Expanding Horizons of Cause Marketing

Cause marketing can be defines as strategic and marketing tool that links a brand to a social cause which have a mutual benefit. American Express started this type of marketing in 1980’s under the name of CRM in which they served a cause of “restoration of statue of liberty” in New York. And then this trend caught up and entered the Indian market in the year 1990, CRM basically provided companies a edge to fight against their competitors, potential benefits of Cause marketing were attracting and retaining customers, Market differentiation etc.

Some of the brilliant concepts that have come up in the Indian market and helped both the companies as well as the cause would be discussed further and even the most important thing is that cause marketing is expanding its horizons it is just not limited to the corporate it is being used by political parties, actors to market themselves and to create a link with audience.

Cause marketing initiative in India was taken by TATA Salt in which they contributed 10paise per pack of TATA Salt sold in Indian market for CRY (Child Relief and U) and they inspired the Indian audience with a very catchy tagline “The Desh Ko Arpan Programme” and their initiative was able to collect 33lakhs for the organization in just 1 month.

If I talk about STAR plus, India’s leading General Entertainment Channel recently launched ‘Sabki Laadli Bebo’. Taking this concept a step further, the channel announced its annual CSR initiative – Project Laadli, in association with KC Mahindra Educational Trust Project Nanhi Kali to create awareness regarding various issues associated with the cause of girl child. The Laadli Week Celebration, from April 13, 2009 to April 17, 2009, witnessed a series of fund raising events and promotions across STAR Plus’ shows. A special on-air contest was activated wherein viewers sent in messages and pictures of their daughters. The best messages were aired on the show Sabki Laadli Bebo. More than 51,000 messages were received during the Laadli Week Celebration, out of which more than 30,000 viewers contacted Nanhi Kali to contribute for this noble cause. The SMS initiative crossed all standard benchmarks, it received 8 to 10 times more messages per day compared to any normal campaign. STAR has also donated money towards this cause which will be used to educate approximately 600 underprivileged girls.

Coming further and talking of the TIMES OF INDIA “Teach India” initiative earlier Amitabh Bachchan was the brand ambassador then came in Shah Rukh Khan then finally came in Aamir Khan, Aamir can be seen currently on billboards across the country, supporting the Teach India movement. Aamir was selected for his strong sense of ethics for a social cause. “He stands out as credible and honest”. The role that Aamir essayed in his last movie, Taare Zameen Par, teaching a dyslexic child and helping mentally challenged children, also went in his favor. Bachchan was chosen for India Poised because the campaign highlighted India in its 60th year of independence and TOI wanted someone who was truly iconic to deliver the message to the entire nation and someone who could speak both Hindi and English equally well.

Similarly, Shah Rukh was chosen in the second phase of Lead India because of his status as a youth icon and the campaign was a call to the youth to come out and do something for the nation.

Cause marketing during elections by Congress from a marketing communications perspective, it was interesting to see how positive messages won the day. Electoral alliances and political agendas aside, there was something about the Congress campaign that caught the public imagination. Its campaign tune, Jai Ho, matched its central slogan “Aam admi ke badte kadam, Har kadam par Bharat buland” and offered optimism, inclusion and association with all. The Congress’ marketing revolved around talking to the common man about his issues in the sharpest manner possible. The result was communication which people could relate to. Congress zeroed in on identifying specific target segments within its overall audience, identified issues that had immediate appeal to these segments and projected a number of credible leaders. The messaging about youthful leadership and young India was fresh, sincere and credible.While the Congress reminded people about opportunities seized and offered, the BJP and the Left talked about problems. At a time when the economic crisis was at the top of everyone’s minds, such messages fell far short of expectations. Running an election campaign is about gauging the pulse of the electorate – just like creating a great marketing campaign. The brand which has its ears to the ground always wins.

TATA Tea “Jaago Re” campaign was a brilliant picture of cause marketing it targeted all the Indians who did not go for voting.Some more examples are Procter & Gamble’s brand, positioned itself as a wildlife rescue and animal rehabilitation product campaign called” Everyday Wildlife Champion”.

Idea cause marketing concept having a number for each Indian and Walk and Talk concept created ripples in market, when government came up with UIC initiative Idea came up with the campaign “dekha yeh hum kabh se keh rahe hain”. There are many more examples like Nokia, ITC, Dell etc. And the expanding horizons of cause marketing can put in many more corporate, political parties, actors to use this in near future.

Conclusion

Though Cause Marketing has started as a commercial activity, it has evolved as a concept and has gone beyond commercial activity to community activity. Companies have gone beyond the level of reactive competitive strategies, and have shown the world the soft side of marketing strategies – a shift from hard factors to soft factors is evident in their marketing strategies. Companies should contribute truly for the sake of cause without expecting in return.

By

Kanwarpal Singh