Tag Archive: Starbucks

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!).

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Can Companies Use Cause-Related Marketing to Help Haiti?

Written on January 20, 2010 in Causerants
11 Comments

I think they can, but it needs to be done appropriately and with sensitivity.

As we learned in my post What is Cause Marketing? cause marketing isn’t philanthropy first, it’s marketing. And the situation in Haiti requires philanthropy first. And any company that tries to swap that with marketing will be duly punished by consumers.

But just because the recipe calls for a pound of philanthropy doesn’t mean there isn’t room for a teaspoon of cause-related marketing.

Here’s how it can be added to the mix without ruining the batter.

A lot of companies have already struck the right chord with philanthropy by donating millions to the Haiti earthquake victims. Let’s use Startbucks as the example, which has donated $1M to the American Red Cross.

Additionally, some companies, like Starbucks, have carved out areas within their stores where customers can make donations to Haiti.

But how could these companies add cause marketing?

Again, as you know from my earlier post, I view cause marketing in three tactical ways: point-of-sale, percentage-of-sale, licensing.

For Haiti, I think point-of-sale might be perceived as too aggressive and opportunistic. Conversely, licensing is a tactic that couldn’t be rolled out fast enough to meet the urgent needs of the victims.

Neither will work to help Haiti or the favorability of the company that executes the program.

However, I think percentage-of-sale could work. The Starbucks/Product RED partnership is a model. During the month of December, Starbucks donated five cents for every coffee sold to fight AIDS in Africa. The same could be done for Haiti at Starbucks and at other retailers.

But here’s what every consumer would need to know. Regardless of whether you buy the product or not, the company would donate X dollars, a generous minimum donation, to Haiti. A donation that could go up significantly with the small purchasing choices customers make every day.

I like this option because it’s built off of two solid layers of philanthropy, and a good portion of the percentage-of-sale donation comes from the company, not from the consumer’s purchase. Nevertheless, the program gives the consumer a chance to literally register their support for Haiti and to note the company’s efforts.

I read this post to my wife and she said my idea still sounds like a marketing ploy. Maybe cause marketing has no place in helping Haiti.

What do you think?

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For Holidays Starbucks, Critics See (RED) & Green

Written on November 24, 2009 in Capplause, Cause Marketing In Action, Cause Marketing News
1 Comment

starbucks_480x360.sflbI love Starbucks. I love Product (RED). I love cause marketing.

If you have a problem with any of these you should probably leave now.

Through December 1st when customers spend $15 on any purchase Starbucks will automatically make a $1 donation to The Global Fund on their behalf. Customers also get a copy of the exclusive All You Need Is Love Holiday CD for free.

But that’s not all.

On December 1st, Starbucks will commemorate World AIDS Day by donating 5 cents from every beverage sold that day as well as $1 from every Starbucks (RED) product purchased in stores.

To date Starbucks has generated contributions equaling more than 5 million daily doses of antiretroviral medicine through the purchase of Starbucks/(RED) products.

But no good deed goes unpunished.

A recent Nonprofit Times article titled Product (RED)’s Impact is Shrouded in Vague Answers frowns on (RED) partners like Gap and Starbucks that don’t report sales related to (RED).

But the Times also reports the points I often make on (RED). The cause marketing business model it’s created with companies like Starbucks is….

  • …the best way to raise money with businesses, especially retailers, because it engages the most powerful and lucrative force they have: its customers.  In short, despite what most people think, the real money in corporate philanthropy is not in the company checkbook. It’s in the customer’s pocketbook.
  • …an incredibly successful way to build a philanthropic brand. Think about it. Critics complain that (RED) partners have spent tens of millions of dollar on marketing (RED)–like they wouldn’t have spent it on something besides philanthropy anyway. But what they don’t concede is that in just a few short years (RED)’s philanthropic brand has risen to a level that it’s taken others–St. Jude, Unicef, MDA, Komen–decades to achieve. And (RED) owes that to star-power and an impressive ability to harness the corporate marketing machine.

A lot of nonprofits ask me what area they can work on to be more successful in cause marketing. Three things, I tell them: brand, brand, brand.

It’s a lesson Product (RED) drilled on right from the beginning, and to-date has $135 million as proof that in the school of corporate philanthropy they are a top student.

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