World-Beating Cause Marketing I

There are a handful of big ‘single-element' cause-related marketing campaigns that have been around for decades, and in their longevity they hold lessons for cause marketers everywhere. Today I'll review four of the very best. In my next post I’ll discuss what we can learn from them.

First some caveats.

I'm going to list four campaigns not because there are only four, but because any more than that would make these posts unwieldy. Three-forths of them are North American because frankly, I'm most familiar with them. If you have examples from somewhere else that should be on this list, by all means leave a comment or email me at aldenkeeneatgmaildotcom. I'd love to feature campaigns from other places.

Here's how I determined my list. I looked at large-scale campaigns that have been around for at least 10 years, have broad appeal and have raised at least $50 million over their term.

I eliminated all the walks, runs, bike-a-thons, etc. Although those kinds of campaigns frequently have cause-related marketing elements, they are best characterized as events. Likewise I haven't counted multiple-element campaigns like the two Red Dress programs from HeartTruth and the American Heart Association, Komen's Breast Cancer Month, Thanks and Giving from St. Jude, and the RED campaign.

I'm highlighting only campaigns with a single main element. Because like a single malt whiskey (I'm told), or a single-source chocolate, these single-element campaigns have a purity in their concentration and focus; you're only getting one thing. Having only one major element also makes it easier for me to parse out the lessons.

Without further ado here are four world-beating, large-scale, long-standing, big-money cause-related marketing campaigns:

1. Campbell’s Labels for Education campaign. In more 30 years Campbell’s Labels for Education has provided in excess of $100 million in school supplies and merchandise. Currently, 75,000 schools and organizations in the U.S. are registered with Label’s for Education. About 150 items among Campbell’s brands… Prego, Pepperidge Farm, V8, Swanson, & Franco American carry a point value, typically one point or five points. People are encouraged to bring the required part of the label to a local school. At the school employee or volunteer combines the labels. An online catalog lists the items available along with the required points. A student snare drum kit is 18,500 points. A media cart is 10,100 points. A basketball is 700 points.

2. General Mills BoxTops for Education. Labels for Education is plainly the model for General Mills’ BoxTops for Education. But General Mills expanded and improved on the concept. Consequently, in just over 10 years General Mills has given away $175 million to American schools. In the BoxTops campaign the values are standardized… every boxtop is worth 10 cents… and hundreds of General Mills’ products are eligible. Some 95,000 schools participate. In 2005 non-competing brands from other companies joined the program. One of the most notable improvements General Mills has over the Campbell’s program is that BoxTops rewards cash rather than merchandise.

3. US Postal Service Breast Cancer Semipostal Stamps. The enormously successful breast cancer research stamps literally required a change in U.S. law. Before the 1997 change in law it was unlawful for the US Post Office to charge more than the face value of a stamp. The Breast Cancer Stamps are sold for 45 cents and are valid for a one ounce first class envelope. That’s currently 6 cents more than a regular first class stamp. Through the end of 2006 approximately 725 million breast cancer stamps have been sold and $52 million has gone to two Federal research agencies: the National Institutes of Health and the Department of Defense Medical Research Program.

4. Red Nose Day in the UK. Started in 1988 by Comic Relief, the Red Nose Day is now held every two years, most recently on March 16, 2007. People are encouraged to do all kinds of stuff… the sillier the better... to raise money. It culminates in a sort of a telethon that airs that night on BBC. The money is split 60-40 between the needy in Africa and in the UK. BBC underwrites the telethon and corporate sponsors underwrite other costs such that Comic Relief has remained true to its ‘Golden Pound Principle;’ that is, every shilling that’s raised goes to the causes. The Red Nose Day raised more than ₤63 million in 2005. So far they’re reporting ₤40.2 million on Red Nose Day night alone for the 2007 event. The final total won’t be known for weeks to come. Cumulatively, Comic Relief has generated more than ₤300 million since 1985.

On Tuesday’s posting, I’ll break out what we can learn from these campaigns.

Cause-Related Marketing with Franchises

In the States there’s one place where you’re all but guaranteed to run into some kind of cause-related marketing, namely a retail franchise outlet.

The ten largest U.S. based franchise systems, ranked according to total system sales volume as ranked by the Franchise Times follow. Where known I’ve added the cause with which each franchise system is most publicly-affiliated.

1). McDonald’s… Ronald McDonald House Charities

2). 7-Eleven… Muscular Dystrophy Association

3). Carlson-Wagonlit Travel…?

4). KFC (Kentucky Fried Chicken)…?

5). Ace Hardware… Children’s Miracle Network

6). Burger King… ?

7). Pizza Hut…Book It reading incentive program

8). Coldwell Banker Real Estate… Habitat for Humanity

9). Subway Restaurants… American Heart Association

10). Wendy’s…Dave Thomas Foundation for Adoption

It’s not surprising that consumer-oriented franchises would tend to have a cause marketing focus. Academic researchers consistently find that corporate social responsibility makes good business sense for businesses that target the consumer market.

But doing cause marketing campaigns with franchises is fairly complicated, as evidenced by the Money Mailer envelope illustrated above. Money Mailer is a franchise system that delivers advertisement coupons via direct mail. Inside the Money Mailer envelope you'll find coupons from restaurant and car repair services, ads from chiropractors, and the like. Small business stuff.

According to the Franchise times, Money Mailer is the 218th largest franchise system in the U.S. with worldwide sales of $167 million and 322 units, 94 percent of which are owned by franchisees.
While the Children's Miracle Network logo is prominently featured, there's was nothing else on the envelope or inside to explain why the logo is there.

Here's the explanation. Money Mailer has a national relationship with Children's Miracle Network. But the local franchisees are responsible for selling the campaign to the local advertisers in the franchise's area, if they choose.

Local franchisees have autonomy. If a McDonald's in Saratoga, New York doesn't want to support the nearby Ronald McDonald House, he probably doesn't have to. Although he certainly gets plenty of pressure to do so from the McDonald's owner's group. I've been told that one of the main reasons why the once narrowly-focused Ronald McDonald House become the broader-focused Ronald McDonald House Charities is because owners and owner's groups wanted to be able to support their own 'pet' causes.

In the Money Mailer case, Children's Miracle Network has to sell their cause to 322 Money Mailer franchise outlets who then have to sell the idea of couponing to their local market advertisers. Then there's got to be a means to account for and collect any money.

Now you see why cause-related marketing's not for the faint of heart.

Go down the Franchise Times list and you'll find plenty of franchise systems that don't have a cause affiliation. It's a prospect list for charities, in other words.

For charities you need to ask yourself the following before you start making phone calls:

* Does my cause have the breadth of appeal that can attract a franchise?
* Is there a 'fit'?
* Are the target franchise systems close enough to consumers to be able to ask for money/support?
* Can I get the support of powerful individual franchisees?
* Can I physically support the efforts of franchises that may be spread out all over the country?
* Can I put into place a mechanism for collecting money?
* Do I have the wherewithal to promote the relationship in the media?
* How will I recognize and reward the acheivements of individual franchisees?
* If there are materials to distribute, does the franchisor have an effective way to deliver them?
* When selling your charity to the franchise system, does the franchisor have an efficient way for me to get in front of the individual franchisees?

For franchisees and franchise systems, the questions you have to ask of woud-be charity partners are almost a mirror image:

+ Does the charity's mission have broad appeal?
+ Will your customers know who anything about the charity?
+ Is what they know good?
+ Do they have any scandals in their past?
+ Does the charity have unique appeal?
+ Does the charity have the support of influential franchisees?
+ Is there a 'fit'?
+ Do the charity fulfill its mission well?
+ Are they efficient with their resources?
+ Is the relationship or any of the elements promotable in the media?
+ Can they help you with promotions?
+ Do you have budget to help them produce and distribute campaign materials?
+ Do they have people on the ground in the markets most important to you?
+ How will they acknowledge the franchisee's efforts?

Retail franchises are ripe for cause campaigns because consumers expect them. But make sure you have good answers to the questions above before heading into cause-marketing relationships.

Anger, the (Unfortunate) Coin of the Realm

Someone just annonymously posted some angry rhetorical comments/questions about last week's posting about Rocky Mountain Power's Cool Keeper program.

This person plainly has complaints about Rocky Mountain Power. I'll happily air those complaints in this blog, but I won't do so anonymously.

The anonymity of the social media (like this blog) allows for anger to be the coin of the realm. I, for one, find that to be an unfortunate side effect of Web 2.0.

(Although as George Will recently wrote, anger may just be the ethos of the current American zeitgeist, rather than an unintended consequence of the anonymity possible in blog comments.)

So to the person who made the anonymous comments about Rocky Mountain Power, feel free to repost those comments. If you include your name and email, I'll publish them.

If there's a compelling reason to maintain your anonymity, email me at aldenkeeneatgmail.com with an explanation.

Finally, it probably goes without saying, but I reserve the right to edit all comments for length, style, and taste.


Warm regards,

Paul

Join Cause-Related Marketing, Get a Cool Tool You Can Use Now

Kind Readers:

Tarek from Washington D.C. is the latest person to join the Cause-Related Marketing Googlegroup.

You can join, too.

When you do, each new posting to Cause-Related Marketing comes directly to your email box.

As an inducement, everyone that joins receives a copy of the "Five Flavors of Cause-Related Marketing," which explains Cause-Related Marketing in an easy-to-follow matrix and includes examples.

It's a great brainstorming tool and helps ensure that your campaign has all the bells and whistles appropriate for that flavor of Cause-Related Marketing.

To join, simply send your name, your email address, city and country to aldenkeeneatgmail.com.

The city and country thing helps me know for whom I'm writing.

Your privacy is important to me, so be assured that I will never sell your name or contact information to any third party.

Warm regards,

Paul Jones

Alden Keene & Associates, Inc.

The Long Tail of Nonprofit Communications

Starfish Television Network Offers Free Airing of Your Nonproft Programming

Hits used to rule.

In Hollywood the blockbuster has been the dominant business model since the first Star Wars movie was released.

In 2004, only 1,187 books sold 50,000 or more copies and only 10 titles sold more than a million copies in the States. Fully 948,000 of the 1.2million titles released that year sold fewer than 100 copies!

Hits ruled, says Chris Anderson… the editor of Wired and author of The Long Tail… because of physics. Even at a Wal-Mart Supercenter, there’s space for no more than 5,000 CDs. And every one is carefully selected with the expectation that it will sell; that the inventory will 'turn.' Otherwise inventory and carrying costs eat up all the margin. In the physical world of atoms, inventory is the veritable 'hot potato;' hold onto it too long and you get burned.

But in an online environment where you store and sell not atoms but bytes, you can profitably sell not just a few thousand CDs, but hundred of thousands.

Astonishingly, at online retailers like Rhapsody… which ‘stocks’ more than 1.5 million tracks… every single title, no matter how obscure or ‘nichey,’ is sold at least one a quarter!

Welcome to the wonderful world of long tail economics, where abundance not scarcity is the ruling paradigm and where niche markets can be the most profitable markets.

What’s the application to nonprofits and cause marketing? I’m still cogitating on that. Certainly, there’s been an explosion of nonprofit registrations with the IRS in the last 10 years. With somewhere north of 1.5 million nonprofit charities in the States the need for context and filtering has never been greater.

You could make a pretty good argument that Kiva.org, which enables you to pick a third-world business to support with a micro-loan, is the long tail of philanthropy.

Long tail economics has also made it possible for nonprofits to promote their mission and programming to a broader audience than ever before.

In my view, the Starfish Television Network is a prime example of the long tail of nonprofit communications and development. Starfish is itself organized as a 501(c)(3) nonprofit and its mission is to air programming that supports the mission and purpose of other nonprofits.

Starfish launches on Dish 1000 on March 28 and they are in need of compelling nonprofit programming of all kinds, which they will air for free. Dish 1000 has somewhere between 1.5 million and 2 million subscribers, so the potential audience is quite large.

To learn how you can get your nonprofit programming aired visit www.starfishtv.org or call them at: 801-567-3180.

Full Disclosure: I’m presently doing work for the Starfish Television Network.

Rocky Mountain Power Cool Keeper Program

"All cause-related marketing is incentives." Milton Friedman, the late economist said that. OK, not really. He said to be an economist is to believe that incentives work. So call me an economist.

[Somebody please tell me where I can find the real quote. I seem to remember it but haven’t been able to track it down.]

Whether or not I’m remembering it right, it’s certainly true that cause-related marketing is based on the premise that incentives work.

We when think of those incentives, especially in the wake of the criticism surrounding RED, we tend to think that the incentives work only to encourage consumption. That’s only sometimes the case.

Rocky Mountain Power, an electrical utility that serves the U.S. states of Utah, Wyoming, and Idaho sent out this cause marketing driven offer in fall 2006. The offer goes like this: sign up for their Cool Keeper plan and the company installs a device on the air conditioner at your home or office which allows Rocky Mountain Power to shut down your air conditioner when electrical demand peaks.

If you signed up during the promotional period, Rocky Mountain Power sent a check for $25 to the school of your choice. Rocky Mountain Power also credits your account $20 once a year for as long as you participate.

The American West gets quite hot in the summer and air conditioners are almost universal. Ergo, power demand peaks during July and August, the hottest months of the year. Rocky Mountain Power could build more electrical generation capacity into their system to meet that peak demand, but instead they encourage a kind of conservation using cause-related marketing.

This isn’t energy conservation cause marketing in the sense that people are being incentivized to use less power, per se. Instead, customers are being induced to allow Rocky Mountain Power to temper demand so that the company avoids or at least forestalls the time when it has to build more power plants.

In the States, building a power plant these days… even in sparsely-settled areas… is a crapshoot; it takes a long time to secure the permits and it’s expensive, never mind the environmental costs. In effect, Rocky Mountain Power is sharing with its customers some of the cost-savings it enjoys by not building more power plants.

Rocky Mountain Power could have chosen almost any cause for this campaign but choosing schools helps ensure wide participation; everybody is near a school. The mailing included a list of all Utah schools, so the campaign is almost idiot-proof.

The donation amounts are clear and the materials are quite good. The addition of the color photo of the girl in the classroom is a nice touch. The website is helpful and the name, “Cool Keeper,” suggests the American idiom ‘keep your cool,’ which means to ‘remain calm.’

No wonder Milton Friedman said, “Cool Keeper’s use of incentives is proof that cause-related marketing can work in many settings.”

OK, I made up that quote, too.

Practice Transparency in Your Cause Marketing Campaigns or Do Damage Control

Through the Glass Cleary

Cause-related marketing campaigns have been in the news this last week in the States.

Much of the coverage was prompted by the Ad Age article (registration required) that estimated that perhaps $18 million has been generated by the RED campaign while perhaps $100 million has been spent promoting it. Bobby Shriver, the cofounder of RED disputes both figures, but hasn’t provided new ones. Maybe he’ll save that for the Cause Marketing Forum coming up May 17 in New York City.

I’m not going to rehash the numbers or try to mitigate damage. Plenty of people have already trod that sodden ground. But there is one element common to all the news coverage I’ve seen with which I’m in complete agreement… namely, the need for greater transparency.

Here’s how they put it in the Christian Science Monitor and Newsweek:

The subhead in the Christian Science Monitor article dated March 12 reads; “Companies spent $1.34 billion on ‘cause-related marketing’ last year in the US, but critics cite a lack of transparency.”

The March 14 Newsweek article, “Does Shopping for a Good Cause Really Help?” cites Ben Davis, “maybe Red is a concept overreached,” says Davis. “I think they’ve lost the faith of the broad sector of the cause-market, and the reaction to [my] very small site has shown that.” Davis, a San Francisco marketer, created a series of Red parodies on display at buylesscrap.org. [In the interest of full disclosure, I was quoted in this Newsweek piece, too.]

As cause marketers we could circle the wagons and get defensive. That was my first impulse. But what we really need to do is listen closely to what is being said. We need to a better job of being transparent. We have to banish from our language the phrase “a portion of the proceeds,” or any of the myriad and equivocal variations.

I know, I know. There are legitimate reasons for being nonspecific.

But unless and until we excise all the weasel-words from the offering language in our cause-related marketing campaigns, we cause marketers deserve all the bad publicity we get.

For charities that means that you have to insist that the amount of the donation be transparent to the end-user in your sponsorship contracts and agreements.

If you’re an agency, you have to warn all parties about the PR dangers of obfuscating. Otherwise, forget Ad Age, Newsweek or the Christian Science Monitor, more likely outfits like this one will out your client’s penny-pinching.

For sponsors it means if you have to offer a donation with real appeal. If you can’t, well, then, call your agency and charity partner(s) and figure out something else. Cause marketing is only one way to collaborate with charities.

Unless we nip this in the bud, this bit of bad publicity could turn into anti-cause marketing tipping point.

Spending Dollars to Raise Pennies? II

On Tuesday I posted the first half of an email I sent to Jessica Bennett, a reporter at Newsweek.

The rest of her questions and my answers follow.

Ms. Bennett quoted me in her article, which you can read here.

Also, my email to her included several links which I neglected to include in Tuesday's post.

I've revised Tuesday's post to include those links. Feel free to read it here.


4. Are we buying merely to clear our consciouses?

You know, I'm not sure if I'm equipped to answer this question. I will say this, Americans are far and away the most generous donors to charity: in 2005 those donations exceeded $260 billion. Part of that is because we don't practice the social welfare state the way the Europeans do. Part of it is because we have very favorable tax laws. But assume for a second that IEG is right and something like $1.3 billion comes from cause marketing. That's a pittance compared to the total donations going to charities. If we are buying to assuage our conscious, we're getting off cheap.


5. It seems that RED is just the latest in fad-ish activism. but is the desire to be in style outweighing people's knowledge or care about the real issues?

On my blog, I'm always reinforcing the point that there has to be something really there for the campaign to be truly effective. It can't just be celebrity flash. I've seen some, although certainly not all of RED's materials and my opinion is that they're pretty good on that count. I have also seen materials that comes from their sponsors that I thought could and should have gone into greater depth about the problems and the solutions.

6. is it still charity when one gives only to get?

Strictly speaking no, cause marketing's not a charitable gift. Most cause marketing donations are pennies. Only cause marketing campaigns for very large ticket items offer charitable donations that are in the tens of dollars. A very rare few are in the hundreds. No matter the amount, have fun trying to write them off on your taxes.


7. Is putting money toward a status symbol really socially responsible?

Interesting question. Many charities raise money via galas. There's probably one every night of the year in Manhattan. I'll bet there's at least 30 a year in smaller towns like Fargo or Augusta, Maine. The people that go to galas, bid on the auction items, smooze clients, and yawn through the program are doing so at least in part to advance their social standing. And you know what, they CAN deduct part of the money they spent on the gala from their taxes!

Spending Dollars to Raise Pennies?

Right now the monster RED campaign is drawing all kinds of fire for spending dollars to make pennies. The rhetoric is flowing hot and fast in the new media and the old.

A reporter for Newsweek even approached me for my opinion. I hope she quotes me. In the event she doesn't, I’ll post half her questions and my responses today and the remainder on Thursday.

On 3/9/07, Bennett, Jessica <1234@newsweek.com> wrote:

hi paul,
ok, feel free to pick and choose from these and contribute your own thoughts if you think there's anything i've overlooked. also let me know if you've got any suggestions of background info or studies i should look into.

1. what's the premise behind cause marketing, why does it work, and how pervasive is it today?

A lot of things are called cause marketing that are probably mislabeled. As I think of it cause marketing is generally a promotional tactic meant draw on the appeal of a cause to help sell a product for a company. Like most promotions, there's usually a deadline involved. The Yoplait lid campaign for Susan G. Komen is an exception that proves the rule. The US Post Office Breast Cancer Stamp campaign is another. Both have been going on for years unabated. Cause marketing works because people have an affinity for the cause or the cause's mission and want to support it. This kind of loyalty is hardly unique to causes. NASCAR sponsors report that fans are especially loyal to their products. The most often quoted source for how pervasive it is in North America typically come from IEG, which specializes in sponsorship. IEG consideres cause marketing to be a subset of sponsorship. The last estimate I saw from IEG was that cause markeing would clock in at around $1.3 billion in 2007, although I'm sure they'll happily provide you with whatever their current estimate is. I don't know what their methodology is for making that estimate, but I suspect that they under-estimate the total amount of cause marketing. I say that because if you add up the top 10 charities doing cause marketing: Komen, Children's Miracle Network, American Heart Association, St. Jude, etc. you'd very quickly get to a number like $800- $900 million. And I suspect the rest of the cause marketing world amounts to more than just the $500 or $600 million that remains from the $1.3 billion figure.

2. to an extent, cause marketing today seems so widespread that it's almost trivial--even diesel is encouraging buyers to contribute to global warming (though "without changing one's glamourous lifestyle"). why do people buy into this? and does it really have an impact?

diesel targets kids. We beat up the current crop of kids for not being terribly political minded or active, but more than any generation today's kids are more likely to volunteer, to participate in service learning in school, etc. than their predecessors. I guess what I'm saying is that I suspect most of them see diesel's campaign for what it is: pure cheek.

Done appropriately, cause marketing does well with kids, with women, and with greens. I would say the common thread between them is that all three groups commonly profess that one of their aspirations is to make the world a better place. They think, if I'm already going to buy something, why wouldn't I buy the thing that gives back?

To your question of does it have an impact: my answer is yes but probably not for the same reason you'll hear from anyone else. The great bulk of charitable donations in this country come from individuals. Individuals can and often do designate how their money is to be used. A perfect example is Joan Kroc, Ray's widow. She left a grundle of money to the Salvation Army, but required that they use it to build community centers, which is a little bit of a stretch considering their mission. Money that comes from cause marketing campaigns comes from the collective; from everybody. As a consequence it can usually be used in ways and in places that aren't sexy to an individual donor. For that reason it can be more valuable to a charity.

3. advertising is obviously not about morals. but isn't there a moral conflict in the idea that cause marketing is tapping into consumption guilt while at the same time feeding that excess?

It seems to me that your asking the tainted money question. Every charity in the country sooner or later deals with the question of "tainted" money. And they have to decide for themselves what kind of money... for them... is tainted. And it's a different answer for one charity than it is for the next. When I was at Children's Miracle Network, for instance, we had the chance to do a deal with a beer company but we choose not to. But I believe the MDA still has a relationship of longstanding with Budweiser. Hard-core environmental charities might not take money from the oil companies. What your question suggests to me is that money that comes from a promotion that encourages consumption is considered by some to be tainted. My response is that depends on the charity. Personally, if I were the executive director of a charity that filled some basic human need; shelter, food, clothing, maybe some kinds of healthcare, there probably wouldn't be any money that was "tainted." I believe that's the way Mother Teresa looked at the large donations from Charles Keating, a man she praised effusively at the time even though he eventually did jailtime for his crimes. On the other hand, if I were the executive director of a symphony, I would certainly turn down money from someone like Keating. Finally, I can't resist the quip among nonprofits about tainted money; it goes, "'taint enough."

-More on Thursday-

American Greetings Ad for Sesame Workshop

Elmo’s World of Slick Cause-Related Marketing

I confess I don’t have the experience abroad to judge if it’s a good idea to take Sesame Street… the 38-year-old American children’s TV show… to places like Egypt, Bangladesh, and South Africa. And I’m not sure to what degree the shows “work” in those countries.

(In fact, neither are Sesame Street’s producers. Here’s what their president and CEO Gary E. Knell wrote in their 2005 annual report: “As we’ve said before, we don’t pretend that media can, by itself, solve the many problems of the world, but we do believe­­­—and research confirms—that they can contribute to the solutions.”)

I do, however, have a background in cause-related marketing and this 2-part ad, which appeared in BabyTalk Magazine in May 2006, leaves me cold.

As we’ll see, even though it has the veneer of cause-related marketing, it’s actually just an advertisement for one of Sesame Street’s licensees. American Greetings… the greeting card giant… was a Sesame Street-licensee when this ad dropped.

The headline on the greeting card, which blocks the handsome young fellow’s head, tells us to “Throw an Elmo birthday party for your child, and help give the gift of education to children around the world.” (By the way, in surveys, consumers consistently say they dislike it when advertisers obscure, even partially, people’s faces like this.)

On first reading I assumed that maybe they had put together some kind of package like Trick of Treat for UNICEF or Share Our Strength's Great American Bake Sale whereby kids and their parents would raise funds for Sesame Workshop at birthday parties, with American Greetings providing the sponsorship grease.

That would have been interesting.

Instead… as you read the fine print… you learn that Sesame Workshop, the nonprofit which produces Sesame Street and other children’s shows, applies the money it earns from its licensees to underwrite the production of versions of Sesame Street in other countries.

Sure, and when I fill up on gas at CITGO stations kids in Venezuela are able to go to college.

Now mind you, Sesame Workshop’s licensing income is substantial. It was right around $50 million in both 2004 and 2005. I’m not judging how well Sesame Workshop uses their resources or if extending their brand in this way is in keeping with their mission.

But efforts like this cast a bad light on the tens of thousands of legitimate cause-related marketing campaigns and relationships. Moreover, it makes me question the judgment of Sesame Street for letting this one get through.

I do not like this slick ad from American Greetings.

Staples Easy Button Campaign Benefiting Boys and Girls Clubs of America

Cause Branding® Made Easy

Years ago Carolyn Cone and her eponymous Boston agency Cone, Inc., started using the term “Cause Branding®:” branding cause marketing, as it were.

I don’t think she or Cone, Inc. had anything to do with Staples Easy Button campaign.

If not, then at least Staples owes a debt of gratitude to Carol Cone because this campaign is a fine example of Cause Branding®.

In the States there are three national office supply superstores: Staples, Office Depot and the much smaller OfficeMax. Staples invented the business model and remains the largest company as well as the class of the bunch. Its stock has outperformed its competitors… as well as the broader stock market… and its growth prospects are superior.

Staples has countless other competitors including wholesalers and regional and local suppliers and stores. It’s a crowded marketplace, in other words.

So Staples began to do what any self-respecting marketing-driven company would do, they begin to brand themselves to break free from the clutter. Their positioning is that using Staples services and products is “easy.” In a series of witty ads they show people in office and other settings hitting a big red Easy Button to cut through the usual baloney of office-life.

On the Staples website you can watch the commercials, download them to your iPod, view the outtakes, even play Easy Button-themed computer games.

Now in an homage to Cause Branding®, that same Easy Button is available for sale in Staples stores and online. The product, in English and Spanish versions, costs $4.98 and proceeds from the sale of the product benefit Boys and Girls Clubs of America up to $1 million a year.

When you press the Easy Button a voice intones in English (or Spanish if you bought that version), “That Was Easy.’

This is Cause Branding® the way Carol Cone dreamed it up. The customer gets a cute gimmick that’s been featured on the hit TV show The Office, the company’s branding is extended, the cause is supported in a meaningful way, and a halo extends from Boys and Girls Clubs of America to Staples.

That said, I have some quibbles. The proceeds language is weak and confusing. Better to just say what the donation will be. The point of purchase (POP) display in the stores, which is illustrated above, is subtle to the point of being underwhelming. And it’s not clear to me why Staples is running the promotion through their company foundation… the Staples Foundation for Learning… and giving that entity equal billing on their POP materials and their website. Truth be told, I struggle to find any external advantage to branding their foundation at all in the promotion. Finally, it wouldn’t hurt Staples to expend a little more effort explaining the mission of Boys and Girls Clubs and its impact on kids on the POP and website.

Join Cause-Related Marketing, Get a Cool Tool You can Use Now

Kind Readers:

Dave from Kansas City, Missouri is the latest person to join the Cause-Related Marketing Googlegroup.

You can join, too.

When you do, each new posting to Cause-Related Marketing comes directly to your email box.

As an inducement, everyone that joins receives a copy of the "Five Flavors of Cause-Related Marketing," which explains Cause-Related Marketing in an easy-to-follow matrix and includes examples.

It's a great brainstorming tool and helps ensure that your campaign has all the bells and whistles appropriate for that flavor of Cause-Related Marketing.

To join, simply send your name, your email address, city and country to aldenkeeneatgmail.com.

The city and country thing is important because it helps me know for whom I'm writing.

Your privacy is important to me, so be assured that I will never sell your name or contact information to any third party.

Warm regards,
Paul Jones