Cause Marketing

In the United States there’s one place where you’re all but guaranteed to run into some kind of cause marketing and I'm not talk about a nail salon. No the kind of place you're most likely to see cause marketing is at a retail franchise outlet. The ten largest franchise systems, ranked according to worldwide sales volume as ranked by Franchise Times follow. Where known I’ve added the cause with which each franchise system is most publicly affiliated. McDonald’s… Ronald McDonald House Charities 7-Eleven… Muscular Dystrophy Association KFC … KFC Colonel’s Scholars Burger King… ? Subway Restaurants… American Heart Association Ace Hardware… Children’s Miracle Network Circle K Stores… United Cerebral Palsy Pizza Hut… Book It reading incentive program Wendy’s… Dave Thomas Foundation for Adoption Marriott Hotels, Resorts & Suites… Children’s Miracle Network . It’s not surprising that consumer-oriented franchises would tend to have a cause marketing focus. Academic research cons...

A visit to a Wendy’s in Mesa, Arizona early in January 2011 turned up this handbill for AASK-Arizona , an affiliate for the Wendy’s adoption program called Wendy’s Wonderful Kids in metropolitan Phoenix. AASK stands for Aid to Adoption of Special Kids. The handbill was positioned on a counter near one of the doorways. I like the front of the handbill. The four pictures of smiling Casey drew me in. But the copy on the back struck me as unpersuasive. See if you agree. The first paragraph describes Wendy’s Wonderful Kids, an effort by Wendy’s to increase adoptions out of America’s foster care system. The second paragraph describes that AASK as the affiliate of Wendy’s Wonderful Kids in Maricopa County, basically the greater Phoenix region. So far, so good. The third paragraph is where I think the copy begins to lose its way: “Through valuable media partnerships, including Wednesday’s Child, AASK is able to touch the hearts of thousands of potential parents annually.” Wednesday’s Child i...

Until I saw the free standing insert (FSI) on the left from Marcal Manufacturing on Sunday, I could count on one hand the number of times I’d seen a CEO featured in a cause marketing type ad. Heck, I could count it on one finger. That CEO was the wonderfully avuncular Dave Thomas, the founder of Wendy’s as well as its long-time pitchman. Thomas died in 2002 at the age 69. Thomas was famously adopted as a child. As an adult he started the Dave Thomas Foundation for Adoption , which Wendy's sponsored. Wendy’s continues to support the foundation … along with other charities… with cause marketing initiatives and corporate giving. Now Marcal is using its CEO in a cause marketing type appeal. Since 1950 Marcal has made paper products from recycled paper. It goes without saying that Marcal was decades ahead of its time. Marcal was purchased in 2008 by a private equity outfit and Tim Spring , the man in the ad, was installed as CEO. Spring has extensive experience in consumer package good...