Cause-related Marketing
by Steven Van Yoder

Fuel for your business

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.

Powerful marketing edge
Cause-related marketing can become a cornerstone of your marketing plan. 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

Your cause should align itself with your brand and your personal values. By choosing a cause you are passionate about, cause-related marketing is emotionally fulfilling. It's a way to merge your profit center with your “passion center” and build a business that mirrors your personal values, beliefs and integrity.

You benefit by letting your market know that you're socially active. If your cause also resonates with your target market, your activities will strike an emotional chord with your prospects. Tremendous goodwill can be generated, and media attention can be its side effect.

Real-world success story
Cosmetic dentist Mark McMahon made himself a media mini-celebrity with a thriving practice 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.

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.”

Getting started
Check out Fuel cells for ideas on how you can make cause-related marketing a cornerstone of your business plan.

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Fuel cells

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.

• 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.
   
• Volunteer—Volunteer with an organization or cause. When Eunice Azzani, an executive recruiter, volunteered to serve on the board of the San Francisco AIDS Foundation (SFAF) she didn't anticipate that it would connect her with executives from Mervyn's, Bank of America, and Wells Fargo Bank, all who eventually hired her to work for them.
   
• Cross-promote—As your partnership takes shape, become ambassadors for each other. Talk about the charitable organization and have flyers available. Promote the organization (and your partnership) on your Web site and in your newsletters. Ask your partner to extend the same courtesies to you.
   
• Keep your focus—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.

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Fuel for your soul

Consider these words of wisdom:

“Know what your product is, what tugs at your heart strings, and who your customers are. Then, choose accordingly”
– Peggy Linial, author of Marketing From the Heart: A Guide to Cause Related Marketing for the Small Business

“After I did the story on a local television show, I was recognized in my gym by a masseuse. She said, 'I was thinking about you this morning while I was flossing my teeth.' She became a great source of referrals.”
– Mark McMahon

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