My Quarterly Disquisition on Transparency in Cause-Related Marketing

I saw the Anne Klein ad to the left in the October 2008 Elle magazine and intended to question the unnecessarily abstruse language at the bottom that refers to “translational research,” whatever that means.

And then I came across this remarkable document on The Breast Cancer Research Foundation website. Remarkable because there in one PDF is all you need to know about the various jewelry items being sold this breast cancer season benefiting the BCRF.

It includes the jewelry price, where it’s being sold, how much of a donation is generated, press contacts, product descriptions, etc.

[The design of the document is rather blasé and the PDF itself could be more crisp. But I’m picking nits here.]

I've often written in this space about the necessity of transparency in cause-related marketing. (Click here for more.) Transparency is vital in cause-related marketing and far too rare. Vital because more than almost anything else you can name, cause-related marketing trades on trust.

BTW, according to Anna Deluca, associate director of marketing at The Breast Cancer Research Foundation, “’Translational research’ is also sometimes called ‘bench to bedside’ research and refers to research that translates scientific findings in the laboratory to clinical advances (new drugs, technologies or other treatments) for patients. This means that the laboratory research that BCRF supports must be aimed at new and better results that will improve the lives of patients with cancer or potential patients who are at risk of developing cancer.”

Brava Breast Cancer Research Foundation!

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