Cause Marketing

From November 26, 2010 through December 25, 2010 when Southwest Airline passengers check in at the Airport using Facebook Places and their web-enabled device, Southwest will donate $1 to the Make-A-Wish Foundation, up to $300,000. That’s pretty straightforward. And yet the webpage that describes the how-to of the promotion requires the three graphics at the left to walk you through it. The first graphic explains that you must open Facebook Places with your mobile device and click “Check In.” There’s a little more to the second graphic: “Select the Place where you are from the Nearby Places list,” it says. “If you don’t see the Place name, type the name of the Place where you are into the ‘Search Nearby Places’ box.” “You can also toggle the left-right arrows on the right of the search box to display lists of other Nearby Places.” The third explanatory graphic is probably the raison d’etre of this promotion: “Write an optional description of what you are doing at the Place where you a...

It’s gut-check time my charity friends. How strong is the appeal of your cause? Could you call a major donor to secure the funding to take advantage of a great advertising opportunity that falls into your lap last minute? Could you rally your fans to support your entry in the American Express Members Project ? Is your fundraising still doing fine, even in the Great Recession? Could you get competitors to sponsor your event? I saw the double-truck ad to the left in the July issue of Spirit magazine, the in-flight magazine of Southwest Airlines . For 11 years Southwest has sponsored the Phoenix Luv Classic, a benefit golf tourney for the Ronald McDonald Houses . This year the tournament raised more than $300,000, the ad reports. But for me the news isn’t the dollar amount, which is respectable given the economy. Instead the story is the list of sponsors. That list includes direct competitors with Southwest, including Virgin Atlantic , and JetBlue , and indirect competitors Aer Lingus , ...

Five or six years ago the term 'co-branding' was one of those hot marketing buzzwords. Nowadays co-branding is so commonplace as to be mundane. The point of co-branding is for brands to combine such that they create notable synergy. There are several kinds of co-branding, including cause marketing itself. This article, from Tiger Woods' previous sponsor , Accenture, names six : Promotional/Sponsorship. This is the category cause marketing falls under. Also Motorola's sponsorship of the National Football League. Ingredient. Betty Crocker brownie mix made with Hershey chocolate, or any of the Jack Daniels' dishes at TGI Fridays . Innovation Based. The Apple-Nike tie-up. Value-Chain , which is meant to bring new experiences to the consumer, not just another flavor. There are three varieties of value-chain co-branding: Product Service. Sea World and Southwest Airlines . Supplier-Retailer. Starbucks wifi service from AT&T. Alliance. Think FTD , or those all...