komen | Cause marketing for nonprofits

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Check-Out-Line Charity a Perfect Fit for New Balance, Komen

Written on January 12, 2010 in Cause Marketing In Action, Cause Practices

New Balance and Komen already have a great partnership. But Chris Mann (@chrisrmann), Associate Manager, Brand Marketing for New Balance, wanted to make it even better by involving New Balance’s 134 stores. But how?

That’s how our conversation began a year ago when Chris asked my advice on creating a pinup program for New Balance’s stores. It was a lot of fun working with Chris, and he knew a lot already thanks to his fundraising work at The Jimmy Fund, his job before New Balance.

Chris obviously wanted to raise more money for Komen. But he also had some other good goals, which he wisely knew could be accomplished through pinups.

To further educate customers about New Balance’s support for breast cancer awareness. The pinup was a starting point to talk to customers about New Balance’s ongoing support for Komen. If they didn’t know about the partnership and Komen’s great work already, they would now.

To educate sales associates. Let’s face it, sometimes directives from the corporate mothership don’t always trickle down to frontline workers. A pinup program was a great way to reinforce New Balance’s commitment to Komen on every level, and to get employees talking (and learning) about the partnership.

While New Balance has 134 stores, the foot traffic is modest compared to other types of retailers. It’s not like selling pinups at a busy supermarket or restaurant chain. With a daily average of just 35 transactions, New Balance had to make the most of every single customer.

I told Chris that I faced a similar challenge with Valvoline Instant Oil Change, which averages 50 customers per store each day. In VIOC’s case, we sold the pinup for $3 and added coupons to incentivize customers. Chris did just that. He sold the pinup for $5 and offered shoppers $10 off their next purchase.

The October pinup program for Komen raised $29,000.

A few things Chris learned from his program.

The ask is all. If you politely ask shoppers to buy a pinup at the register, not all of them will say yes. But a lot will. But if you don’t ask, no one will buy a pinup. Period. It’s that simple.

Take a top-down approach. Communicating effectively with store managers is key and will drive the success of the program.

Incentives work. I’ve had mixed results with incentives, but Chris reminded me of an incentive that always works: recognition. He created a friendly competition among stores with bragging rights in company communications.

Chris plans to repeat the October pinup program for Komen. He also plans to do another pinup program for Girls on the Run in May.

Are you planning a pinup program for your nonprofit? My work with New Balance and Chris became the basis for my Six Figure Cause Marketing program. I hope you’ll check it out!

Tags: cause marketing, cause-related marketing, check-out-line charity, komen, new balance, pinup

What is Cause Marketing?

Written on January 4, 2010 in Cause Marketing 101

34 Comments

It’s the beginning of a new year so let’s start fresh by defining what exactly cause marketing is.**

Keep in mind that this is my definition of cause marketing. (There are other definitions out there.)

Cause marketing is a partnership between a nonprofit and a for-profit for mutual profit.

A few things about my definition.

First, my definition is focused on cause marketing, not the marketing of causes. Cause marketing for me is not about advertising campaigns for causes.

Just this year I’ve come to appreciate why some cause marketers still use “cause-related marketing” to distinguish transactional cause marketing from cause advertising. While I admire the precision of the phrase, the expression is so clunky I can’t bear to use it!

Second, the word partnership means something. The relationship is work-work and win-win. No one is getting a free ride, an unexpected check, or a cursory thank you in the mail.

Finally, the profit in cause marketing comes in two forms, first for the nonprofit and second for the for-profit.

For the nonprofit, the profit is money AND branding/visibility. St. Jude’s raised tens of millions this fall through Thanks & Giving. Last year, Komen raised around $30 million. Cause marketing also offers causes valuable branding and visibility. There is no better example of this than Product RED, which has built a top philanthropic brand through its cause marketing pacts with partners like Gap, Starbucks, Apple, and now, Nike.

For the for-profit, the profit is greater favorability with consumers and, potentially, increased sales. The premise is a simple one. Consumers buy from companies they like and respect. Cause marketing is a conduit to earning their favor.

There are three tactical approaches for cause marketing:

Point-of-Sale. For those of you who know me, you know I’m all over this. Just do a search on my under “pinups.” These are programs that happen at the register with pinups, paper icons, scannables, paper plaques, call them what you will. The MDA Shamrocks are the classic example.

Percentage-of-sale. These are products or services from which a dollar amount or percentage of the purchase price goes to a good cause. One of my favorites is the New Balance/Komen partnership. New Balance donates 5% of the MSRP of all items from the Lace Up for the Cure Collection with a minimum guarantee of $500,000. In 2009, Komen received a million dollars!

Licensing. This approach is dominated by the big charities and companies. A longstanding licensing pact is Arthritis Foundation’s Ease of Use Commendation for the Advil Caplets Easy Open Arthritis Cap.

Three clarifications on cause marketing.

#1 – Sponsorship is different from cause marketing. But not in definition. I agree that sponsorship can involve a partnership between a nonprofit and for-profit for mutual profit. The difference lies in execution (i.e. point-of-sale, percentage-of-sale, etc.).

#2 – Cause branding is different from cause marketing. Chris Mann from New Balance makes an excellent point on this in the comments below. Read it and my response. But let me say: Cause branding, like corporate social responsibility, is a strategy. Cause marketing is a tactic that falls under cause branding and CSR.

#3 – Cause marketing is not pure, altruistic philanthropy (gasp!). Like the name says, it’s, eh, marketing (which I define as the things we do to get and keep customers). One of the goals of cause marketing, especially as I define it, is money for a cause. But it’s not the only goal and it’s certainly not given without strings attached, for both partners.

It’s not giving. It’s SELFISH GIVING.

Now that we’re clear on that, what questions do you have?

**Hat tip to @grantgriffith for encouraging me to write this post!

Tags: arthritis foundation, cause marketing, cause-related marketing, komen, Product RED

Sick of Pink Complainers

Written on October 5, 2009 in Causerants

16 Comments

stop_complaining

Sent to the Boston Globe this morning.

Dear Editors,

The Sick of Pink article in yesterday’s Globe Magazine was unfair to socially responsible companies in general and to New Balance, an outstanding corporate citizen, in particular.

The whole story reminded me of another. A winemaker who despite having some of the best casks of wine in his town would nonetheless sample each one until he found a poor vintage for himself. A friend of the winemaker once asked a servant what his master was doing. ”Looking for bad when he is surrounded by good.”

That’s exactly what critics of New Balance are doing. They’ve bypassed all the good things New Balance has done (the good work of its foundation, the millions of dollars New Balance has raised for Komen’s, the invaluable awareness they’ve brought to breast cancer, etc.) and chosen instead to focus on the thing that didn’t quite taste right.

A couple things to remember.

New Balance is a big company and sells a lot of sneakers. While I’m sure the Lace Up For the Cure line is a winner for both New Balance and Komen, overall it’s just one small piece of the sneaker company’s success. In short, you can be sure the Lace Up line has been a better performer for Komen than it has been for New Balance.

Another thing to consider is that most people who buy “pink” products aren’t just buying them for the ribbon. Besides the die-hard supporter, who would really spends a $100 on a pair of shoes just because it has a pink ribbon on it? Let’s not go overboard. The cause connection is just one factor in the consumer’s buying decision, especially if we agree with the writer that we are awash in “pink” products to choose from.

Consumers buy New Balance shoes because they are well made, have an excellent reputation, are made for performance and comfort, and, if they buy them locally, perhaps because they are produced by a Boston-based company. The fact that they support Komen is another great reason to buy them. But it’s one reason, not the only reason. And I believe Komen gets their fair share of the sneaker price, plus a generous donation from New Balance. How much more should New Balance, or any company, be expected to give?

Companies should obey the law and register with the Attorney General’s office. They should also be clear on how much a nonprofit will receive from a cause-related marketing program. But good companies like New Balance that do good deeds for the right reasons shouldn’t be second-guessed and chided for what they DON’T do, or be held to unreasonable standards.

The risk is that very soon we’ll all be complaining that companies like New Balance don’t do anything at all.

Joe Waters

Tags: boston globe, globe magazine, komen, lace up for the cure, new balance, pink products, sick of pink