Cause Marketing

Just as “the rich are different than us,” so too are teenagers. How so? In their hearts and souls they aspire to make the world a better place. A study conducted earlier this year for the Christian aid charity World Vision found 13-17 year-olds were more likely than adults to say that helping others is more important than ever (90%), more likely to wish they could help others (88%) and more likely to do something active to support good causes (71%). Notwithstanding the videos that appear on YouTube showing teens beating each other up at KFC or shooting each other at Taco Bell , like never before this aspirational desire to make the world a better place is baked into the zeitgeist of today’s teens. Here's a case study: In 2008 siblings Paige Cahue, Gage Cahue, and Tristan Garber… of Indianapolis… developed charms that fit through the eyelets of shoes. After a couple of months of prototyping they ordered a box of charms shaped like a pizza from a manufacturer and started selling th...

In the States it’s common to see promotions centered around various holidays; Father’s Day, St. Patrick’s, Halloween, the Super Bowl, etc. According to National Retail Federation, the biggest holidays for retail sales are: the winter holidays (i.e.Christmas/Thanksgiving) by a country mile, back to school, Mother’s Day, Valentine’s Day, followed closely by Easter. Even though Easter falls three weeks later in 2009 than 2008… thereby allowing retailers to gear-up… Easter sales are projected to be off 14 percent as Americans economize during the recession. So what to do if your company's annual sales rely heavily on sales during the Easter holiday? Lindt, the Swiss chocolatier has partnered with Autism Speaks , an advocacy group, in a cute if slightly miserly cause marketing campaign. When you buy a Lindt chocolate golden bunny between March 12 and April 12, Lindt will donate $0.10 cents to Autism Speaks, up to $100,000. You can also buy toy bunny ears, also benefiting Autism Speaks...

Over the last 15 years or so, I’ve seen my fair share of cause-related marketing, but I don’t remember ever seeing any featuring lighters. So, I was fascinated to come across this campaign from Zippo, candle designer Harry Slatkin, and retailer Bath & Body Works, benefiting Autism Speaks, the 3½ year old autism advocacy organization founded by Suzanne and Bob Wright. So I went to the websites of all the entities named in the ad, which appeared in the October 2008 Elle Decor to learn more. And what did I learn? I learned that nobody seems to want to own this campaign. Zippo.com has zip about it. Bathandbodyworks.com has a Slatkin lighter, but there’s zilch there about Autism Speaks. And there’s zero at AutismSpeaks.org , too. Could be there’s something in-store, but the closest Bath & Body Works to me is farther than I care to drive. (Update on October 20, 2008: My new friend John D., who lives in the Eastern U.S. reports that he visited a Bath & Body Works over the weeke...