Cause Marketing

Most cause marketing is aimed at consumers, but not all. B2B cause marketing takes place regularly, if not commonly. Here’s an intriguing B2B cause marketing offer from Zoomerang , the online survey company, benefiting schools or other organizations through JustGive.org . Here’s how works: When you buy $2,500 worth of Zoomerang services between Sept 13 and Sept 30, 2011, the company will send you via email a $100 GiveNow card from Justgive.org. While Zoomerang is promoting this as a chance to give school supplies in time for back-to-school, the JustGive.org certificate could go to any of hundreds of thousands of organizations in the JustGive orbit. I was prepared to really like this campaign until I read the fine print . First off, the campaign time period is oddly short. It lasts 17 days. Apparently whoever developed this campaign is a Virgo. The offer is available only to people that Zoomerang or its affiliates approach. I saw this because I’m a Zoomerang customer. But you can’t take...

Been going through my voluminous electronic files of studies about cause marketing and corporate social responsibility (CSR) and I came across again a 2008 poll of corporate communicators that found they want their companies to engage in more CSR; they just can’t come up with a good business reason for doing so or decide who should drive it. The poll, from Ragan Communications and Pollstream follows a 2008 study from IBM ( covered in this space ), that reported that corporate executives want to see more CSR, too, and were devoting resources to it. The poll was part of a series from Ragan that regularly queries some 425+ corporate communicators in North and South America, Europe, Asia, Africa and Australia. The communicators split almost evenly over the issue of who should run a company’s CSR efforts. Just about 50 percent said it should be a standalone department that reports directly to the CEO. The other 50 percent said CSR should fall under either media relations, internal communi...

Ragan Communications and Pollstream just released a poll that finds that corporate communicators want their companies to engage in more corporate social responsibility (CSR); they just can’t come up with a good business reason why or decide who should drive it. This follows an earlier poll from IBM and covered in this space , that reported that corporate executives want to see more CSR, too, and were devoting resources to it. The poll was part of a series spearheaded by Ragan that regularly queries some 439 corporate communicators in North and South America, Europe, Asia, Africa and Australia. The communicators split almost evenly over the issue of who should run a company’s CSR efforts. Just about 50 percent it should be a standalone department that reports directly to the CEO. The other 50 percent said CSR should fall under either media relations, internal communications or marketing. It would be a measure of the esteem that CSR holds in a company if it operated independently and r...

My boutique marketing agency... Alden Keene & Associates... is about to get some more competition, this time from IBM. They will officially release the following press release later today. Don't feel like you can afford IBM? You're probably right. So if you're in need of cutting-edge marketing from someone ask.com called "a veteran of the cause-marketing wars," contact me Paul Jones, at aldenkeene[at]gmail[dot]com. And ask for the 'Big Blue Special'. FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE New IBM Consulting Offerings Help Clients Be Greener, More Ethical: Improving Corporate Social Responsibility Can Grow Revenue, Market Share SOMERS, NY -- 30 June 2008: New IBM (NYSE:IBM) consulting offerings can help clients understand and improve their societal impact – from carbon management to labor practices – increasing their competitive position and appeal to consumers and other interested parties. “Operating a business ethically and environmentally is not only a requirement to...

Buttonhole a CEO CEOs worldwide plan to increase their investments 25 percent over the next three years to better to better understand and reach socially-minded customers, according to a worldwide survey of CEOs released this month by IBM’s Global Business Service Unit. On February 22, I wrote about IBM’s case for corporate social responsibility (CSR) based on a survey of 250 CEOs. This second, larger survey of CEOs called the “Global CEO Study” tallied results from 1103 CEOs from 40 countries and 32 industries using face-to-face interviews. That 25 percent increase in investments represents the largest percentage increase of any trend identified in the study. Among other pertinent findings: CEOs believe that customer expectations around corporate social responsibility are increasing, and that CSR will play an important role in differentiating enterprises in the future. More than ever a company’s CSR profile matters to customers. And while ‘green’ initiatives are top of mind, the CEOs...

According to a recent survey, 68 percent of business leaders are using corporate social responsibility (CSR) to create new revenue streams and 54 percent believe that their CSR endeavors are giving their companies a competitive edge. These and other findings come from a report issued Feb 12 by the IBM Institute for Business Value, a unit of Big Blue’s business consulting division. The Institute surveyed 250 business leaders worldwide and found that businesses are increasingly using the elements of corporate social responsibility to differentiate themselves from competitors, lower costs, and bolster their bottom line. “CSR is no longer viewed as just a regulatory or discretionary cost,” the report’s authors, George Pohle and Jeff Hittner write in the introduction, “but an investment that brings financial returns.” The survey suggests that momentum is gaining in CSR. The survey identified five areas where companies have ‘focused their CSR activities’ … regulatory compliance, strategic ph...