Cause Marketing

Holidays are natural hooks for cause marketers to hang their promotions on and Veteran’s Day in the United States is increasingly a favorite peg. This effort from Outback Steakhouse is a prominent example. On Monday, Nov. 12… Veteran’s Day 2012… and Tuesday Nov. 13, any active duty or military veteran can get a free ‘Bloomin’ Onion’ and a Coca-Cola beverage at any participating Outback Steakhouse location with valid ID, no purchase necessary. In addition, from Tuesday, Nov 13 through the end of the year, vets and active duty military receive a 10 percent at Outback, again with valid ID. What are the advantages of pegging your cause marketing to a holiday? The simple answer is that three or four generations of retail promotions centered around the holidays have habituated consumers to the idea. Sure, back to school sales make sense for August and chocolate promotions for Valentine’s Day. Consequently, those kinds of tie-ins have been around since time immemorial. But if you thi...

Cheerwine, an extra-bubbly cherry-flavored soft drink bottled in Salisbury, North Carolina, is distributed to a relatively small portion of the United States, but is working towards national distribution in time for its 100th anniversary in 2017. So how to prepare markets outside of the Southeast for a national roll-out in five years? Part of Cheerwine’s answer is a cause marketing campaign called Avett Brother’s Cheerwine Legendary Giveback Concert , which takes place on Oct. 19, 2012 in Charlottesville, Virginia. It’s a benefit concert for Operation Homefront , a charity for the families of military families, Big Brothers and Big Sisters and the University of Virginia Children’s Hospital in Charlottesville. The Avett Brothers is an indie rock band with a cool bluegrass-country-pop-punk-honky-tonk sound. The amount of money a benefit concert can raise is necessarily limited by the size of the venue, how much can be charged for tickets, sponsorships, and merchandising, and...

Earlier this month the Center for Social Impact Communication at Georgetown University published a study that found that the cause that most resonates with Americans right now is supporting the troops, something several sponsors seem to have already understood. Outback Steakhouse has long made cause marketing with a military theme a key piece of its promotional mix and community support. On Veteran’s Day, November 11, veterans and active duty military get a free Bloomin’ Onion appetizer and non-alcoholic drink. Going back to 2002 Outback has also sent employee volunteers to the Middle East to feed the troops in Afghanistan and Iraq. In 2010 Outback also had a special menu called “Red, White and Bloomin.’” When you ordered from that menu, Outback would make a donation to Operation Homefront . Outback’s donation to Operation Homefront came to $1 million in 2010. The Georgetown study, called the Dynamics of Cause Engagement , found that 71 percent of American were very or somewhat kn...

It's rare to see national television ads for cause marketing. But since January I count three: Disney Parks' efforts to encourage volunteerism, utilizing the Muppets. Outback Steakhouse's campaign for Operation Homefront. American Express's ad with Yvon Chouinard on behalf of their Member's Project campaign. Of the three, I appreciate Disney's ads (there are several versions) the most because they feature an emotion aside from earnestness. But I'd love to get your feedback. So I've set up a poll in the column to the immediate right. Please follow the links to view the ads and vote for the one you prefer. The poll closes in a month.