Tag Archive: new balance

AMA Presentation: Cause Marketing During Challenging Times

Written on February 24, 2010 in Cause Marketer's Journal, Cause Practices
2 Comments

Thanks to everyone who came out to the AMA Boston event on Cause Marketing During Challenging Economic Times. It was a great event.

As promised, below are links to some of the topics I discussed.

What is cause marketing. One thing that was clear from everyone on the panel is that Bonnie, Erica Vogelei from Cone and I all had a different understanding of what cause marketing is. Here’s my perspective. If you’re a cause marketing skeptic you may want to check out my post on Defending Cause Marketing. Be sure to read the comments under both posts as they are very helpful.

The Power of Pinups. My cause marketing efforts revolve around two key areas, point-of-sale and percentage-of-sale, especially the former. For a primer on point-of-sale, or pinups as I like to call them, check out this post, which has lots of links. My last pinup program was with Ocean State Job Lots. But I’ve also posted on other programs by Hannaford Supermarkets and New Balance.

If you’re interested in learning more about percentage-of-sale programs, read this post about Starbucks & Product (RED).

Cause marketing and social media. One of my favorite topics. Be sure to connect with me on Twitter, Facebook, Linkedin, etc. on the right sidebar! Here’s a good sampling of my posts on the subject. Also, check out my post on Foursquare and Harvard and how the latter can school cause marketers on how to raise money with location-based social media.

This presentation didn’t have any slides, but if you’re a PowerPoint-aholic check out these slides from an event I spoke at just a couple weeks ago.

Three final things.

First, if you have a question, leave a comment and I’ll reply to you. I might even write a post on your question! And you can make sure you never miss a post by subscribing to my email newsletter, which goes out twice a month.

Second, I’ve posted a whole series on Selling Local Sponsorships for Nonprofits that explores the selling process and how to prospect, pitch and close. It’s helpful if you work in nonprofit sales.

Finally, speaking of pitching, let me leave you with one. The team at BMC is available for hire.

Thanks again for listening. I hope my accent wasn’t too thick (a problem sometimes even for a Boston crowd!).

Tags: , , , , , , , , , ,

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

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

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: , , , , ,

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: , , , , , ,