Comments on: Ms. Right vs. Ms. Right Now

By: Can A Villain Become An Antihero? | Geoff Livingston's Blog

Can A Villain Become An Antihero? | Geoff Livingston's Blog — Fri, 26 Feb 2010 16:21:38 +0000

[...] CSR — of a villain bound to stay a villain — then WalMart’s current efforts (see Joe Waters: Ten Reasons Why CSR Programs Fail). As I discussed on Wednesday, the primary thrust [...]

By: Joe

Joe — Wed, 18 Jul 2007 20:27:23 +0000

Hey Kevin, I think the numbers from Cone just reflect the maturing of the industry. As more people are exposed to cause marketing it will, like other forms of promotion, be less impactful. Folks like you and me will have to work much harder to get people’s attention and to be effective.

That said, sure there is some half-baked cause marketing out there. We can agree on that. What I’ve questioned is that while four of your ten ways to “fail at cause marketing” are far from being presriptions for failure, they aren’t really tenets for success either. Fortunatley, you present six others that are.

Kevin, what we can’t lose sight of is that cause marketing is a business strategy. A strategy that every nonprofit should be pursuing with as many companies and for as many legitimate reasons (including money) as possible. Nonprofits have to swing the bat win. They have a lot more to lose than hitting afoul.

By: Kevin D. Hendricks

Kevin D. Hendricks — Wed, 18 Jul 2007 18:04:52 +0000

Thanks for the link and dissecting some of our thoughts. I won’t dive into every point you make just yet–but let me ask one question:

How do you respond to the numbers from Cone that the interest in cause marketing is slipping?

It seems to me like over-saturation and half-baked cause marketing is the problem. Too many people diving in without thinking about what they’re doing.

But I’d love to hear your take. Thanks.