The Cause & Effect of Cause Marketing

Consumer Responsibility has become a lock, stock and barrel of every activity that any company initiates. A consumer will activate their buying power in those companies that have a sense of social ethics.

Let us give you an example – You are surfing Google for brands that make good fashion accessories and you come across two brands namely ABC and XYZ. Both of these sell jewellery within the same price range, same quality but well-dug research says that XYZ is actively investing 10% of its monthly profit for the education of the poor. You will opt to buy your jewellery from XYZ. Mark our words!

Brands with a purpose set on improving the quality of life outperform the stock market by 120%

It is Cause Marketing that will give you the place in the sun. What is it and why should you opt for it is what this blog is all about. Read on to know more!

CORPORATE SOCIAL RESPONSIBILITY IS THE NEW BLACK

The more ethical your values are, the more appealing your brand is to the customers. No customer likes to have a black and white image of the brand they are investing in. In simpler words, your values are what will bring the customers to you.

Social Responsibility is what will either take you to the top or knock you down and bring some peril to you. In times where competition around you can take you off the hook, building extraordinary relationships with the customers’ will become your key to success.

This pursuit of inducting good ethical values is what drives good public relations. But what should be the pointers while deciding a good cause marketing strategy? This is what 1into2 would like to suggest to you – 

• Act upon something that you (and your team) truly believe in. Working upon a collective cause will give an impactful result.
• Money matters but not always. Raising funds is important. Creating brand awareness is more important. It is necessary to bring such products that drive the CSR in the business.
• Keep Social Media your target. With the help of multimedia and a strong Cause Marketing Campaign, you can become the word of the mouth!

WHAT AID WILL CAUSE MARKETING CAUSE?

It brings a new audience and more job seekers

Millennials will always opt for those businesses that work towards bringing a change through their business practices. Nearly 90% of Americans would shift to a cause-branded product. 

Also, with a thoughtful Cause Marketing strategy, you can even get more employees who are looking for a business that matches their values. Having such employees will lead to a collective effort towards building a thoughtful strategy. 

You can be visible, everywhere

Cause-related marketing can be a win-win for you. From Brand reputation to Increased funds it has all the benefits. You can increase the number of your sales, you can increase your brand visibility and this can lead to increased brand awareness. The list goes on.

Warby Parker’s “Buy a pair, Give a pair” campaign had a cause of distributing one pair of glasses for every pair purchased. This campaign brought Warby Parker in limelight. Warby Parker has distributed 54,000 such glasses so far and the count is still on!

Positive plus positive makes a positive

Remember, you are doing it for a cause. Be it human rights, or going green, looking for health and hunger or some other cause – Any of these will lead to having a positive impact on the country. 

Tata Sponge’s Mass Afforestation Programme has outweighed the reduction of forest cover in the area owned by it. As a result, it has planted more than 1100 trees in the nearby villages. This will give the required economic benefit to the local community in that region. 

EVERYTHING COMES AT A COST

Cause-related marketing comes with many advantages but it also has a but. Whenever you come up with such services for your business you definitely get the limelight. But this limelight won’t always brighten your name. Your campaign will fail if isn’t transparent, authentic or don’t seem to be genuine. 

H&M has been called out recently for failing to provide adequate information regarding the sustainability of their “sustainable products”. This act of greenwashing i.e. giving a false impression that a company’s products are more environmentally friendly than they truly are is what leads to major campaign failure. 

So, avoid making such mistakes, pin your hope and start formulating a plan that will actually work!

SUMMARY:

1into2 suggests you to take steady steps towards planning an effective Cause Marketing strategy. This will help you in getting the brand awareness that you need and will direct you to move towards a cause-related marketing!