing. It is difficult to have passion for a CPG or retail offer, but it is easy to rally enthusiasm for good works. The Haiti text campaign, which raised $32million from $10 contributions via SMS, is an excellent example. Consumers today have seen how simple, individual actions combine to make a dramatic impact on big problems.
Unprecedented avenues for self publishing call for continual self expression. This is who I am: what I do, who I know, how I look, what I believe, what I like and dislike. Marketers hope to get people to define themselves by way of a brand. For a typical product, this is very difficult, for a worthy cause, it is relatively easy.
In The Next Evolution of Marketing, Bob Gilbreath creates the Hierarchy of Meaningful Marketing, which “marries consumers’ higher-level needs with corresponding brand features, resulting in three tiers of marketing that are increasingly meaningful to consumer.” At the top is Achievement Marketing, which, according to Gilbreath, “Corresponds to Maslow’s pinnacle of self-actualization by allowing people to significantly improve their lives, realize a dream or positively change their community and the world.” Charitable Marketing appeals to the consumer’s highest desire for positive change. And, as Gilbreath states, “More meaning = more money.”
Tap Into Passion, Earn Media
Another advantage of Charitable Marketing is its inherent ability to tell an emotional story with powerful visuals. One example is Tom’s Shoes, which donates one pair of shoes for every pair sold. Their videos of excited children at “shoe drops,” impassioned speeches by the founder and enthusiastic endorsements of the company by employees have earned Tom’s Shoes hundreds of thousands of YouTube viewers.
How do cause-related marketing campaigns impact consumer perceptions and behaviors?
Does cause-related marketing have an impact on corporate employees?
A 2003 study of MBA graduates from 11 top American and European business schools, conducted by professors at Stanford University and UC Santa Barbara, found that more than 97% of respondents were willing to give up a certain degree of financial compensation to work for a company reputed to be socially responsible and ethical. They would sacrifice an average of 14% of their expected income.
Source: Cause Marketing Forum
Charitable Marketing – The Time is Now
The time has come to differentiate products in a marketing saturated world. A time to reach citizen journalists and facilitate social connections. A time to combine the latest technology with time-honored principles. As Bonnie Raitt suggests, “Let’s give ’em something to talk about.”
Let’s help brands help make the world a better place and enjoy these benefits:
When corporations team up with consumers to help charities, everybody wins.
As Patou Nuytemans states in 21st Century Marketing:
Times changed, so have consumers. Businesses have to accept that to survive.
Consumers' decision-making processes – whether to buy from you or from someone else - have shifted to a new, powerful peer-to-peer arena.
Consumers' decision-making processes – whether to buy from you or from someone else - have shifted to a new, powerful peer-to-peer arena.
Many focus on tactics, hoping to attract fans and followers with an if-we-build-it-they-will-come approach. Follow icon? Check. Facebook page? Check. YouTube videos? Check. While basic efforts will deliver results, they are unlikely to reach the desired level of volume, buzz and sales unless the primary consideration is content.
Content is the key, but it must be content that consumers care about. Aligning a product with a charitable cause gives consumers a reason to care and a reason to share.
Charitable Marketing (CM) is essentially cause marketing, but should not be confused with marketing for non-profits, even though they are the ultimate beneficiaries. Charitable Marketing is not a Corporate Social Responsibility initiative, important though they may be. Charitable Marketing ties a charitable donation to a consumer purchase and is the centerpiece of the marketing effort.
A Proven, Successful Strategy, Now on Steroids
Cause marketing is not a new technique – it has been employed with great success for many years (examples follow). It is the nature of social media that makes it particularly relevant and powerful today.
'The medium is the message' because it is the 'medium that shapes and controls the scale and form of human association and action.'
-- Dr. Eric McLuhan on Marshall McLuhan
-- Dr. Eric McLuhan on Marshall McLuhan
In order to connect with citizen journalists and social butterflies, we need to give them a message worth sharing. It is difficult to have passion for a CPG or retail offer, but it is easy to rally enthusiasm for good works. The Haiti text campaign, which raised $32million from $10 contributions via SMS, is an excellent example. Consumers today have seen how simple, individual actions combine to make a dramatic impact on big problems.
Unprecedented avenues for self publishing call for continual self expression. This is who I am: what I do, who I know, how I look, what I believe, what I like and dislike. Marketers hope to get people to define themselves by way of a brand. For a typical product, this is very difficult, for a worthy cause, it is relatively easy.
In The Next Evolution of Marketing, Bob Gilbreath creates the Hierarchy of Meaningful Marketing, which “marries consumers’ higher-level needs with corresponding brand features, resulting in three tiers of marketing that are increasingly meaningful to consumer.” At the top is Achievement Marketing, which, according to Gilbreath, “Corresponds to Maslow’s pinnacle of self-actualization by allowing people to significantly improve their lives, realize a dream or positively change their community and the world.” Charitable Marketing appeals to the consumer’s highest desire for positive change. And, as Gilbreath states, “More meaning = more money.”
Tap Into Passion, Earn Media
Another advantage of Charitable Marketing is its inherent ability to tell an emotional story with powerful visuals. One example is Tom’s Shoes, which donates one pair of shoes for every pair sold. Their videos of excited children at “shoe drops,” impassioned speeches by the founder and enthusiastic endorsements of the company by employees have earned Tom’s Shoes hundreds of thousands of YouTube viewers.How do cause-related marketing campaigns impact consumer perceptions and behaviors?
- In a 2008 study by Cone and Duke University, 87% of consumers said they would switch from one brand to another comparable brand, based on its association with a good cause. This represents an increate of 31% since 1993.
- Almost 90% of teenagers said they would switch to a brand affiliated with a good cause, if price and quality were equal.
- 48% of American and British consumers surveyed reported that, in the past, they had been motivated by a cause-related marketing campaign to change brands, use a product more, try new products, or get information about new products.
- In a survey of 12,000 European consumers, 20% said they would pay more for a product if it were affiliated with a good cause.
- When surveyed consumers were aware of a given company’s cause-related marketing efforts, they consistently rated the company more highly in the categories of trust, endorsement, bonding, and innovation.
Does cause-related marketing have an impact on corporate employees?
A 2003 study of MBA graduates from 11 top American and European business schools, conducted by professors at Stanford University and UC Santa Barbara, found that more than 97% of respondents were willing to give up a certain degree of financial compensation to work for a company reputed to be socially responsible and ethical. They would sacrifice an average of 14% of their expected income.
Source: Cause Marketing Forum
Charitable Marketing – The Time is Now
The time has come to differentiate products in a marketing saturated world. A time to reach citizen journalists and facilitate social connections. A time to combine the latest technology with time-honored principles. As Bonnie Raitt suggests, “Let’s give ’em something to talk about.”
Let’s help brands help make the world a better place and enjoy these benefits:
- Increased sales
- Increased word of mouth and social sharing
- Earned media
- Enhanced employee commitment and recruitment
- Personal satisfaction
When corporations team up with consumers to help charities, everybody wins.
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