Skip to main content

Cause Marketing with Direct Sellers

The direct selling industry in the United States… think Amway, Avon, Mary Kay… was a $28.33 billion business in 2009, although the more interesting number may be the 16.1 million salespeople involved in direct sales.

Philanthropically Avon and Mary Kay both are strongly… although not exclusively… involved with women’s issues.

So who does Amway support with its philanthropy and cause marketing? The short answer is children and children’s charities. But there’s more to it than that.

By itself Amway has 3 million Independent Business Owners (IBOs) and operations in 80 countries. Suffice it to say that just writing a check to the local children’s hospital in Grand Rapids, Michigan where Amway is headquartered… which Amway’s founders have done in a big way… isn’t entirely satisfying for the IBO in Japan or Singapore or even Canada.

Amway Global, ironically the North American affiliate of Amway Corp., mainly spreads its charitable dollars to three causes: Boys and Girls Clubs of America, Easter Seals, and SOS Children’s Villages, which is building ‘villages’ for homeless and abandoned kids in Haiti.

This ad, from Newsweek magazine in August 2010, highlights Amway Global’s three-year million-dollar donation to Boys and Girls Club of America to build community gardens at clubs in seven cities. The campaign provides curriculum on gardening to the clubs and, as the gardens grow, fresh fruits and veggies to Club members.

If seven cities seems like a low number, consider that Boys and Girls Clubs of America (BGCA) is largely a sanctioning body for the 4,000 clubs. Almost all the clubs are individual 501(c)(3) charities. So BGCA has little leverage with individual clubs to participate in national cause marketing campaigns.

One thing I didn’t see in this campaign is a place for Amway’s IBOs to participate, and that’s a pity, and probably short-sighted. Amway people on the ground helping kids plant or teaching the curriculum would almost certainly be an asset to the local Clubs. They'd also increase the bond between Amway and the Clubs and give the IBOs a stake in the campaign.

The campaign also seems like a slam dunk for other sponsors like plant and garden fertilizer and soil companies like Bonnie Plants and Scotts Miracle Grow.

Co-branding like that spreads the risk, brings greater resources to the table, and broadens the appeal. Amway could easily remain the main sponsor while a Bonnie or Miracle Grow would be co-sponsors.

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

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...