Cause Marketing ... Causes!

Guilty… I like playing on words. Today, there are so much evidence for Cause Marketing with metrics that matter such as ROI, ROE, impact on share value, etc., that few doubt what it actually “causes”. There are even those who preach that Cause Marketing will be pretty much the only way to do marketing in the future. In fact, I believe that it will have increased importance in brand investments, which is very good for everyone. Going further, perhaps it can even contribute to a healthy evolution of capitalism itself. So let me discuss this in 3 reflections:

The Need for a Better Definition on What Cause Marketing Is

Among all the recent definitions of Cause Marketing I found, in my opinion, the best one comes from Causemarketing.com:

“A type of CSR (Corporate Social Responsibility) in which a company's Promotional Campaign has the dual purpose of increasing profitability while bettering society.”

This definition is the broadest of all, because it recognizes that it is not necessary to involve a nonprofit organization for a cause marketing campaign to be carried out - more narrow interpretations are still found in many different publications.

The importance of a broader definition is that Cause Marketing seems to generate great resonance among younger generations who feel the need to have a higher purpose to engage with brands and companies, but the point is that this purpose is not only achieved in a form of contribution to non-profit institutions. A campaign aligned with relevant topics in evidence or under discussion in society already characterizes a cause or purpose.

Here are some examples:

Consider, for example, the Anhauser Bush (Super Bowl 2017) campaign that promotes tolerance for immigration describing the saga of a German immigrant who had the dream of producing a large brewery in the USA.

Or the 2014 Coca-Cola campaign “America's Beautiful” for the Olympics, which promotes multiculturalism by showing all the different races and cultures that continue to contribute to US formation.

We can also mention the eternal global campaign of Dove (Natural Beauty) and ABI’s campaign that reverses the profit from the sale of its AMA water brand in Brazil for projects that offer access to water in the semiarid. See here on page 71, you can access the ABI sustainability report.

A suggestion to see other global cases is to access the CauseMarketing website. There you'll find among others, some that promote two for-profit institutions (example - American Express & Small Business' Saturday), where American Express calls for support and encouragement of purchases in small local stores.

What is indispensable in Cause Marketing?

The cause, whether monetary or discursive, needs to be genuine, fully connected with brand and company values. Unfortunately, there are numerous examples of errors in this connection.

As a marketer, I understand that sometimes risks need to be taken, but I find it unacceptable to develop and invest millions in campaigns without understanding their potential impact. Fortunately, there are many current techniques and methodologies to understand if this connection is deep and genuine to the brands involved and even how to maximize and optimize your messages. Do not minimize the importance of this work.

Contribution to the evolution of capitalism

Returning to capitalism - which does not exist without profit and which, for the time being, proves to be the best system for developing modern societies, considering the qualities and many shortcomings of human beings; when I started working in the corporate world in the mid 80’s, it caused me a deep discomfort the lack of a bigger vision, such as the "vision statement" of large companies.

Not infrequently, I heard inflated speeches by senior corporate executives saying, "Our biggest goal is profit." Three decades later, it is a relief to see the evolution of this vision and without any ingenuity it is clear that profit still plays a leading role in business, but it provokes “zero” inspiration!

If profit can be achieved by having a positive effect on society, whether it is through “you buy, we give”, or social media engagement with the motto “you post #, we donate”, or even from a co-branded event, with stimuli such as “race to fight and prevent breast cancer”, or among other relevant topics that company leaders discuss the evolution of society, such as immigration, obesity, racial intolerance, etc., so be it!

In short, what really matter is that everyone wins: the company creates a vicious circle through profit, generating more jobs, paying more taxes, reinvesting in increased production at lower prices, and, on the other hand, society gets less unequal and unfair, and the impact of that: capitalism becomes less ugly or prettier, depending on your angle or beliefs. And this is how you do marketing that really causes!

And you? What do you think about Cause Marketing? It will be a pleasure to hear your opinions about this matter.

About me:

Senior Marketing Professional with strong global, regional and local experience. I have expertise in the area of management, development, research and brand monitoring and in all communication development processes. I formed and supported teams from consumer, durable goods, technology, telecommunications, retail, automotive, financial and professional services companies. The extensive experience I have gained as an executive of large multinational companies and as an information service provider, enables me to keep and connect a business vision with strong guidance and data support for assertive decision making, indispensable to the growing challenges facing all companies that undergo major changes and disruptions. I have a degree in Economics, with a specialization course in Digital Marketing and Analytics from Columbia University and have taught Advertising Research classes for executive MBA students at the University of S?o Paulo.