Cause marketing campaigns can be an effective way for companies to engage with customers and encourage them to feel emotionally connected to a particular product or service. The value of these types of campaigns can not only help win new customers and build customer loyalty, but also increase awareness and sales of product.
According to Wikipedia, “cause marketing or cause-related marketing refers to a type of marketing involving the cooperative efforts of a “for-profit” business and a nonprofit organization for mutual benefit.”
There have been countless (and memorable) examples of cause marketing campaigns including:
- Yoplait packaged specific products with pink lids as part of its “Save Lids to Save Lives” campaign in support of the Susan G. Komen for the Cure. For each lid that consumers turned in, the company donated 10 cents to the organization.
- Cheerios teamed up with the American Heart Association to secure its stamp of approval on its products to help promote the fact that Cheerios met the Associations’ low-fat, low-cholesterol standards.
- Product Red, one the largest cause-related marketing campaigns ever created included participation from some of the most well-known brands to support The Global Fund to Fight AIDS. Created by Bono to engage the private sector in raising awareness and funds to help eliminate AIDS in Africa, Product Red included a series of campaigns with companies such as Apple, Nike, Motorola, Starbucks and The Gap.
- Back in 1983 American Express launched a campaign to help raise money for the Statue of Liberty Restoration project. A penny for each use of the American Express card, and a dollar for each new card issued were given to the Statue of Liberty renovation program.
So how do you determine which cause or organization makes most sense to partner with to launch a mutually beneficial campaign? Consider the following tips by Kim Gordon, who recently wrote an article “How to Start a Cause Marketing Campaign,” for Entrepreneur:
- Designate a product and donate a portion of its sales to charity. Also known as passive customer participation, helping a nonprofit this way is possibly the easiest and fastest way to jump into cause-marketing. It’s essential to choose an organization your target audience will value and want to support. It can be a national nonprofit — such as one that funds cancer research or cleans up the environment — or a local charity.
- Create and sell a symbolic item. This strategy asks the customer to take an active role in the giving process, and requires a more aggressive public relations and advertising campaign. It involves creating and marketing an item that allows customers to physically demonstrate their support for a designated cause. This can be an item they wear or carry, such as a tote bag, T-shirt or bracelet emblazoned with a supportive and inspiring message.
- Sponsor a special event. If you’re looking for a high-profile way to support a cause, then creating a fundraising event could be the best strategy. Traditional events include everything from 10K runs and bike-a-thons to banquets. Keep in mind, the more creative you are with these events, the better your results are likely to be.
- Provide grassroots help. One tried-and-true strategy for lower-profile corporate giving is to donate staff time to make a difference in your community at the grassroots level. It’s smart to align your giving with your company’s primary business. This will not only aid the nonprofit you choose, but also help your customers remember what your company stands for. For example, each store in the Whole Foods Market chain donates food to local food banks and shelters and holds community giving days during which five percent of net sales are donated to a local nonprofit.
Once you have a cause marketing campaign in place, PR and social media can be a terrific way to get the word out and encourage engagement. This could include a combination of traditional and online media relations tactics such as a press release, buddy e-mail, and/or developing a calendar of tweets and Facebook posts.
Have you launched a successful cause marketing campaign? We want to hear about it! Leave a comment or send us an email.