Cause marketing refers to “a type of marketing involving the cooperative efforts of a ‘for profit’ business and a non-profit organization for mutual benefit”. – Wikipedia

Recent political events have shaken my view on quite a few things. The first cloud in my sky was the striking success of the True Finns (a populist/national socialist party) in the 2011 Finnish Parliamentary elections. And now the second wave of the financial crisis has had a serious impact on how we will be making economic and political decisions in the near future.

I believe that these events will foster an introverted politics with less emphasis on securing long-term positive developments worldwide. Even in this tight situation, though, many people still feel the importance of sustainable development and the need to aid less fortunate people around the world.

Brands have the chance to play a key role in making it easier to help. Almost any purchasing situation can present opportunities for taking positive action, and companies will find that doing good can in fact be profitable business. This happens automatically when a firm gets favorable publicity for contributing to valuable causes, generating customer goodwill and enhancing brand value. Going even further and developing the brand towards always being associated with good causes would be the natural next step.

You might think this is something limited to just a few companies or specific campaigns fortunate enough to get positive press for supporting causes. But if you take a look at what both consumers and managers are saying on the subject, it becomes clear that there are real opportunities here for almost any company out there.

When you ask consumers
Eighty-six percent of consumers worldwide believe that business needs to place at least equal weight on societal interests as on business interests.
2010 Edelman goodpurpose

Marketing executives agree
Two-thirds of brands now engage in cause marketing (up from 58% in 2009) and 97% of marketing executives believe it is a valid business strategy.
2010 PRWeek/Barkely PR Cause Survey

Cause increasingly creates differentiation
79% of Americans say they would be likely to switch from one brand to another, when price and quality are about equal, if the other brand is associated with a good cause (compared to 66% in 1993).
2008 Cone Cause Evolution Study

Quite a few major brands are already doing cause marketing. Pepsi, for example, generated quite a buzz when they announced that instead of running their usual TV ad during the 2010 Super Bowl, they would be giving the 25 million dollars to good causes.

But even if some major brands are taking steps in this direction, few if any are automatically associated with cause marketing as a practice. Which means this could be the perfect time to start building exactly that aspect of your brand image!

Below, some examples of a company that has been doing an excellent job building a flourishing business around cause marketing.

1. You need to start from somewhere, right.

2. If your concept is good and simple enough, it’s easily extendable.

3. Use it for campaigns and go viral.

You might agree this sounds like something worth getting involved in, but say there are other more urgent things demanding your attention right now. On the other hand, when you consider that supporting good causes is not secondary to doing good business, the priorities might look different. Why not take some solid steps towards enhanced brand equity and customer loyalty today?

Your business, and the world we live in, will be glad you did.

The writer is a Business unit leader, Account manager at Activeark
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