Cause Marketing

Brooke Shields’ face graced this ad for Allergan’s prescription eyelash-grower called Latisse in dozens of magazines for the better part of 18 months. Allergan still lists her as a celebrity supporter on the Latisse website , even though actress Claire Danes has superseded Brooke in the recent print ads I’ve seen. Latisse sponsors the Make-A-Wish Foundation. I first profiled this campaign back in July 2009 , when I saw it in Real Simple magazine, meaning the creative was available at least in time for that ad. Since everything else is in the creative is basically the same except for some typography, why on earth would Allergan not use Brooke in this ad that ran in the September-October 2009 issue of Bride’s Magazine , but would use her ad in the November-December 2009 issue of Bride’s ? One obvious possibility is that Bride’s Magazine , which publishes 6-times a year, has a longer lead time than Real Simple , which publishes monthly. But I doubt it. It could be that Allergan is testin...

Cone’s recent Cause Evolution study found that while transactional cause marketing is still esteemed by consumers, it’s only slightly more so than when a company just makes a lump-sum donation to the cause. Transactional cause marketing is when the sponsor ties its donation to a purchase. I posted on the study back in October and while I didn’t quite throw a wet blanket on the idea, I found that part of Cone’s study unpersuasive. What happens, I wondered, if the charitable donation is in-kind? Does the company’s halo shine just as brightly as if they donated cash? What if the in-kind donation comes in the form of shared ad space? That seems to be what’s happening in this ad for vitamin D supplements from GNC and in support of the Melanoma Research Alliance . The Alliance funds research into melanoma, which kills right around 9,000 Americans every year. The great Bob Marley died of melanoma at the tender age of 36. GNC sells supplements and nutritional products at mall stores. The ad c...