Cause Marketing Grab Bag

Assorted miscellanea today from the intersection of causes and commerce, marketing and business.

Out today Trendwatching.com’s Eco Bounty report. Because trendwatching.com casts such a broad net, I find it must reading when I need to inspire my own ideas and thinking.
Also released today were the results of the third annual Nonprofit Employment Trends Survey which finds that 26 percent of the nonprofits surveyed expect to cut staff in 2009. Here’s a shocking thought; laid off nonprofit employees on the other side of the breadline.
Adult contemporary/ jazz musician Anders Holst has a new charity single out called All About Soul. During March all proceeds for the sales of the single will benefit the New York affiliate of Susan G. Komen for the Cure.
Along a similar vein, a host of Brazilian musicians have put out a compilation called Dark Was the Night benefiting the Red Hot Organization, a HIV/AIDS charity.
Huggable American Idol runner-up David Archuleta is fronting an effort from Build-A-Bear Workshop called Love. Hugs. Peace., and meant to inspire kids to improve their world. Archuleta sings a song called Let’s Talk About Love, which you can download from the website (through tomorrow) for $1. Other artists will record the song over time. The money goes to Save the Children.
Finally, if you find yourself in need of some knowledgeable help with trademarks, I can recommend writer, instructor and trademark and brand doyenne Linda Tancs. We often think of patents as the only real intellectual property. But for many companies and causes their trademarks are the most important elements in their portfolio of intellectual property. And, if properly maintained, they never expire—unlike a patent.

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Part 2: How Chili's Used Cause-Related Marketing to Raise $8.2 million for St. Jude

[Bloggers Note: In this second half of this post I discuss the nuts and bolts of how Chili's motivates support from its employees and managers and how St. Jude 'activates' support from Chili's. Read the first half here.] How does St. Jude motivate support from Chili’s front line employees and management alike? They call it ‘activation’ and they do so by the following: They share stories of St. Jude patients who were sick and got better thanks to the services they received at the hospital. Two stories in particular are personal for Chili’s staff. A Chili’s bartender in El Dorado Hills, California named Jeff Eagles has a younger brother who was treated at St. Jude. In both 2005 and 2006 Eagles was the campaign’s biggest individual fundraiser. John Griffin, a manager at the Chili’s in Conway, Arkansas had an infant daughter who was treated for retinoblastoma at St. Jude. They drew on the support Doug Brooks… the president and CEO of Brinker International, Chili’s parent co...

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-Related Marketing with Customer Receipts

Walgreens and JDRF Right now at Walgreens…the giant pharmacy and retail store chain with more than 5,800 stores in the United States and Puerto Rico… they’re selling $1 paper icons for the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation (JDRF). This is an annual campaign and I bought one to gauge how it’s changed over the years. (Short list… they don’t do the shoe as a die cut anymore; the paper icon is now an 8¾ x 4¼ rectangle. Another interesting change; one side is now in Spanish). The icon has a bar code and Jacob, the clerk, scanned it and handed me a receipt as we finished the transaction. At the bottom was an 800-number keyed to a customer satisfaction survey. Dial the number, answer some questions and you’re entered into a drawing for $10,000 between now and the end of September 2007. I don’t know what their response rate is, but the $10,000 amount suggests that it’s pretty low. Taco Bell’s survey gives out $1,000 per week. At a regional seafood restaurant they give me a code that garner...

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