marketing

Putting your marketing where your values are

Putting your marketing where your values are

Research shows that in the UK 67% of the general public and 42% of business journalists agree that industry and commerce do not pay enough attention to their social responsibilities.1 The research goes on to identify that, when forming a decision about buying a product or service from a particular company or organisation, 83% of the general public feel it is 'very' or 'fairly important' that a company shows a high degree of social responsibility.

These attitudes clearly impact the marketing agenda. There is a rising tide of stakeholder expectation, demonstrated not only through media investigations and coverage, but also through shareholder challenges at company AGMs and consumer boycotts – through loud protest or quietly walking away. This quiet protest is arguably far more dangerous.

The emergence of new sets of issues, such as the climate change and obesity debates and the scrutiny of the supply chain all add to the mix. Clearly marketing can ignore these changes in the business and consumer environment, but it does so at its peril.

Consumers not only vote with their feet and their purse against companies and brands they disapprove of, but evidence shows they will also actively change their behaviour in favour of those companies of which they approve.

A CHALLENGE TO MARKETING STRATEGY

There has been a paradigm shift in the marketplace in which businesses and brands are now operating. Aside from any moral or ethical beliefs that may drive corporate responsibility, it is on the political, legislative, media and consumer agenda, and therefore firmly on the boardroom agenda. This has significant ramifications for marketing strategy.

In the past, positive differentiation in price, quality and functionality was what was required for success. This is no longer enough, and barely noticeable in many sectors anyway. Often, depending on the sector, price, functionality and quality can be replicated – perhaps within weeks or a month, maybe a year – but they are no longer the tools that will maintain differentiation in the longer term.

Emotional engagement and values, on the other hand, are much harder to develop, much harder to replicate and, once established, much more embedded and harder to shift. Investing in values and a 'bank of goodwill' can therefore pay dividends. As brand management evolves, values are becoming the key differentiator.

The challenge is how does a company or brand demonstrate its values and, indeed, add value to these values in a sincere and authentic way. And, most importantly, if such a strategy is followed, does it work?

ADDING VALUE TO VALUES

A company needs to make its values visible and one of the ways of doing this – adding value to these values – is to integrate and leverage the power of marketing and use the brands to make a positive social difference. In other words, linking marketing to a cause. Cause-related marketing (CRM) is a strategy whose time has come.

Not only does this strategy support consumer and other stakeholder demands and expectations for companies to behave more responsibly, but it also supports the corporate imperative to manage its risk, and be mindful of the demands of increasing reporting requirements.

The question is does it work? Does taking such a values-led/cause-led approach deliver bottom-line benefits?

The answer is yes. Marketing related to a cause, if done sincerely and well executed provides a win:win:win. A win for the business, a win for the cause issues or charity, and a win for society.

SUCCESSFUL CAUSE-RELATED MARKETING CAMPAIGNS

There are many thousands of examples of effective CRM both in the UK and globally, addressing a plethora of issues from climate change and other environmental issues, HIV/AIDS, food aid, all manner of health issues, domestic violence, education, homelessness and many, many others. Every week new programmes and examples emerge.

Take the recent launch of RED in support of the global fund to fight HIV and AIDS involving brands such as American Express, Armani, Gap and Motorola. Or the Co-op Bank's recent launch of a new insurance product that will offset 20% of carbon emissions when purchased, or the gathering of brands around Children in Need and other fundraising events.

Cause-related marketing comes in many guises. The best known have tended to be sales promotion-led examples that trigger purchase. This of course is just a part of the picture, in the same way as sales promotion is just part of the marketing toolkit.

Marks & Spencer's award-winning partnership with Breakthrough Breast Cancer2 featured the sales promotion element through which it raised £1.45m, but included much more than that. This partnership saw the development of a whole new range of bras, which were developed by and for those living with or having survived breast cancer. This is just one example of how Marks & Spencer has adopted a marketing strategy linked to a cause.

The highly successful 'Look behind the label' programme is another very different example. It goes to the heart of the corporate brand as opposed to product, and its values. Significant sales and impact on trust and reputation have been reported.

Unilever's Dove Self-Esteem programme is a different approach, which has seen highly innovative marketing deliver success where the strategy is intrinsically linked to a cause.

A CRM CAMPAIGN CAN IMPACT BEHAVIOUR, NOT JUST ATTITUDES

At Business in the Community through our CRM work over the last 12 years we have run an extensive research programme supported by Research International, dunnhumby, BMRB and Lightspeed.3 We have seen CRM evolve and develop both in terms of the way it has manifested itself in the marketplace, its role in marketing strategy and its impact on the business and the consumer.

This has been very specific work, and it complements and is complemented by the findings of Ipsos Mori, the Co-op Bank research, and others in the UK and around the world.

This bank of research identifies increasing corporate understanding of the importance of social responsibility and CRM, and provides insights into consumer understanding and expectations. Evidence to date clearly makes the business case for cause-related marketing as evidenced from key findings from Business in the Community Brand Benefits research.

The research aimed to understand whether there was a link between cause-related marketing, brand affinity and equity, and actual customer perception, loyalty and buying behaviour. There was.

Conducted amongst over 6,000 American and UK consumers, the Business in the Community Brand Benefits research showed that there is a universal appeal for cause-related marketing, with a 98% awareness and over 80% participation.

Over 71% of consumers claimed to be influenced at point of purchase or point of decision making, and over half said they trialled new products, increased usage or switched brands. There was also a significant impact on loyalty, and more than two in three people thought more companies should be involved.

More significantly, however, using retail databases to examine the purchase patterns of specific brands before and after a cause-related campaign showed clearly that people were changing their behaviour.

With this level of evidence, it begs the question that if your business and brand are not involved, why aren't they? The fact that companies in all sectors have successfully partnered causes, issues and charities through their marketing strategies, providing mutual benefit, and in many cases have developed and continue to run these programmes for years, also goes to prove the case.

INCREASING BRAND AFFINITY

Cause-related marketing helps make a company's values tangible and meaningful to stakeholders.

In terms of the impact of CRM on brand affinity and therefore on brand equity the evidence is stark. Business in the Community Brand Benefits research shows that awareness of a company's CRM leads to the brand having consistently higher affinity scores. For the purposes of the research, affinity statements related to trust, bonding, innovation and endorsement were used to measure a consumer's affinity towards the brand.

The figure above right illustrates the impact; this pattern was consistent over more that 15 partnerships in different sectors.

IN CONCLUSION

Values-led marketing and marketing related to a cause fits the demands of consumers and the needs of business to help demonstrate their authenticity.

Cause-related marketing enables the business to take its customer relationship well beyond purely transaction-based relationships built on functionality and price.

Values-led marketing creates a deeper level of relationship and engages the customer on an emotional basis. It reflects stakeholder demands and expectations and it is shown to pay dividends (see Figure 1).

Like any other form of marketing, however, values-led marketing can backfire. It needs to come out of the business values, be built into the business and not bolted on.

It needs to be authentic and based on integrity, sincerity, transparency, mutual respect, partnership and mutual benefit.4 There is both an opportunity and challenge; the stakes are high.

Do it badly and the consequences could be disastrous, but do it well and success will follow.

This article featured in Market Leader, Winter 2006.

ENDNOTES

1. Ipsos MORI Corporate Responsibility 2006. Attitudes of the British Public.

2. Winner of the Business in the Community Cause Related Marketing Awards 2005. See www.crm.org.uk for details.

3. See www.crm.org.uk for further information.

4. Business in the Community Cause Related Marketing Guidelines ISBN 9480 6307-6.

NOTES & EXHIBITS

FIGURE 1: BUSINESS IN THE COMMUNITY BRAND BENEFITS RESEARCH (FINANCIAL COMPANY)


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