Done right, cause marketing can be a terrific branding tool for the cause and the sponsor. But doing it right is the challenge. It’s easy to slap together a transactional cause marketing campaign for some consumable item; a box of Kleenix, a candy bar, a toothbrush. But when a consumer purchases an everyday item, that purchase probably doesn’t connect the cause, the sponsor, and the consumer at a very deep level. No one uses a Zip-Loc bag, which benefits schools through the Boxtops for Education campaign, and thinks about local school kids having better educational outcomes as a result. As a marketer I don’t have any problem with that kind of imbedded giving that exists at a surface level. But if the sponsor or the cause wants to really build their brand, they’re going to need to add a little extra something. That’s what Sharpie has done in its effort on behalf of the City of Hope’s breast cancer research efforts. During October when you buy pink Sharpie products a donatio...
Dedicated to highlighting and dissecting the best and the worst cause marketing promotions and campaigns.