Cause Marketing to Children

The other day a new friend asked, “Is there such a thing as cause marketing targeted at children?”

Of course cause marketing to kids would be a conundrum. While 4 to12-year-olds influence at least $128 billion in household spending, perhaps 5 percent of that total is money kids can actually spend on their own.

And influence is a fuzzy notion. In my household, for instance, my kids have never influenced me to buy the sugary cereals whose ads run in hot rotation on Nick Jr., although I might ask them whether they prefer Oreos or Pepperidge Farm cookies.

But I couldn’t think of any cause marketing targeted at children so I promised to consult Alden Keene’s voluminous database of cause marketing ads.

I was slightly surprised to find the example above, which comes from the September 2007 SI Kids magazine.

Above is the third page of a three-page ad for retailer JC Penney. The first two pages are in a double-truck configuration and feature NFL player and all-around good guy Michael Strahan, who was still playing for the New York Giants when the ad dropped. Strahan retired before the start of the 2008 season.

JC Penney’s Afterschool Fund, which is organized as a charity, supports Boys & Girls Clubs of America, YMCA of the USA, *National 4-H, United Way and FIRST. Since 1999, JC Penney reports, it has donated more $80 million to after school programs.

JC Penney’s tie-in with the NFL is through the Afterschool Fund’s sponsorship of the ‘Take a Player to School’ sweepstakes whereby school kids can enter to win the chance to bring an NFL player to their school for show and tell.

I’m torn about whether cause marketing aimed at kids could be effective.

But in this specific example, I have a hard time believing that this ad really worked. It just seems too darn earnest. “When you purchase these cool items… all net profits are donated to the JCPenney Afterschool Fund, a charity that provides children in need with access to life-enriching afterschool programs…”

That’s a little syrupy even for my sweet tooth.

As for the offer, the readership of SI Kids is 69 percent boys to 31 percent girls. Given that, I have serious doubts that much of SI Kids readership has been pining for albums from Ashley Tisdale, the cast album of High School Musical, or episodes of That’s So Raven.

In short, the product mix is not quite right and the creative strikes me as being too treacly.

* Full disclosure: Alden Keene has done work for the National 4-H Council.

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...

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