Tips on Making Your Cause Marketing Collateral More Persuasive

The Alden Keene Cause Marketing Database turned up a handbill from a Wendy’s in Arizona for AASK-Arizona, an affiliate for the Wendy’s adoption program called Wendy’s Wonderful Kids in metropolitan Phoenix.

AASK stands for Aid to Adoption of Special Kids. The handbill was positioned on a counter near one of the doorways.

I like the front of the handbill. The four pictures of smiling young fellow named Casey drew me in. But the copy on the back struck me as unpersuasive. See if you agree.

The first paragraph describes Wendy’s Wonderful Kids, an effort by Wendy’s to increase adoptions out of America’s foster care system.

The second paragraph describes that AASK as the affiliate of Wendy’s Wonderful Kids in Maricopa County, basically the greater Phoenix region.

So far, so good. The third paragraph is where I think the copy begins to lose its way:

“Through valuable media partnerships, including Wednesday’s Child, AASK is able to touch the hearts of thousands of potential parents annually.”

Wednesday’s Child is a weekly public service program that runs on local television stations in a number of markets in the United States and showcases kids up for adoption. So invoking Wednesday’s Child is kind of appeal to authority. Nothing wrong with that so long as Wednesday’s Child is respected in Arizona.

But it’s the second clause in that sentence that jumps out at me. Can “touching the hearts of thousands of potential parents annually” really be AASK’s goal?

Wendy’s Wonderful Kids stated goal is to increase the number of adoptive parents. Since AASK is an affiliate, you’d expect that their missions line up to some degree. But touching the hearts of parents is really just a means to an end.

Wouldn’t it be far better to cite the number of adoptive parents that AASK has helped? Or, if that number is relatively small, wouldn’t it be better to cite the number of parents in Arizona who have adopted special needs kids? Adoption of special needs kids probably seems like a hurdle to a lot of the people who might consider it. But if thousands of Arizonans are adopting special needs kids out of foster care, well then that’s a sign that such adoptions aren’t as daunting as they might seem.

The fourth paragraph is no more persuasive.

“With its dedicated staff and commitment to placing more children, AASK is uniquely qualified to ensure that more of Arizona’s foster children have a safe home and a loving family.”

My bet is that AASK has competitors who would also claim to have dedicated staffs and a commitment to placing more children. So unique isn’t the right word. But AASK has been in business since 1988, which is no small feat. Charities that can’t fulfill their missions or make their cases to supporters don’t usually last 25 years.

The copy could also certainly back-reference Casey. We could learn more about what makes him special. Maybe he was adopted and his new parents could be quoted as saying how rewarding it is to have Casey in their family.

As tactical as all this sounds, Wendy’s has a strategic stake in all this. The AASK is Wendy’s Wonderful Kids partner in Arizona's largest market, and Wendy’s does the AASK a disservice by not helping make even a simple handbill as persuasive as it can be.

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

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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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