Cause Marketing

Boston College Center for Corporate Citizenship released its annual CSR Index the other day even as Occupy Wall Street and its satellite efforts continue their protests that are, in part, anti-corporate . The top 10 were : Publix Super Markets Google UPS Kellogg’s Amazon.com Berkshire Hathaway FedEx Campbell Soup Baxter International 3M By my count I’ve seen cause marketing from six of the top 10 and 33 of the full list of 50 companies. According to the BCCCC the index is based on a survey of “how the public perceives a company in three dimensions:” "Citizenship: Does the company contribute positively to its surrounding community in a socially and environmentally responsible fashion? "Governance: Is the company business run in a fair and transparent fashion? Do stakeholders associate the company with high ethical business standards? "Workplace: Are employees treated fairly and paid a decent wage? Does the company invest in developing employee skill sets and career opport...

Kind Readers: I’ve heard from a handful of people over the last few days about whether or not the Cause Marketing Blog has a newsgroup. Good news, it does! It’s super-easy to subscribe. Simply send me your name and your email address to aldenkeene at gmail dot com. And when you do each new post comes directly to your email every business day. As an inducement I’ll also send you a PDF copy of the "Five Flavors of Cause Marketing" which explains Cause-Related Marketing in an easy-to-follow matrix and includes examples. It's a great brainstorming tool and helps ensure that your campaign has all the components appropriate for that flavor of Cause Marketing. Your privacy is important to me, so be assured that I will never sell your name or email address. One other bit of housekeeping: Some idiot… whose reflection looks a lot like me… accidentally deleted the last 25 comments made on the Cause Marketing blog. They’re totally unrecoverable and lost to the ether. The buck stops h...