Conversations in Cause Marketing

Doing good. Distilled.
As the business of doing good becomes more of a standard practice, many companies are adding Cause Marketing to their tactical mix. Conversations in Cause Marketing is focused on helping marketing and business professionals understand the important distinctions between cause marketing, cause-related marketing and corporate social responsibility in meeting their objectives, and will highlight those who are effectively engaging in these activities. This series will also serve as a forum to share thoughts, insights and best practices in creating a blueprint for successfully integrating your product or service with a relevant cause to achieve maximum results.

Cone Inc. Sheds Light on the Cause Marketing Conundrum

Anyone who’s heavily immersed Cause Marketing, is already well aware of Cone Inc., and it’s virtually impossible to perform a search on the topic without inevitably returning several results with Cone’s many research studies or commentary. They have spent the past 28 years advising businesses and nonprofits on effective cause engagement, and are without question, [...]

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Cause Marketing 2.0: A Social Reality Game on a Mission for Change

Cause Marketing initiatives come in all shapes and sizes from cause-branded products to community events. But only one comes in a brightly colored deck of cards with opportunities for affecting change through real life activities. Akoha, the world’s first social reality game, is built on the premise of bridging the on- and offline worlds in [...]

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From Transactional to Transformational: A Cause Marketing Approach Designed to Change the World

By and large, a cause marketing initiative works best when a company is deeply committed to a particular social issue, and incorporates a greater platform for change than merely transactional efforts. While it has value to tie the proceeds from sales to a particular cause, it has the potential to confuse the landscape if it [...]

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Tie Your Cause to Your Product – Not Just Your Cash Register

It’s not too difficult to spot the brands who have hopped on the cause marketing bandwagon recently, tying their promotions to a charity in the hopes of sparking increased sales and reaping the halo benefits of goodwill for their image. Today’s consumer is smarter and more informed, and wants to do business with socially responsible [...]

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Can Capitalism and Corporate Consciousness Happily Co-exist?

This series on Cause Marketing has begun the important work of defining the distinctions between cause marketing, cause-related marketing and corporate social responsibility, revealing subtle differences of each and highlighting the short- and long-term impact of those endeavors. But waxing philanthropic will only take us so far. Viewing these concepts in practical application to assess [...]

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Sowing with Purpose: A Unified Corporate Social Responsibility Approach Reaps Long-Term Benefits

As companies and marketers continue to attempt to decode Cause Marketing in determining how best to incorporate it into their efforts, a new conundrum emerges. One that centers around Corporate Social Responsibility and the overall cultural philosophy of a company. For some, it becomes a separation of Church and State issue whereby cause-related activities do [...]

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When it Comes to Cause Marketing, Is Profit a Dirty Word?

One of the latest buzzwords clamoring around the cybersphere is ‘Cause Marketing.’ And there is no shortage of opinions — or definitions – for the concept as marketers scramble to incorporate cause-related activities into their strategy, hoping to tap into the halo effects of a goodwill perception in response to overwhelming research indicating that this [...]

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Profitable Philanthropy? The Values Behind the Figures.

Around this time of year, big Fortune 500 companies resuscitate their annual giving campaigns, tossing boatloads of cash at a variety of charities in an attempt to demonstrate their philanthropic side, garnering a substantial amount of PR in the process. Meanwhile, in most cases, these very same companies are those engaging in socially irresponsible business [...]

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If You Want To Run Your Business in the Black, Make Sure You’re Marketing in the Green

Most ecopreneurs are familiar with the tenets of running a sustainable business — People, Planet, Profit, and, most importantly, in equal priority. Building a sustainable and eco-focused business is based upon a commitment to the welfare of society — and the environment — with the same emphasis as earning a profit. This turns traditional business [...]

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