Outline

Areas of concern:
- Am I paying enough attention to customer insights and experiences?
- Do my ideas flow?

Note: The reasons why consumers buy cause-related products are my opinions. There was very little secondary research available for that aspect of my paper.

I. Introduction

A. Thesis – Companies are increasingly using cause-related marketing to give consumers new incentives to buy their products. Mission-based companies are more clear in their dedication to a cause, whereas the motives of some preexisting companies who associate with causes are questionable.
i. What is cause-related marketing?
ii. Overview of topics to be discussed
1. There are benefits and pitfalls associated with cause-related marketing.
2. Why do customers buy cause-related products?
3. Some companies are mission-based, meaning they are formed because of a cause.
4. Many preexisting companies create an association with a cause in order to entice customers.

II. Body

A. There are benefits and pitfalls associated with cause-related marketing.
i. Benefits
1. Studies show that cause-related marketing efforts result in increased sales.
2. There will be greater customer loyalty, especially if customers associate personally with the cause.
3. Philanthropic activity enhances the company image.
4. Cause-related marketing solicits positive media coverage
ii. Pitfalls
1. It is difficult to quantify how well cause-related marketing programs work.
2. With so many stimuli in today’s marketplace, it is difficult to attract customer’s attention to philanthropic activity.
3. Cynicism leads consumers to question the true motive behind association with a cause.
4. Companies face the challenge of finding the right cause to associate with. The values of the company must be in line with the values of the cause.
B. Customer insights, and why consumers buy cause-related brands
i. In today’s marketplace, consumers are faced with innumerable product choices.
1. It is hard for companies to “out-advertise” or “out-innovate” their competitors.
2. By associating with a cause, companies differentiate their products, making consumer decisions easier.
ii. Consumers want to feel a connection and involvement with the company.
iii. Consumers want to feel good about the brands they buy.
iv. Consumers want a simple way to support a cause.
C. Mission-based companies
i. TOMS Shoes was founded to provide shoes for children in need.
1. How does TOMS create a customer experience?
a. A unique business-model, known as the buy-one-give-one-away model, differentiates TOMS from other mission-based companies.
b. Shoe-drops give consumers the chance to be directly involved with the brand.
c. All elements of the TOMS website mention giving.
i. Consistent with the mission of the company
ii. Reminds customer that they are doing a good thing at each stage of the purchase process.
ii. Patagonia uses recycled and organic materials and supports grassroots environment groups to reduce strain on the environment.
1. The Patagonia website refers to the brand as a tribe. “Field testers work closely with the design department to test, refine and validate our products in the harshest and most remote locations on the planet.”
a. Consumers experience the brand vicariously through ambassador accounts on the Patagonia website.
b. Patagonia customers aspire to have such adventures, and therefore are enticed to buy products to eventually reach that goal.
2. Consumers get direct involvement with the brand through a recycling program calling for old Patagonia products.
D. An increasing number of companies are associating their brand with breast cancer support.
i. Yoplait’s Save Lids to Save Lives campaign has been running for 9-years.
1. Consumers seek simplicity in a complicated marketplace, and all Yoplait asks them to do is wash off the lids and mail them in.
2. The campaign is easily accessible to consumers via several outlets.
a. General Mills has teamed up with Zeta Tau Alpha Sorority.
b. Corporations can sign up for pink lid donation kits so employees can donate at work.
3. Because of the frequency of breast cancer, most consumers have been touched in some way by the disease. This creates a connection with the brands that associate with the cause.
ii. “Think Before You Pink, a project of Breast Cancer Action, launched in 2002 in response to the growing concern about the overwhelming number of pink ribbon products and promotions on the market. The campaign calls for more transparency and accountability by companies that take part in breast cancer fundraising, and encourages consumers to ask critical questions about pink ribbon promotions.”
1. Their current campaign focuses on Yoplait.
a. Yoplait is made from dairy from cows that have been treated with the artificial growth hormone rBGH, which can cause breast cancer.
b. In response, Yoplait announced they will take rBGH out of their product.
2. The organization provides critical questions to educate consumers.
a. How much money actually goes toward breast cancer? Is the amount clearly stated on the package?
b. What is the maximum amount that will be donated?
c. How are the funds being raised?
d. To what breast cancer organization does the money go, and what types of programs does it support?
e. What is the company doing to assure that its products are not actually contributing to the breast cancer epidemic?
3. Breast Cancer Action is working to reshape the way customers approach purchasing cause-related products.
a. Research will become a part of the experience.
b. Customer experience will be enhanced with the certainty that an educated decision has been made.

III. Conclusion

A. Consumers buy products from mission-based companies and preexisting companies who associate their brand with a cause for similar reasons.
i. Mission-based organizations are very clear in their dedication to a cause, as all of their business practices go towards furthering support of the cause they were founded on.
ii. Consumers are urged to educate themselves before buying products from preexisting companies who associate their brand with a cause.