“Developed correctly, a perfect cause branding program cuts across social, cultural and economic lines (breast cancer, clean water, literacy) to join and empower consumers to positively impact a societal need.” –http://www.barkleyus.com/
Let’s quickly differentiate between cause branding and cause marketing as it may seem confusing.
Cause Marketing: A short term marketing promotion helping a cause with the objective of driving traffic or public relations.
Cause Branding: It is about aligning your brand with a charitable cause or corporate social responsibility, a continuous effort of supporting a cause. A brand brings its core values to life by supporting a cause or non profit partner that embodies those same values.
Today, a good marketing strategy is one that includes cause branding. The outcome of a successful cause branding effort would be to see real change in our society.
Important things to take into consideration :
- The cause should align with the brand’s values and core.
- The cause should be relevant to the brand, eg. A print company is better aligned to saving the trees as to helping the homeless.
- The cause should appeal to the target market.
Benefits of Cause Branding :
- Corporate reputation can be greatly enhanced with a well planned cause branding strategy. Creating an emotional, more personal relationship with customers creates trust and loyalty.
- It differentiates a company from it’s competitors. Companies supporting causes have the valuable leadership that customers are looking for.
In today’s world, companies realize that cause branding must be part of the strategy and it is becoming a ‘must do’ practice for everyone, and it’s for a good cause!
