The 3 Cardinal Rules of Cause Marketing
friends to either do the same and share their video using the ALS Ice Bucket Challenge hashtag, or donate to support ALS research within 24 hours.
Frates' friends and family took part in the ice bucket challenge, and within a week or so, it went viral. Even celebrities, athletes, and several government officials took part in the challenge, with many participants opting to donate and dump the ice water. By September, more than 2.4 million videos were made, raising more than $70 million for the ALS Association.
"Social media can be extraordinarily powerful in spreading the word about a great cause because it's all about being inspired by friends and people you know," Strand says.
The ALS Ice Bucket Challenge was particularly effective, Pansky adds, because it began organically and was driven by organic engagement. "It wasn't the ALS Association that started this. It was a regular person who was touched by the disease. It's hard to say whether this level of engagement could be replicated if the campaign is started by a corporation," Pansky says. But that doesn't mean they shouldn't try.
Rule 3: Tell an 'Impact' Story
For brands that want to drive the kind of engagement that organic campaigns such as the ALS Ice Bucket Challenge achieved, showing how people are benefiting from their efforts is key. Social media can play a pivotal role here, too, Strand says.
In 2007, Office Max and Office Depot (which are now one company) partnered with Adopt-a-Classroom, an organization that helps raise funds for teachers to use on supplies and learning tools for the classroom. Typically, teachers spend more than $1,000 of their own money on supplies annually, so to help, the organizations joined forces to launch A Day Made Better, an annual one-day event that awards more than 1,000 educators more than $1,000 each in school supplies.
The campaign has enjoyed such longevity, Strand says, largely because of the "impact stories" Office Depot has shared. Using the TeachersChangeLives hashtag, the company encouraged teachers and students to share YouTube videos of outstanding teachers in action to serve as a reminder of "the difference a great teacher can make," says Pansky, whose firm, Allison + Partners, did pro bono public relations work for a project Office Depot and Adopt-a-Classroom launched. Teachers and students who benefited from donations through the A Day Made Better program also began recording messages and making videos thanking the companies. One message, from Courtney Lobert, a first-grade teacher at Northtowne Elementary School in Columbus, OH, struck a chord with executives at Adopt-a-Classroom.
"I just want you to know that I'm so grateful to you and, on behalf of my twenty-seven first-graders in a city school where we frequently feel forgotten, it was such a gift," Lobert said in a recording through tears. "I know today that people saw how hard we work, and not just me, but also my students every day.... Just to know that we're supported and people believe in us is so encouraging. The kids kept asking me if it was Christmas," she added. Adopt-a-Classroom was so touched by Lobert's words that the organization asked her to speak at fundraisers and other events, according to Pansky.
Though the project was created through a cause marketing partnership rather than formed organically, the campaign incorporated organic elements. The thank-you videos and messages came from campaign beneficiaries, as did the videos of teachers doing what they do best in their classrooms.
"By sharing impact stories that demonstrate the difference that the campaign can make, companies are showing consumers that the efforts are paying off. People are actually benefiting from what this brand is doing, and that's a reason to support it by making purchases there, instead of elsewhere," Strand says.
Since Adopt-a-Classroom began working with Office Max and Office Depot, A Day Made Better has contributed more than $4 million worth of products. The program was expanded earlier this year, with more events scheduled annually.
From programs that reward consumers for contributing to a good cause to initiatives that simply make shoppers feel good about buying from a certain brand, cause-related campaigns come in many forms. Though brands have made gimmicky mistakes in the past, there's still a tremendous amount of value in cause marketing when it stems from a healthy desire to help those in need and earn consumer loyalty. "Once companies start doing it just for profit, that's where they go wrong," Pansky says.
Associate Editor Maria Minsker can be reached at mminsker@infotoday.com.