Cause Marketing ROI

Some cynics see ulterior motives in cause marketing, but the growing number of projects indicate that it’s a win-win proposition for both the companies and the causes.

Though they are often accussed of ulterior motives, such as making money, corporations are now committing nearly $1.5 billion to cause marketing, the promoting of civic and charitable projects. Writer Jack Neff highlighted some of those programs in Advertising Age recently and it was an impressive list.

He summarized the good programs and then posed the question: Are the companies getting a return on their cause marketing? Neff acknowledged that hard numbers on the subject are hard to come by, but he came to two conclusions: Yes, the companies must be getting a good return on their investments simply because they continue to do it. Two, they are entitled and should make a profit on their cause marketing.

A spokesman for Global Marketing said its recent Pampers program with Unicef created "a tremendous impact on our business. When you do it in the right way, with the right tone and the right authenticity, consumers reward us for it," he said.

Advertising Being Used As An Educational Tool for Causes

Some of the companies support their programs with significant advertising and use their advertising as educational tools for their causes. Haagan Dazs, for instance, promoted its recent honeybee preservation program with national cable TV commercials, a spot on "60 Minutes" and with ads in magazines such as Gourmet and National Geographic.

According to Cause Marketing Forum.com, corporate spending on cause marketing in 2007 was estimated at $1.44 billion. That’s up 10.4% from 2006 and almost twice as much as it was in 2002.

Those numbers, plus the fact that Cause Marketing Forum was conducting its sixth annual conference at Chicago in May indicates that companies must feel good about their involvement in that segment of their advertising and marketing.