FUNDAMENTALS
MARKETING
DEVISE A BUSINESS MODEL TO BENEFIT OTHERS AND YOUR BOTTOM LINE Cause Marketing
by Shawn Tiberio
an increasingly busy and prof - it-driven world, big brands are
cause marketing is the marketing of a for-profit product or business which benefits a nonprofit charity or supports a social cause in some way. Philanthropy, on the other hand, is the generous act of writing a check and sending it to a charity. Second, cause marketing is not simply a campaign, it’s an intricate part of an overall business strategy. It involves active consumer research and engagement, product differen - tiation, purchasing influencers, and effective communication. But, cause marketing raises a lot of questions for small business owners, and rightly so. How do you measure it? Does it entice con - sumers to make a purchase? Will it increase your bottom line? Why are so many brands investing in giving away money? Cause marketing works simply
because of the consumers. Consum - ers love, and tend to be more loyal to, businesses whose values align with their own. Cause marketing is a way to demonstrate those corporate values to consumers in a way that, done right, can be both meaningful as well as engaging. In our world of convenience, having an easy way to give back through their existing actions (such as purchasing a prod - uct or engaging with a service) is important to consumers and enables them to make a small difference as they go about their otherwise-busy days. BRAND LOYALTY It’s tough to measure, but crucial to a brand’s success. And when it comes to a brand’s relationship to cause, consumers have spoken: 80%
In
taking an altruistic step back. In fact, 5% of the total charitable donations in 2019 came from corporations, a 3.9% increase from the year before. But is it truly a selfless desire to give? Yes and no. It’s true that corporate leaders want to give rather than take. Only, it’s not always entirely selfless. Studies show that corporate giving can directly affect the bottom line in a positive way. That’s why in the last decade we’ve seen the rise in a new type of marketing, “cause market - ing.”
WHAT CAUSE MARKETING IS AND IS NOT First, cause marketing is not the same as philanthropy. Rather,
28 | think realty magazine :: january 2021
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