Re-Thinking Cause Promotions

by Brian Reich | 21 Mar 2010, 1:13pm

The ‘What Do You Stand For’ blog from Cone (where I worked as the Director of New Media a few years back) posted a list of the ‘Top 10 Types of Cause Promotions,’ writing “Creative product and service tie-ins such as these are a must-have in every cause marketer’s toolkit. Cause marketing can drive short-term sales, and when sustained over time, it can also enhance consumer trust and build brand loyalty.”

Their list included:

1. The “Proud Supporter” Method

2. Donation with Purchase

3. Donation with Label or Coupon Redemption

4. Donation with Online Activation

5. Donation with Consumer Action

6. Dual Incentive Method

7. Consumer Pledge Drives

8. Buy One, Give One (BOGO) Method
9. Consumer-Directed Donation

10. Volunteerism Rally

The ‘knowledge leadership’ team at Cone (who authored the post, anonymously) is correct - these are a
must-have for brand marketers who are seeking to build awareness.  And its true, “not all cause-related promotions are alike. There are as many creative cause executions as there are consumer brands, each most successful when tailored to the unique product or service and target audience.”  But these promotions have been done.  They are tired.  Even the most creative executions are getting stale.  The very concept of a cause campaign has become too formulaic.  And most importantly, the cause campaigns that we are seeing, even the wildly successful ones, aren’t having the kinds of significant, measurable impact that everyone involved (I believe, and hope) actually wants and expects.

What is great about a cause promotion is that everybody involves wins… at least in the short-term.  A corporation that adopts a charity or embraces a cause gets additional awareness for its brand.  Consumers get a chance to feel warm/fuzzy about a big corporation that spends the rest of its time (in most cases) making choices about how it operates with the bottom line as the top priority.  The media gets a good story.  The nonprofit or charity gets some much-desired cash and a larger email list.

And, then the promotion ends….

Do those companies stay committed, and help to drive deeper levels of engagement, or commit to finding real solutions to the causes they championed?  Some do — but most do not.  Do consumers stay committed to that cause, or maintain a strong association with the brand that sponsored the promotion?  Some do — but most do not.  Does the media follow up, hold the participants accountable or highlight the impact that was delivered over time?  Some do — but most do not.  Does the non-profit take its new contacts — with the company and its employees, the consumers and their community, and media and their audience — and continue to cultivate the relationship, or explore the new opportunities the promotional campaign might have made possible?  Some do — but most do not.

This is a great list… of promotional campaign-types that no brand or nonprofit should launch again. At least not right now.  Not for the next year.  I call for a moratorium on these types of promotional campaigns.  I don’t want to see another one of these big-awareness-little-impact campaign launched for the next 12-months.  I don’t want to see another new website, mobile app, ad campaign, rally/event, or special product line launched with a promise that the time spent, purchase made, or action contributed will change the world — until someone can show me that the cause promotion is anything more than, well, just another promotion. I want to see the agencies and partners helping to shape these campaigns, even the ones that are slated to roll out in the next few weeks, to scrap their plans and go back to the drawing board.  I want consumers to start looking around for other ways to get involved, and support the issues they care most about, and resist the temptation to click/buy/take-action and move on to the next thing.

We can do better.

- I challenge the companies that are looking to demonstrate their commitment to a charity or cause to think more creatively about how their resources might be applied. Have you tapped into the expertise and passion of your employees to share a truly meaningful cause-related experience, one that applies the unique aspects of your work, and capabilities of your team?  Is more than just your marketing budget or charitable giving account being tapped to support your project?

- I challenge the agencies and partners working to develop these campaigns (including Cone) to explore different, and better, options for creating projects that have the potential for greater impact.  Is the core idea behind each effort your put together for a client different, unique to the cause the audience you are trying to reach?  Are you doing everything possible to have a significant, meaningful, measurable impact on the cause you are working with, instead of measuring success for your clients in terms of impressions and list growth (even if they ask for)?

- I challenge consumers who are targeted by these campaigns to demand more from the companies and charities involved.  Are you staying involved with the cause that you click to support, or changing your behavior to go the extra mile?  Are you telling the people who put together these promotions what you expect from them going forward — and make it known when your expectations aren’t met?

- I challenge the nonprofits and charities who benefit most from these promotions, to put together partnerships that drive real solutions and measurable impact, not just generate attention or raise money.  Do you have a plan for how to support the audience that becomes interested in your work through a promotional campaign — beyond simply putting them on an email list or pummeling them with requests for more donations?  Are you challenging your corporate partners, the media that covers your effort, the people who support your work the most to help take your work to the next level?

- I challenge the media to highlight the truly ambitious and impactful projects, not the one that makes for the best visual or soundbite only.  Are you actively looking for the best stories, or taking what is delivered to you by a PR flak?  Are you asking the tough questions about how this promotion will transform over time, and staying committed to telling the follow-up story that holds everyone accountable?

Cause promotion campaigns are wonderful for raising awareness and generating donations for an organization.  Like I said above, everyone involved benefits.  But over time, we are all losing out.  The cause promotions we see today, and the work that is being done to support them by even the most well-known corporations and nonprofits/charities are not enough.  They aren’t creative enough.  They aren’t original enough.  They aren’t impactful enough. To get the full interest, engagement, participation, and ultimately commitment from the audience, and most importantly, to have a meaningful, measurable impact on the cause or issues that is being targeted, cause promotions and those who organize them, have to get out of the same old rut.  We have to change the way we organize these events.  We have to re-think cause promotions.

TAGS : cause branding cause marketing Cone re-think
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