Cause Marketing (2)- What do you need to make it work?

Since 2004, Yellow Livestrong Bracelet is the symbol of overcoming huge difficulties by determination and working hard. After 5 years of its launch, you can still see many people wearing bracelets including highly influential sportspeople, celebrities and even politicians. Many other campaigns followed the footsteps of Livestrong yet none of them came close to its success. The campaign started with a goal of selling 5 million bracelets and look where we are now at the sales figures; more than 70 million!!!!

Livestrong is a case that gives you the basic formula to a succesful cause marketing initiative. An influential figure (a hero in this case I must say) with a strong personal attachment to the cause, a product that works and a transparent and simple money transfer mechanism. What that could mean for you and for your organization?

Influential figure: This figure could be a person or an institution or a football team. The point is you need to give a reference point to your consumers to connect to the cause.

Product:: It is all about product. Yellow bracelets of Livestrong campaign that gives 100% of the income to the foundation is a rare case. Do not forget, Nike spent millions of dollars for the product and the marketing of the campaign and did not get any financial return but got a huge return for the brand and they created an amazing connection to millions of people. In normal cases, you would consider a campaign that gives a portion of the proceeds to the cause. In any case; The Product has to work. Consumers would not accomodate any low-quality product just because it is related to a cause. Even the products that you would think you do not need  -as the yellow bracelets- has a crucial functionality to satify consumers such as showing that you are a member of Livestrong tribe. (It is all about tribes as Seth Godin says)

Simple and Transparent Mechanism: It is crucial to be clear about what you are giving back whether it is a portion of the proceeds or a fixed amount. Ensure that the funding mechanism is transparent your partner in the campaign is a credible organization. 

In the next post, I will discuss the impact of cause marketing initiatives and compare it with the alternative ways of raising funds.

Aykan Gulten