Cause Marketing and the Effects

ORIGINALLY POSTED ON FORBES OCTOBER 15, 2012 | READ THE ORIGINAL POST

If you have ever purchased a product or service and felt a little better about it because it had a little pink ribbon on it, you have likely been a patron of a cause marketing campaign. The concept refers to a type of marketing involving the cooperative efforts of a “for profit” business and a non-profit organization for mutual benefit. Cause marketing differs from corporate giving (philanthropy) as the latter generally involves a specific donation that is tax deductible, while cause marketing is a marketing relationship not necessarily based on a donation.

PINK RIBBON CHOCOLATE LOLLIPOPS FOR BREAST CAN…

Pink Ribbon chocolate lollipops for Breast Cancer Awareness Month. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
This trend of for-profit organizations partnering with non-profit organizations in order to sell products or services is not a new one by any means but it is definitely having an impact. According to Edelman’s annual goodpurpose study, “when quality and price of a product are deemed equal, social purpose has consistently been the leading purchase trigger for global consumers since 2008, design and innovation and brand loyalty aside. Over those years, the relevance of Purpose as a purchase factor has risen 26 percent globally. 47% of consumers have bought a brand at least monthly that supports a cause.”

There are also a few really stellar cause marketing organizations out there that took the concept and created ways to help “for-profits” connect with non-profits without any of the leg-work. Erase Poverty, a San Diego based organization gives companies that are looking to do good, all of the marketing tools they need in order to display to their patrons and potential customers that they are a company that cares through a personalized, cause-marketing program that directly funds microloans.

There are millions of cause marketing campaigns out there, each with their own pledge of giving and awareness for different causes so as a business owner and a patron, it may be well worth your time and money to pick the one with the little pink ribbon. Happy Breast Cancer Awareness Month!