Caring, sharing set good tone for marketers

First published in The Tennessean - March 22, 2009

Marketing Matters
by David Bohan, CEO
BOHAN Advertising | Marketing


Caring, sharing set good tone for marketers


The mood of Americans is clearly not pro big business. From the outrage over bonuses at AIG to calls for ousting management on Wall Street, consumers are disgusted.

According to Trend Watching, which has more than 8,000 people monitoring consumer trends around the world,

o Only 13 percent of Americans trust big business;
o Just 39 percent of employees trust their companies’ senior leadership;
o Three-fourths of American consumers feel that advertising by big companies bends the truth;
o Seven in ten employees in big companies observed violations of the law or company standards in the last 12 months.

So how do you gain consumer confidence in your company, regardless of whether you are big or small?

One tested method is cause marketing. According to the 2007 Cone Cause Evolution Study, 83 percent of Americans believe that companies have a responsibility to support causes, and 92 percent report a more positive image of a company that supports a cause they care about.

The goal is giving consumer a warm and fuzzy feeling. The goal is developing consumer relationships. Almost 90 percent of consumers said they would switch to a brand that is associated with a worthy cause if price and quality are equal.

The American Marketing Association reported recently that 40 percent of women are more likely to buy a product or service if they know a portion of the purchase price is donated to a cause.

An Alloy Media + Marketing survey found that one-third of all college students prefer buying socially conscious brands.

Causes take on many shapes, sizes and even colors.

Have you heard of colony collapse disorder? It’s an epidemic that has decimated honey bee populations nationwide over the last two years. This may not be high on your personal agenda, but it is a major issue for food producers.

The “Help the Honey Bees” campaign from Haagen-Dazs at first may sound far out, but it actually makes great sense. Forty percent of the company’s flavors are dependent on plants pollinated by bees, and healthy bees mean healthy profits.

In addition to raising awareness, the campaign helps fund research grants at universities studying the problem.

The American Heart Association’s Go Red for Women movement has become the cause-marketing partner for many brands.

Macy’s sells Sweetheart teddy bears and Love tee shirts year round, with proceeds going to the Go Red for Women fund. Kellogg’s donates $1 from each specially marked box of Smart Start cereal to the Heart Association, and Hamilton Beach created a Red Ensemble product line of kitchen appliances tied to the campaign.

Not to be outdone, Kitchen Aid developed a line of pink appliances for its Cook for the Cure promotion that benefits the Susan G. Komen Breast Cancer Foundation. Since 2001, Kitchen Aid sales have generated more than $3 million for the foundation.

Pink also shows up in other product categories. Seagate offered a pink external hard drive, Polaroid served up a pink digital camera and Campbell’s Soup changed labels from red to pink for National Brest Cancer Awareness Month.

So pick a cause that is meaningful to you, your employees and your customers. Develop a marketing program that will build a connection between your business and the cause. Reap the benefits of doing well for your company and for a cause in the world outside your company.