Cause Marketing

We all get cause marketing based on food and other consumables. But is cause marketing out of reach if the product you sell is a little on the esoteric side? What charity do you partner with and what is the shape of that partnership? How do you make sure your brand is really served by your sponsorship? These and other questions came to me as I read a press release announcing Celestron’s sponsorship of the nonprofit Astronomers Without Borders (AWB). Celestron is the world’s largest telescope maker, with a special emphasis on selling telescopes to serious amateur astronomers. Astronomers Without Borders seeks to promote “understanding and peaceful international relations, while also supporting outreach and education in astronomy.” I don’t want to oversell the obscurity of telescopes. Astronomy and telescopes aren’t exactly invisible to the wider world. This isn’t Olympic badminton, after all.   By the same token, amateur astronomy is not like the NBA or even the NHL in term...

Yesterday Tempur-Pedic, which sells mattresses, ended a month-long promotion in support of the Pancreatic Cancer Action Network . When you took a test-rest on one of their mattresses at participating retailers, and then activated online a validation code, a $10 donation was made to the cause, up to a $100,000 maximum. Pancreatic cancer is among the deadliest. In 2010 43,000 people in the United States were diagnosed with the disease and 37,000 died (although not necessary in the year they were diagnosed). Six percent of all cancer deaths are attributable to pancreatic cancer. Pancreatic cancer is responsible for the death of actor Patrick Swayze in September 2009. But a second element of the promotion remains in place. When you buy a limited-edition Tempur white teddy bear , seen at the left, proceeds go to the cause. The bear is stuffed with the same proprietary foam used in the Tempur-Pedic mattresses. Cool idea but it’s something of a risk for Tempur-Pedic. Tempur-Pedic is sold base...