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Last January I wrote a post on What is Cause Marketing? that got a lot of great feedback. Over the past year I’ve gone back to that post many time and reread the comments again and thought about how I was defining cause marketing.
I felt I had the first part right.
Cause marketing is a partnership between a nonprofit and a for-profit for mutual profit
What I thought needed redefining was just what it encompassed. In last year’s post I wrote that cause marketing involved three types of programs: point-of-sale, percentage-of-sale and licensing.
This year, I’m much more open to including most activities between a company and a cause. They include:
Point-of-sale. When a cashier either solicits a shopper for a donation (active cause marketing) or signage is prominently displayed at the register to encourage the shopper to make a gift (passive cause marketing) that’s point-of-sale. Unless you’re completely new to my blog, you know that POS, in the form of pinups, is my bread-and-butter program. But if you are new here’s a primer.
Purchase or action triggered donation. When a consumer buys a product or service (like a latte at Starbucks on World Aids Day) a donation (5 cents) is made to a cause (Product Red) that’s a purchase-triggered donation (I think this is a better describer of what happens when a shopper buys a cause product than the “percentage-of-sale” tag I used last year). Sometimes instead of a purchase, a donation is made when the consumer performs some type of action. For example, Macy’s donated a dollar the Make-a-Wish Foundation for every letter to Santa dropped into their special letter boxes at Macy’s stores.
Licensing. This is when a company pays a fee to use a nonprofit’s brand on its product. Licensing may include a certification process by the nonprofit before the company is allowed to use the logo. A longstanding licensing pact is Arthritis Foundation’s Ease of Use Commendation for the Advil Caplets Easy Open Arthritis Cap. Cause marketing licensing is practiced by the only the biggest causes (e. g. Komen for the Cure, American Heart Association) and is not a tactic for your average or local cause.
Message Promotion. This is when a business puts its resources to work to promote a cause-focused message. David Hessekiel at Cause Marketing Forum has a lot of great examples in his Halo Award Archive.
Employee Engagement. This is when a company leverages its workforce for social good. I think of Home Depot’s Partnership with KaBOOM! to build 1000 Playgrounds in 1000 Days, which involved nearly 100,000 Home Depot volunteers.
Digital Programs. The web, social media and especially location-based services will dramatically impact cause marketing and change the way we execute the above tactics. To leave this out is to leave out the future of cause marketing and how cause and companies will partner in the years to come.
I still don’t think the “marketing of causes” or sponsorship are cause marketing. (Jocelyn Daw told me recently that while sponsorship is when the cause puts its resources to work for the company, cause marketing is when the company goes to work for the cause. I like that!) But there are some interesting and creative ways to integrate cause marketing with sponsorship.
Nor is cause marketing cause branding or corporate social responsibility, although it is a subset of the two.
Finally, cause marketing is not philanthropy. While it has philanthropic aspirations and goals, it’s better described as marketing, and, in some ways, a business.
Those are my thoughts on cause marketing for January 2011. What are yours?
[Update 1/21/11: In the comments be sure to check out Jocelyn Daw's comments on how to distinguish traditional marketing from cause marketing. She makes it quite clear. Also, she outlines the 4 P's of cause marketing: Partner, Purpose, Passion & Profits.]
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[...] Please see my updated post! But the comments in this post are certainly worth checking [...]
Great post and YES, you have hit it on the head with this definition which is much more encompassing! nice job
Thanks, Kelly!
Joe,
I love this so much I'd like to crib it to update the discussion we had on types of cause marketing last year. It's terrific to see employee engagement listed here too (as well as digital).
I draw on your definition (Cause marketing is a partnership between a nonprofit and a for-profit for mutual profit often) when I'm thinking about cause-marketing programs and partnerships.
Also, I'm glad you raised the point that cause marketing is not CSR. Readers of this blog surely know that but it needs to be repeated until it penetrates the understanding of consumers and companies.
Well done (and thanks for the fodder for Cause Captialism).
You bet. And I hope you'll write more!
Hey Joe,
Really liked this post, your information is clear and concise, and hopefully will be a great resource for both organizations and businesses to utilize… totally free!
A question about DIGITAL PROGRAMS: This is a big gray area which happens to be exactly what I'm working with. Since it doesn't follow along the same rules as traditional cause marketing it's been very difficult to get NPOs to understand how to work together. Traditionally, there is a promise of a gift and then the business goes about producing a product and the 2 cross-market each other. But the digital world, everything is different, it's small businesses/web apps/startups appealing to organizations to offer creative ways to give.
The power of digital is great. The potential for networked communities of people doing very small actions to make a difference on a massive scale will be the wave of the cause marketing future.
But right now it's new: Do you have any recommendations from an organizations' standpoint on what might a solution to the corporate-sponsorship in the digital world?
-Madeline Creative Director at pungle.org
Hey Madeline, you bring up an interesting question. Because I work with more traditional programs my approach has been to combine offline with online. So I will do a point-of-sale program and then offer to implement a Twitter or Foursquare component. That way the success of my program isn't dependent on digital, which for the local companies I work with, is just not there yet. We should talk. Maybe there is a way we could work together on a client–you with the digital, me with the offline!
Madeline, I don't know what happen. I left you a great reply last night and now it's gone. WTH! But here's the skinny.
* I try to work online programs and offline programs together.
* I think you need to, especially for small biz cause online cause marketing just isn't there yet.
* We should talk more. Perhaps we can work together on some joint online/offline programs.
Joe
This is sooo good! Thanks for clarifying and expanding your definition of cause marketing. I'm sure I'm guilty of just smooshing them all together at times.
Thanks, Joanne! I was almost tempted to say that anything that's a partnership between a nonprofit and a for profit for mutual profit is cause marketing. But I felt like needed to give it some parameters. I've decided I'm not going to be so stodgy on tactics and just embrace all the different types of cause marketing (whether I like/use them or not!).
He doesn't know it, but David Hessekiel has had a huge impact on my thinking in this area. He's always told me I needed to expand my thinking and he was right. Of course, he may regret what direction that takes now. HAHAHA!
Hey, Joe. I've been thinking about this post for a while, and I didn't want to not answer your question. But the truth is I don't know. The lines are blurring so much right no between CSR and Cause Marketing that it can be indistinguishable at time.
I love your expanded Iist here. I agree with Geoff above here too.
I thought about this whole issue of the blurred lines between CSR and Cause Marketing and I might add philanthropy for my 2011 predictions. When you add employee engagement to your terrific list of cause marketing programs-well- whoa-that adds to the blurriness. Employee volunteerism often falls into the category of corporate giving and maybe sometimes CSR. If there is anything that I see that has been happening is that many, perhaps not all, of these categories/programs have overlaps with each other. I don't mean to imply that it is not a good thing to apply parameters, as you have done, but I also applaud your expanding the thinking about this.
Thanks, Lalia. I generally haven't had the same problem distinguishing between CSR and cause marketing. I see CSR as very high level and defining the values of a company and cause marketing as the tactics that put those values to work in the real world. In between is cause branding which is the strategizing that brings CSR and cause marketing together.
I realize, however, that it's probably not that clear cut. I guess that's why I'm stuck and in cause marketing and will never be with those wicked smart people in CSR!
Hi Joe, back from my world travels and ready to dive into the discussion with some initial thoughts! I appreciate your asking for my input and hope I can add to the dialogue.
Firstly, I really like that you have broadened the definition and included more forms of cause marketing. So not sure I can add much to your clear, concise definition.
What I would like to interject is more about what cause marketing is and what makes it different from good old fashioned traditional marketing. I think the difference tells a lot about what this new and innovative form of corporate marketing and nonprofit marketing and fundraising.
Marketing consists of the strategies and tactics used to identify, create and maintain satisfying relationships with customers that result in value for both the customer and the marketer. Cause marketing is the same as above but is about value AND values. It's about value for the customer, the marketer AND the community. It's about values alignment -knowing what social issues matter most to your customers and fits with your business. For the nonprofit, it's about making sure the corporate partner shares similar values. Values fit is vital on both sides.
When comparing CM to Marketing could I add my four P's to the tactics definition – Partner, Purpose, Passion and Profits. I had a great discussion with Phil Kotler the father of the 4 Ps of marketing (price, product, placement, promotion) about the 4 ps of cause marketing. He thought they were on the mark. Let me provide a bit more detail.
PARTNER- true mutually beneficial, mutually respectful (as you mentioned)
PURPOSE – Driven by social purpose – this is about values alignment
PASSION – Cause marketing is unique in that it has passion as a central element. This isn't just a traditional promotion, or product tie, its about making a difference to the community, to people, to the world.
PROFITS – CM is a commercial endeavor and the goal for both sides is profits – nothing wrong with that, in fact lots of good comes from it! When companies can generate revenue from CM through more sales, standing out, etc. they are often more willing to continue to work with causes – ideally even expand this work. For nonprofits, CM "profits" come in the form of non-designated revenue- the gold of nonprofit fundraising.
Some initial thoughts in this evolving and exciting field.
Thanks so much for replying, Jocelyne. This really adds to the definition. I added an update to my post pointing to your 4 P's and how this is a great way to differentiate cause marketing from traditional marketing.
I would love to hear more about your experiences abroad and what you found on cause marketing. Will cause marketing evolve as it did hear in North America or will it take a different or accelerated form? I hope you'll use my blog or another forum to share this!
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