Doing Well and Doing Good in Digital Age: Changing face of Cause Related Marketing
Alignment of Business Goals with Societal Well-Being
Before discussing Cause Related Marketing, let’s briefly look at the overall role of business in society. ‘Business of business is business’ is an oft repeated 70’s quote by Milton Friedman. But, even the most ardent supporters of capitalism now realize that businesses do not operate in a vacuum and have a social responsibility as well.
According to Edelman World Trust Index, 86% respondents worldwide believe that businesses should stand for more than profitability (edelman.com, 2016). But, the challenge for organizations is to balance profit maximization with social responsibility.
A social paradise cannot be maintained in an economic graveyard, but an economic orchard cannot thrive in a social desert ~ Mark Eskyens
Doing Well and Doing Good
Before the 1990s, decisions regarding the selection of social issues to support tended to be made based on themes reflecting emerging pressures for ‘doing good to look good.’ When developing and implementing specific initiatives, the rule of thumb was ‘to do good as easily as possible’, resulting in a tendency to simply write a check. And in terms of evaluation, it appears little was done. (Kotler & Lee, 2008)
But slowly after 90’s, this trend started to change. Many corporations turned to a new strategic social responsibility approach. This impacted what issues organizations supported, how they designed and implemented their programs, and how they evaluated these programs. Decision-making now reflects an increased desire for ‘doing well and doing good.’ (Hessekiel, et al., 2012)
Cause Related Marketing Defined
“Cause Related Marketing (CRM)” is one of the most promising approaches to strike a win-win situation. In CRM, the cause and business win and the benefits also extend to consumers (Adkins, 1999).
Varadarajan and Menon define CRM as, “firm’s contribution to a designated cause being linked to customers’ engaging in revenue-producing transactions with the firm.” (Varadarajan & Menon, 1988)
Evolution of Cause Related Marketing
American Express pioneered the CRM when they raised $1.7 million for the restoration of the statue of liberty in the course of a three months’ campaign, from September to December 1983. The use of American Express cards rose by 28% and new card application rose by 45% during this time (Adkins, 1999). There are multiple instances of successful CRM campaigns over the years. For example, Dove campaign for real beauty (2004 to present), Home Depot: 1000 playgrounds in 1000 days (2005 to 2008), Product Red by Bono and Bobby Shriver (2006 to present) etc. (Causemarketingforum.com, 2016).
Cause Related Marketing in Digital Age
Doing well and doing good are no longer exclusive. Social media has given people a fantastic tool to keep businesses honest. Simultaneously, businesses have an opportunity now to demonstrate that they can be a force for good. But the fact is that most of the organizations have still not adapted their CSR activities to the digital age (Comprend.com, 2016).
On top of everything else, there has been a subtle rebalancing in the business environment and customer’s perception in the digital age.
Following are few points to leverage rebalanced digital age for cause related marketing efforts:
Increasing Customer Engagement and Transparency
One of the lingering criticism of CRM has been the lack of transparency in the communication of utilization of customer’s contribution. Presenting the results of the campaign in real time on social media can increase the engagement of the customers and will also enhance the credibility of the brand. A good example of increasing customer engagement with emotional undertone is LEGO’s campaign,”Let’s Build.”
Design better content with story telling
The digital age has permanently changed how people receive, judge and share information. A company may be doing a lot of good stuff for the society but reporting it in an annual CSR report with ‘cold hard facts’ may not be a good idea anymore. Companies must create interesting stories around their efforts, which are easy to share. This exciting content will automatically support ‘inbound marketing’ as well. Perhaps the best example of storytelling to win the customers and raise social awareness is Chipotle’s “Back to the Start” and “Scarecrow” campaigns.
Making a move towards Strategic Cause Related Communication
Let’s face it; digital is here to stay. Companies can no longer pick and choose causes to support and leverage maximum benefit from short-term campaigns. CRM activities have to align with company’s strategic intent. CRM communication must encompass multiple channels and multiple messages on different formats such as social media, blogs, videos, and photos. This integrated communication will create long-term brand equity by increasing customer engagement.
Author:
Gaurav Awasthi, M.Sc. Marketing, 2016-17, Trinity Business School, Dublin 2, Ireland.
References
Adkins, S., 1999. Cause Related Marketing: Who cares win. oxford: Elsevier Butterworth -Heinemann.
Causemarketingforum.com, 2016. The Ten Most Influential Cause Marketing Campaigns. [Online]
Available at: http://www.causemarketingforum.com/site/apps/nlnet/content2.aspx?c=bkLUKcOTLkK4E&b=6415417&ct=8971405
[Accessed 13 November 2016].
Comprend.com, 2016. CSR in the Digital Age. [Online]
Available at: https://comprend.com/blog/2015/03/12/csr-digital-age
[Accessed 13 November 2016].
Edelman.com, 2016, 2016 Edelman Trust Barometer. [Online] Available at: http://www.edelman.com/insights/intellectual-property/2016-edelman-trust-barometer/ [Accessed 15 November 2016]
Hessekiel , D., Kotler, P. & Lee, N., 2012. Good works! marketing and corporate initiatives that build a better world… and the bottom line. Hoboken, New Jersey: John Wiley & Sons, Inc..
Kotler, P. & Lee, N., 2008. Corporate Social Responsibility: Doing the most Good for your company and your cause. New Jersey: Wiley and Sons.
Varadarajan, R. P. & Menon, A., July 1988. Cause-Related Marketing: A coalignment of Marketing Strategy and Corporate Philanthropy. Journal of Marketing, pp. 58-74.