Proving You Have a Heart is Just a Cause Away!

Does your company sell products that make your customers giddy? Does it offer services that none of your competitors can best? Are your products always trendy and on the cutting edge of technology? Well, good for you - but your customers don't care. Great products and service might work for a single sale, but if you want a long-lasting relationship with your customers, your company needs something more than just a corporate identity. It has to have a heart.

In today's socially-conscious world, consumers have more respect for and are more inclined to buy from a company that proves that it is conscious of its social responsibilities and is taking steps to fulfill them. According to an Edelman Goodpurpose study conducted in 2008, 71 percent of consumers globally said despite the recession they have given just as much, or more, time and money to causes they deem worthy. More than half of the 6,000 consumers surveyed said even in the midst of a recession they would be prepared to pay more for a brand if it supported a good cause and more than two-thirds said they would be willing to pay more for eco-friendly products. This shows that success will continue to elude you unless you show that you care about the world in which we live. Surprisingly, this is not as difficult as it may sound. Enter Cause-Related Marketing.

Cause-Related Marketing (CRM) is defined as the public association of a for-profit company with a nonprofit organization, intended to promote the company's product or service and to raise money for the nonprofit. CRM is generally considered to be distinct from corporate philanthropy because the corporate dollars involved in CRM are not outright gifts to a nonprofit organization, hence not tax-deductible.

For example, General Mills launched the “Box Tops for Education” campaign in 1996. Each box top is worth 10 cents and people are encouraged to cut them out and send them in. After the collected Box Tops are sent in to General Mills, each school enrolled in this program receives a check for an amount not exceeding $60,000 per year to spend on anything they choose. Thousands of schools have used the money from Box Tops for Education to purchase items such as computers and computer software, library books, art supplies, and playground equipment. To date, this campaign has helped schools earn more than $250 million over the past 12 years.

It does not matter what cause your business supports. It can be anything from homeless animals to AIDS but it is absolutely necessary that people know about your cause. According to the aforementioned study, even marketers who are deeply entrenched in cause marketing are not doing enough to let consumers know about it. Only 40 percent of global consumers said they are aware of any company that actively supports a good cause, while only 33 percent said they are aware of a brand that actively supports a good cause, down from 39 percent in 2007. So just supporting a cause is not enough. CRM is entirely quid pro quo. Therefore, if you want to benefit from the partnership, you have to ensure that it is publicized as extensively as possible.

So, you have decided that CRM makes perfect sense for your business and you want to go ahead with it but you don't know what cause to support. What do you do? Well, there aren't any hard-and-fast rules for choosing a cause but there are some tips that might help you.

• Choose a cause that you and your employees believe in. Cause marketing works best when you do it from your heart and choosing a cause that really matters to you will make all the difference.

• Choose a cause that is related to your business. This way it is easier for consumers to associate your business with the cause and it will also help reinforce your brand. For example, Procter & Gamble's Olay brand and the American Society for Dermatologic Surgery joined hands for a nationwide free skin cancer screening. Besides spreading awareness, their goal was also to help women take preventive measures to avoid skin cancer. This partnership was supported by “Desperate Housewives” star Marcia Cross and as a result, they received immense PR that attracted 9,000 women to the program.

• Iron out all the wrinkles. Give-and-take is the foundation of CRM. Therefore, a fixed decision on how the non-profit can help increase the visibility and brand awareness of your business and vice versashould be made before you go public. Negotiate and decide on joint promotions, publicity campaigns, give-aways, sponsored events and any other way of getting the most out of this partnership.  

• Prepare a marketing campaign with a persuasive call-to-action. The ultimate success of your partnership lies with the consumers. Therefore, your campaign should involve the consumers and persuade them to take some action. An excellent example is the affiliation of Lay's and the Make-a-Wish foundation. They launched a program called “Share the Joy” asking people to share their special moments on Lays.com. For every moment of joy, Lays donated $1 to the foundation. Additionally, during the promotion period, Lay's came out with specially-marked bags of chips. For      every purchase, Lay's donated $0.25 to the foundation.

Cause marketing is akin to killing two birds with one stone. Not only will your business receive tremendous publicity, you will also be helping a lot of organizations and people that need all the financial support and awareness that they can get. It is a complete win-win situation and an opportunity that you should not miss.