Cause Marketing Your Valentine

On Monday, Feb 2 Lisa Scherzer, a reporter from SmartMoney.com contacted me with the following email:

Hi Paul,

I’m a writer at SmartMoney.com. I’m working on an article about alternative Valentine’s Day gifts that are for a good cause. I’ve come across a bunch of nonprofits and other companies that have Valentine’s promotions that include, for example, giving proceeds from the purchase of an organic flower bouquet to charity.

Would you be able to speak with me about this kind of cause marketing – in particular for Valentine’s Day? And how should consumers approach these kinds of items when shopping for gifts for their beloveds? I came across your Alden Keene blog and I thought you might be able to help.

Best regards,

Lisa

I responded thusly:

Hi Lisa:

Great to hear from. Thanks for contacting me. Please let me know if this does not suit your needs, or if you’d like something else or something more.

“Retailers big and small, online and offline rely on shopping seasons. You know, Valentine’s, Mother’s Day, Father’s Day/Graduation, Back to School, Halloween, and Christmas. Since Valentine’s Day comes in the first quarter, traditionally the worst quarter for retail, it’s an important sales season. And for many chocolate, candy makers or florists, it’s almost make or break.
Valentine’s Day is a natural for cause marketing promotions. Research and experience show that cause marketing works best with consumer products. And when there’s a good match between the cause and sponsor, cause marketing can be very effective at bottom-line things like improving sales or customer loyalty. For retailers, especially in this lousy economy, cause marketing is a little like you or me taking a vitamin C tablet during cold and flu season.

Plus cause marketing also helps charities at a time when they’re especially hard hit. In that way cause marketing is like dark chocolate for retailers; it tastes good and its loaded with anti-oxidants, to boot.

But what’s a consumer supposed to do when the online florist or the storefront chocolatier is offering a donation to a cause?

If it’s a donation of $5 or more give it a quick smell test:

* Have you heard of the cause? Is it respectable? Can the clerk or the website tell you anything about the charity?

* Is there any supporting material? A brochure? PDF? A link? A phone number? If your’re really serious or just curious you can always check on charities at websites like CharityNavigator.org or Guidestar.org.

* Does the charity’s (apparent) mission resonate with you or with others you care about?

If any part of it smells funny or doesn’t appeal, walk away from the transaction. There’s plenty of businesses happy to take your money right now.
If the donation in question is a small amount, say a $1 or less, and the product is otherwise something you’d be likely to buy, my take is that you probably don’t have to spend any time or mental energy on it. Spend your time thinking about your Valentine, not the dime that may or may not be going to charity.”

Warm regards,

Paul Jones

Sad to say, when the story appeared, Ms. Scherzer chose not to quote me. But all is not lost.

At least I got a post out of the experience!

Batting Your Eyelashes at Prescription Drug Cause Marketing

I’m a little chary about making sweeping pronouncements, but I believe I've just seen the first cause marketing promotion in the U.S. involving a prescription drug. The drug is from Allergan and it’s called Latisse , “the first and only FDA-approved prescription treatment for inadequate or not enough eyelashes.” The medical name for this condition is hypotrichosis. Latisse is lifestyle drug the way Viagra or Propecia are. That is, no one’s going to die (except, perhaps, of embarrassment) if their erectile dysfunction or male pattern baldness or thin eyelashes go untreated. Which means the positioning for a product like Latisse is a little tricky. Allergan could have gone with the sexy route as with Viagra or Cialis and showed lovely women batting their new longer, thicker, darker eyelashes. But I’ll bet that approach didn’t test well with women. (I’m reminded of a joke about the Cialis ads from a comedian whose name I can’t recall. He said, “Hey if my erection lasts longer than ...

Cause Marketing: The All Packaging Edition

One way to activate a cause marketing campaign when the sponsor sells a physical product is on the packaging. I started my career in cause marketing on the charity side and I can tell you that back in the day we were thrilled to get a logo on pack of a consumer packaged good (CPG) or even just a mention. Since then, there’s been a welcome evolution of what sponsors are willing and able to do with their packaging in order to activate their cause sponsorships. That said, even today some sponsors don’t seem to have gotten the memo that when it comes to explaining your cause campaign, more really is more, even on something as small as a can or bottle. The savviest sponsors realize that their only guaranteed means of reaching actual customers with a cause marketing message is by putting it on packaging. And the reach and frequency of the media on packaging for certain high-volume CPG items is almost certainly greater than radio, print or outdoor advertising, and, in many cases, TV. More to ...

Chili’s and St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital

I was in Chili’s today and I ordered their “Triple-Dipper,” a three appetizer combo. While I waited for the food, I noticed another kind of combo. Chili’s is doing a full-featured cause-related marketing campaign for St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital. There was a four-sided laminated table tent outlining the campaign on the table. When the waitress brought the drinks she slapped down Chili’s trademark square paper beverage coasters and on them was a call to action for an element of the campaign called ‘Create-A-Pepper,’ a kind of paper icon campaign. The wait staff was all attired in black shirts co-branded with Chili’s and St. Jude. The Create-A-Pepper paper icon could be found in a stack behind the hostess area. The Peppers are outlines of Chili’s iconic logo meant to be colored. I paid $1 for mine, but they would have taken $5, $10, or more. The crayons, too, were co-branded with the ‘Create-A-Pepper’ and St. Jude’s logos. There’s also creatapepper.com, a microsite, but again wi...

Cause Marketing

Search This Blog