Cause-Related Marketing: An Activity in Which Businesses Join With Charities

Altruism. Corporate responsibility. Philanthropy. These are often used to describe cause-related marketing, an activity in which businesses join with charities or causes to market an image, product, or service for mutual benefit.

Embracing a cause makes good business sense. Nothing builds brand loyalty among today's increasingly hard-to-please consumers like a company's proven commitment to a worthy cause. Other things being equal, many consumers would rather do business with a company that stands for something beyond profits.

According to a Cone/Roper Benchmark Survey, 78% of respondents said they are more likely to buy a product that's associated with a cause they care about, and 54% said they would pay more for it. One-third of respondents said that after price and quality, a company's responsible business practices are the most important factor in deciding whether to buy its product.

The phrase "cause-related marketing" was first used by American Express in 1983 to describe its fund-raising campaign for the Statue of Liberty restoration. American Express donated one penny to the fund each time someone used its charge card; the number of new cardholders grew by 45%, and card usage increased by 28%.

You don't have to run a major corporation to embrace cause-related marketing. The strategy can become a cornerstone of your slightly famous marketing plan. You benefit by letting your market know that you're socially active, by actively identifying with a cause you are passionate about. It's also a way to merge your profit center with your "passion center" and build a business that mirrors your personal values, beliefs and integrity.

Powerful marketing edge

Your cause should align itself with your brand, as part of the theme that holds your slightly famous marketing strategy together. Because branding integrates everything your company does - including your values - your cause-related marketing activities should highlight your company's reputation within your target market.

Cause-related marketing can positively differentiate your company from your competitors and provide an edge that delivers other tangible benefits, including:

• Increased sales
• Increased visibility
• Increased customer loyalty
• Enhanced company image
• Positive media coverage

By choosing a cause you are passionate about, cause-related marketing is also emotionally fulfilling. Your activities will help you strike an emotional chord with your prospects.

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Real-World Success Story Mark McMahon Becomes Famous for Charitable Work

Cosmetic dentist Mark McMahon made himself a media mini-celebrity with a thriving practice. His financial success was due in part to his high-profile pro bono work in his community, a strategy that landed him radio and TV appearances in areas where he worked.

Each Thanksgiving, McMahon established partnerships with local charities, including a homeless shelter and a shelter for battered women, and offered free dental services to their members. Before each event, he contacted local media and let them know what he was up to. Several TV crews showed up, filmed him treating patients, and later aired the segments on the evening news.

"These events were surprisingly easy to arrange, and every year, they'd help us get press simply by doing these charitable promotions," McMahon says. "Local television news stations loved the emotional element. And it was obviously rewarding to see patients after we'd treated them who'd been in pain for months talking about how glad they were to be relieved of their toothaches."

Another project involved the Delancey Street Foundation, a residential education center for former substance abusers and ex-convicts. "I agreed to treat some of their members' acute dental needs," McMahon says. "I quickly appreciated the media appeal of transforming the appearance of these rough-looking guys with terrible smiles."

McMahon captured the event with before and after photos. "These guys had missing teeth and terrible smiles," he says. "So I had a professional photographer capture before pictures of these guys in street clothes with their snarling faces. After I fixed their teeth, we took more pictures, but this time dressed the guys in suits and ties, now looking like lawyers and accountants, with me sitting right in the middle. The media loved it, and it was great seeing these men looking like new."

McMahon's TV appearances created name recognition. "After I did the story on a local television show, I was recognized in my gym by a masseuse who had seen the show," McMahon recalls. "She said, 'I was thinking about you this morning while I was flossing my teeth.' She became a great source of referrals."

(Excerpted from Get Slightly Famous: Become a Celebrity in Your Field and Attract More Business with Less Effort)

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Getting Started

Cause-related marketing yields mutual benefit. Look for partners with a similar agenda whose goals can be better achieved by partnering with your business. Take inventory of the assets that make you an appealing partner in a cause-related venture.

Peggy Linial, author of Marketing From the Heart: A Guide to Cause Related Marketing for the Small Business, offers this formula for choosing partnerships:

Mission statement + personal passion + customer demographics = successful partner "Know what your product is, what tugs at your heart strings, and who your customers are. Then, choose accordingly," Linial says.

Embrace a cause. There are many types of mutually beneficial relationships you can form with your cause-related partner, including special events, sales promotions and collection plans. An easy way to embrace a cause is to team up with a charity.

Whenever Johnny "Love" Metheny, a slightly famous nightclub owner in San Francisco , opens a new club, he shares the limelight with a local charity. "I have a history of including the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society in my grand openings," says Metheny, who was voted the society's Man of the Year in 1991. "It's not only something I feel good about, but it helps us market our businesses to the community and media at the same time."

Volunteer. Another strategy is to volunteer with an organization or cause. When Eunice Azzani, an executive recruiter, volunteered to serve on the board of the San Francisco AIDS Foundation, or SFAF, she didn't anticipate that it would connect her with executives from Mervyn's, Bank of America, and Wells Fargo Bank, all of who eventually hired her to work for them.

"People don't hire a piece of paper or a process. They hire people they trust," Azzani says. "Volunteering for a position at a local organization makes you very trustworthy." She advises business owners to target causes they believe in. "If you're helping with a cause you believe in, people will see that you care. And they'll realize you will probably care as much about your work."

Cross-Promote. As your partnership takes shape, look for ways to become ambassadors for each other. Whenever you can, talk about the charitable organization. If you own a business that's open to the public, have flyers available. Promote the organization (and your partnership) on your website and in your newsletters. Ask your partner to extend the same courtesies to you.

Never lose the marketing focus of your community partnership efforts. Even though the work is philanthropy, your cause should generate interest in your company and motivate people to buy from it. Select a cause that is important to your target market, and make sure your target market sees that connection.

Cause-related community partnerships help you meet people, grow your business, and help your community. The strategies boost a company's prestige while gaining visibility through association with the cause. Tremendous goodwill can be generated, and media attention can be its side-effect.

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