A Cause, A Brand - A Problem?
In all cases, brands need to be really clear and careful with their cause marketing efforts, but perhaps especially if yours is but one of many brands under a single multi-national corporate umbrella that might present conflicting messages. Then you’ve really got your work cut out for you. If that cause is for some reason particularly buzz- or newsworthy (e.g. The Dove Self Esteem Fund), even moreso. In my latest HuffingtonPost piece, I write about how today’s consumers can see the forest for the trees, and will put your brand under intense public scrutiny if you don’t pay attention to your coupling of cause and brand.
Here’s an excerpt:
"…cause marketing and branding are a teetering marriage that demand
serious research and some degree of corporate integration to succeed.
These days brands are taking on causes because it seems to be the hip
thing to do - a divorce waiting to be decreed. However, the many worthy
and legitimate causes out there will not be taken that lightly. In
fact, poorly managed couplings of cause and brand may actually result
in more harm than good."
November 5th, 2007 at 6:07 am
I agree that the link between the company and cause is critical. This is reinforced by the Porter and Kramer report on the need to move to “Strategic CSR” which involves identifying and implementing an opportunity that benefits both society and a company’s own competitiveness, and also reinforces the company’s strategy. This does become more difficult with large multi-nationals but maybe they will need to learn to manage their socially responsible activities for each brand, along with other branding activities, in order for their efforts to be credible and effective.