How Charities and Companies Work Together on Marketing Ventures

Cause Marketing: Build Your Image and Bottom Line Through Socially Responsible Partnerships, Programs, and Events
by Joe Marconi

Joe Marconi, a lecturer and marketing-communications consultant, describes how companies engage in “cause marketing,” the practice of promoting charities or causes along with their own products.

The book describes numerous ways that companies can serve others, including donating money, encouraging employees to volunteer, and raising awareness of a cause, all efforts that can help the company create a positive public image and win customers’ loyalty. He illustrates the benefit to the company of engaging in philanthropy by citing numerous studies suggesting that consumers are more likely to buy products from companies that back causes the consumers support.

Some companies described in the book tried cause marketing but were not successful. For example, he says, Philip Morris’s attempt to improve its image by writing large checks to Meals-on-Wheels and the Thurgood Marshall Scholarship Fund was derided by the public, because the company’s “hidden agenda was not very well hidden.” Mr. Marconi writes that for a company to “appear good” to the public, it must actually “be good.” He stresses that companies must assess their corporate social responsibility and business ethics when embarking upon a campaign to win public approval.

In addition, he writes, while companies ultimately need to be recognized publicly for their good deeds, they must be wary of appearing overly eager to take credit for them.

Numerous case studies of partnerships between companies and nonprofit organizations illustrate the process of developing successful joint-marketing efforts. The first step is to carefully select an organization to support. Often, he writes, a company can offer its expertise to help a cause. ConAgra Foods, America’s second-largest food company, for example, helped America’s Second Harvest develop a system to transport food more efficiently.

In establishing a relationship, Mr. Marconi writes, it is important to define clearly the guidelines by which the two organizations will work together. One of the case studies looks at the principles for strategic alliance that the Boys & Girls Clubs of America and Taco Bell agreed on ahead of time–for example, that the arrangement would not be exclusive.

Publisher: Dearborn Trade Publishing, 30 South Wacker Drive, Chicago, Ill. 60606; 312-836-4400; http://www.dearborntrade.com; 222 pages; $25; ISBN 0-7931-5258-5.