2. Does Marketing with a Social Cause give brands a human face?
Indeed. Cause-marketing shares many common traits with other types of marketing,
giving, or fundraising efforts for social, charitable, and philanthropic organizations,
these terms are by no means the same.
Cause-marketing is a potentially profit-making initiative by a for-profit company or
brand to raise awareness, money, and/or consumer engagement in a social or
environmental issue.
Statistically, studies show that as a business practice cause-marketing is -and will
continue to grow as- an effective way to both increase financial gain and support a
cause. In other words, cause marketing presents a unique opportunity for companies
to simultaneously do well and do good, or better yet, to do well by doing good
Cause-marketing at its core has three major components:
(1) A product, often (but not always) a tangible item that can be bought and sold
(2) A partnership between the corporation behind that product and a non-profit or
cause-based institution
(3) And a way to generate for profit
Many programs have been designed to do well by doing good have been launched by
businesses and nonprofits. Many have been short-term and pedestrian, while others
have been inspiring and impactful.
Lets understand the marketing with a social cause with few examples:
3. The revolution of amul started as an awareness among the farmers that grew and matured
into a protest movement and the determination to liberate themselves.
Amul: The origin
The mighty Ganges at it's origin is but a tiny stream in the Gangotri ranges of the Himalayas.
Similar is the story of Amul which inspired 'Operation Flood' and heralded the 'White
Revolution' in India. It began with two village cooperatives and 250 liters of milk per day,
nothing but a trickle compared to the flood it has become today. Today Amul collects,
processes and distributes over a million liters of milk and milk products per day, during the
peak, on behalf of more than a thousand village cooperatives owned by half a million farmer
members. Further, as Ganga-ma carries the aspirations of generations for moksha, Amul too
has become a symbol of the aspirations of millions of farmers.Creating a pattern of liberation
and self-reliance for every farmer to follow.
The Kaira experiment: A new beginning in more ways than one.
A system which involves participation of people on such a large magnitude does not confine
itself to an isolated sector. The ripples of its turbulence affect other areas of the society as
well. The cooperatives in the villages of Kaira are contributing to various desirable social
changes such as:
4. 1. The year l y el ect i ons of t he m
anagem
ent com i t t ee and i t s chai r m
m
an,
by t he m ber s, ar e m ng t he par t i ci pant s aw e of t hei r r i ght s
em
aki
ar
and educat i ng t hem about t he dem at i c pr ocess.
ocr
2. Per pet uat i ng t he vol unt ar y m x of t he var i ous et hni c and soci al
i
gr oups t w ce-a-day f or com on causes and m ual bet t er m
i
m
ut
ent has
r esul t ed i n er odi ng m
any soci al i nequi l i br i a. The r i ch and t he poor ,
t he el i t e and t he or di nar y com t oget her t o cooper at e f or a com on
e
m
cause.
3. M e t han 900 vi l l age cooper at i ves have cr eat ed j obs f or near l y
or
5000 peopl e i n t hei r ow vi l l ages -- w t hout di st ur bi ng t he soci on
i
agr o-syst em -- and t her eby t he exodus f r om t he r ur al ar eas has been
ar r est ed t o a gr eat ext ent .
4. The i ncom f r om m l k has cont r i but ed t o t hei r househol d econom
e
i
y.
Besi des, w en, w ar e t he m or par t i ci pant s, now have a say i n t he
om
ho
aj
hom econom
e
y.
I ndependent st udi es by var i ous i ndi vi dual s and i nst i t ut i ons have show
n
t hat as hi gh as 48 per cent of t he i ncom of t he r ur al househol d i n
e
Kai r a D st r i ct i s bei ng der i ved f r om dai r yi ng. Si nce dai r yi ng i s a
i
subsi di ar y occupat i on f or t he m or i t y of t he r ur al popul at i on, t hi s
aj
5. Tata Tea has been able to ride the wave of trends in
social activism. After the buzz of elections died down,
and even before anyone could anticipate the spate of
corruption scandals that would unfold in the years to
come, Jaago Re had moved on to the theme of
corruption.
Jaago Re had been running with the corruption theme
for a while when Anna Hazare went on an indefinite
hunger strike on April 5, 2011. The Anna movement may
have been the perfect platform for the cause to be
propagated. But Tata Tea executives had a doubt: Do
they align themselves with Anna? With a nation that was
deeply agitated and rallying behind Anna, it would have
been the easiest thing for them to back him. But, after
intensive discussions, the executives decided that they
will not align themselves to anything political. Instead,
they decided to take on a campaign that saw two lakh
people pledging never to bribe again.
6. This is what made Jaago Re a phenomenal success. The team knew what partnerships to
strike and which ones to strike out.
Gradually, the campaign also became agnostic to the medium but loyal to the message.
Tata Tea put its muscle behind every single communication medium:
TV, print, radio, online, and even sent volunteers to places that have no access to these
forms of communication.
With a crucial round of general elections coming up in 2014, we have to wait and watch if
Tata Tea can still read and lead public sentiment. This time, it is not just asking people
about voting, but taking it one step forward to create awareness of what you are voting
for.
The “Tata Tea Jaago re” campaign is a cause related marketing campaign and is a
perfect example of cause related marketing. The campaign is completely against
corruption. The ads generally show ministers accepting bribes or college authorities
accepting bribes for admissions. We can therefore say that the TATA is carrying out
cause related marketing activity, i.e. they are supporting a cause. This has increased the
brand equity of TATA brand as well because corruption is a cause against which voice
need to be raised.
The brand TATA and the product TATA Tea surely played a significant role for the social
cause and emerged as a human face for the humanity.
7. “Padhega India Tabhi To Badhega
India”
P&G came up with an innovative idea 5 years ago, of linking product sales with a worthy
cause.
All consumers need to do to participate is simply buy any of P&G’s large packs of Tide,
Ariel, Pantene, Olay, H&S, Rejoice, Vicks VapoRub, Whisper, Gillette Mach 3 Turbo, Gillette
Series, Oral B, Duracell or Pampers in the months of April, May & June ’09 and part of the
proceeds will go towards children’s education.
Till Date, Shiksha has set 87,000+ children across 435 communities on the path to the
right to education with a donation of over Rs.8+ crore. The NGO partner is CRY .
What a fantastic initiative, from one of the most respectable marketing companies. Who
knows brand building and marketing better than P&G. The cause needs awareness at
millions of outlets where P&G products are present. It needs critical presence in modern
digital medium. It needs innovative thinking. Celebrity walkathons, while important, may
not necessary catch attention.
So for P&G , the brand tried its best to support a social cause regarding education for
children. Somehow it even created the human face factor against many FMCG consumers.
8. • Can improve social welfare
• Create differentiated brand positioning
• Enhance the company’s public image
• Build strong customer bonds
• Drive sales
• Reservoir of goodwill
9. Build brand
awareness
Create a sense
of brand
community
Marketing
With A
Social
Cause
Establish
brand
credibility
Enhance brand
image
Evoke brand
feelings