We know that in the age of transparency, consumers are very aware of the impact that companies make on society, and that inevitably affects their consumption behavior.
Today, business is not always about making a great profit. Thanks to the internet, consumers not only want to know what you sell, but they want to know who you are, what you do, and what you care about. Most consumers are more conscious about the sources of the products they are buying and how ethically brands respond to causes.
According to a survey conducted by YouGov, 79% of Singaporeans agree that they prefer to buy products from a brand or company that’s socially responsible and caring about doing good for society. For instance, during the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020, 59% or three in five Singaporeans have a tendency to buy from a brand with a strong COVID-19 response or focus.
With these high demands and expectations from consumers, creating an impactful brand is a number one priority for every business. And one of the viable solutions to achieve that is through cause marketing. In its practice, cause marketing can be in the form of a collaboration between a non-profit organization (NPO) and for-profit business to support a cause. The term also refers to marketing campaigns run by for-profit businesses based on social and charitable causes.
One of the attractions of performing Cause Marketing is that it may boost good-will and trust towards your business by people supporting the same cause, thus driving brand attractiveness and revenue. For companies that run cause marketing effectively, it can be a win-win for them, consumers, non-profit organizations, and even the community.
Benefits of Cause Marketing
Despite fulfilling the obligation of CSR (corporate social responsibility), leveraging cause marketing can also differentiate your brand from competitors.
You are a business that competes with tons of other businesses with similar products, competitive prices, and similar messages in their campaigns. To stand out, you have to make a difference beyond product- or price-level. You need to occupy a special place in each customer’s heart. And that is where cause marketing comes into play and can become a game-changer for your business.
Here are the other benefits of doing cause marketing that you can consider:
1. Satisfying Customers’ Expectations Toward Your Business
According to KPMG, customer expectations in Singapore have grown since the beginning of COVID-19 pandemic. Customers are demanding more, and are judging brands based on how ethically they have responded to the pandemic. They are willing to promote organisations/brands that fulfil their expectations. Therefore, it is very crucial for brands to prove that they can be trusted in the eyes of customers. It is important to increase your appeal to the individuals and their ideals — this now includes supporting a cause.
2. Creating Better Customer Loyalty
Cause Marketing nurtures a feeling of good-will between you and customers. You can attract customers by providing a real opportunity for those who want to contribute more towards a certain cause. For example, donating a certain amount of money from every purchase one makes, or showing your support towards certain causes through your promotion or marketing communications. The warm and fuzzy feeling that people get from supporting a worthwhile cause becomes associated with your brand. Thus, it cultivates continued loyalty and trust with your brand.
3. Creating Authentic Engagement with Your Customers
You can use cause marketing as your bridge to create an authentic engagement with your customers. By enabling customers to pick a charity to support, it encourages them to take action and participate in a cause that you and your customers care about. Giving your customers a chance to support a cause while purchasing a product from you (online or in-store) can create a meaningful connection. And a meaningful connection drives authentic engagement.
4. Increasing Employee Engagement
For your existing employees, showing that your company supports a great cause can be an effective way to boost employee engagement. It is possible because when the employees get involved in a social activity or a charity outside of work together, it builds teamwork and camaraderie. Through this, employees from each department can collaborate together without the usual corporate hierarchy. By cultivating good social relationships and engagement among employees through a series of social works, this may be a way to reduce work-stress and promote mental-wellness.
And it can also create a meaningful work culture if your company supports a great cause that your employees care about. A survey by A Great Place to Work reveals that many millennial workers tend to choose working with a company that prioritises giving back to the community. Supporting a cause can also help your company to attract top talents and “champions of good”.
Examples of Cause Marketing Campaign in Practice
How does cause marketing work in practice? It comes in many different forms and different industries will do different things. Each brand may have a different approach according to its brand voice and the cause that they pick. In general, there are some common strategies that you can implement.
- Collaboration with non-profit organization (NPO) — in practice, a company will raise funds or donate a certain amount of money to a charity programme initiated by a non-profit organization.
- Purchased-triggered donation — part of the money generated from customers’ purchase will be donated to support a charity initiative. This strategy is often done by retail companies or fast-food chains.
- Post-checkout donation — during a checkout process at the register, customers will be asked to give a donation. Usually, this act is done by displaying an encouraging Call-to-action at the point of purchase.
- Message promotion — a brand communicates its support toward a cause through their advertisement, social media, or other forms of digital media.
For your reference, here are the examples of cause marketing campaigns in action.
1. Asia’s First Charity Stamps on World Kindness Day by SingPost and MINDS
Photo source: SingPost
To raise awareness for persons with special needs, Singapore Post Limited (SingPost) launched Asia’s first charity stamps on World Kindness Day 2020, featuring designs created by four special needs students from the Movement for the Intellectually Disabled of Singapore (MINDS). These charity stamps are the first in the region to have their sales proceeds wholly donated to a charity and was launched by President Halimah Yacob at MINDS Fernvale Gardens School. SingPost presented a cheque of a total of S$168,000 to Community Chest as a support for MINDS. Not limited to that, each winner whose artworks are featured will be given a prize of $1000.
2. Fight Against COVID-19 and AIDS by Starbucks x RED
Photo source: Starbucks
Starbucks has been one of the brands that have unique ways of responding to big causes, including COVID-19 pandemic and AIDS awareness. On World AIDS Day 2018, Starbucks donated 20 cents (USD) for every latte purchased in the Starbucks stores across U.S and Canada to raise help awareness towards AIDS with RED — a New York-based non-profit organization, triggering contributions to the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, tuberculosis, and malaria.
Last year in 2020, Starbucks donated $500,000 to the Global Fund with the aim to help fight against AIDS with RED. This donation is also part of the Starbucks Foundation response to COVID-19 by providing emergency assistance for those in need while helping the community’s resilience and recovery from the impact of pandemic.
3. #ChooseToGive by Carousell Singapore
Photo source: Carousell
On National Day 2020, Carousell — a Singaporean online marketplace brand, launched a #ChooseToGive campaign to encourage the community to give 20,200 free items for the people in need. The receivers ranges from mothers and students to low-income families. #ChooseToGive had the aim to promote the importance of togetherness during hard times and to support the SG Cares movement. This campaign also shows Carousell’s involvement in Retail For Good, a movement initiated by NVPC’s (National Volunteer & Philanthropy Centre) Champion of Good to unite e-commerce partners to incite online shoppers to give back as they scroll, browse and shop.
4. Healthcare Heroes by Ascott and Pan Pacific
Photo source: Asian Journeys
During the peak of COVID-19 pandemic, healthcare workers have been working tirelessly to combat the disease, by providing care toward suspected or confirmed COVID-19 patients. As a big appreciation for our healthcare heroes, major hotel brands in Singapore such as Ascott and Pan Pacific took the lead to provide special offers and complimentary stays for every healthcare worker who stayed at their hotels.
Ascott offered healthcare workers 40% off the best flexible rate at participating properties in Singapore. Under their “HERO (Healthcare Employees Recognition & Ovation)” campaign, Pan Pacific provided 25,000 complimentary hotel nights for members of 3 healthcare groups: SingHealth, National Healthcare Group (NHG) and National University Health System (NUHS).
How to Craft a Good Cause Marketing Campaign
Cause-related marketing is very sensitive, if you do it wrong, it is possible that you will gain nothing but a negative perception from the community and your customers. You do not want your brand to be put on the list of “Cause Marketing fails”.
Easily, you can always think of your motive and objective, you have to go beyond “drive more revenue”, “achieving mutual benefits between organization partners” or “showing that your company is socially responsible”. Your motive must be greater than your brand/company itself. And here are the few things that you need to consider before creating a Cause Marketing campaign.
1. Choose a Cause That You Advocate For
Deciding a cause is more than just a “cherry pick”, you need to choose a cause that you believe in. Cause Marketing feels genuine if the cause is related to your brand. A successful cause marketing campaign should reflect the values of your company, non-profit partner and your customers. Knowing your audience inside-out and crafting a successful campaign based on the value of all parties will not only help your non-profit partners, but it will help you build trust and loyalty from customers.
2. Involve Your Audience and Employees to Participate
Your audience and customers can be a big shoutout on your cause marketing campaign. By using social media or a landing page on your website, you can encourage your audience to participate in your campaign through some ways.
- Invite audience to participate in your event.
- Ask your audience to share your post.
- Encourage your employee to promote your messages.
A good campaign preparation always needs an effective outreach. By involving your audience more in your campaign, it can be a great way to raise awareness to the community and amplify your message.
3. Partner Up with an Organization or a Third-Party Partner
To launch a campaign, whether by holding an event or other forms of marketing, it is likely that you will need the help of a non-profit organization or an agency that specializes in CSR initiatives. Since they are the experts in their field, not only will they help you in executing your plans, but will assist in providing valuable insights to optimise your campaign.
The ultimate goal of Cause Marketing is to make a positive impact on the cause that you support in, achieve mutual benefits between partners, and create a meaningful connection with your customers. Good preparation and execution are always the keys to pulling off your Cause Marketing campaign.
At Epic Dialogue, our team is more than happy to help you plan the strategy for your Cause Marketing campaign. Our goal is to help mission-driven organisations amplify their brand and CSR initiatives through our unique combination of digital marketing, events, and branding capabilities. As strong believers of doing well by doing good, we propel businesses to greater heights through our 360° Sustainability Communications Solution.
Got a question regarding Cause Marketing? Email us at hello@epic-dialogue.com. We will be happy to share more insights and ideas for your next Cause Marketing campaign.
