Why Cause Marketing?

Cause marketing is a strategy that a company or brand develops in partnership with a another organization (or organizations) that allows the sponsor to link its products to an issue important to consumers. These powerful partnerships create wins for the sponsor, its partner, and society.

Research shows that cause marketing is a good business decision. In fact, in 2006, companies across the nation spent over $1.6 billion on cause marketing and cause-related sponsorship. Cause marketing is rapidly becoming a key tactic in winning marketing strategies. These multi-faceted marketing campaigns align high-profile companies with causes consumers care about, in an effort to make an impact on social issues and the company’s bottom line. Such alignments are proven to position your company as a caring corporate neighbor while successfully capturing coveted market share.

Cause marketing alignments position companies as caring corporate neighbors. When companies care about causes that are important to their consumers, they can:

• enhance corporate credibility
• amplify consumer loyalty
• improve employee recruitment and retention
• build brand equity
• boost the bottom line

Why cause marketing with FamilyCare America?

When you align your brand with FamilyCare America’s National Caregivers Library and its Caregiving Ministries programs, you have opportunities to position yourself favorably with important, but hard-to-reach markets – seniors, boomer-caregivers and the leadership of one of the most important influencers of their behavior – the staff and lay leaders of faith-based organizations.

Research indicates that consumers prefer companies that support important causes.  And, as a result of current demographic shifts, evolving family structures and changes in the healthcare system, the ability to find reliable resources for families who must provide care related assistance to family members, rates as a top concern among boomers, seniors and those to whom they turn for advice and support – such as churches, professional advisors and employers. 

In fact,

• 8 in 10 Americans say that corporate support of causes wins their trust in that company. ¹
   
• 86% of Americans would be likely to switch brands to one associated with a good cause, if price and quality are similar.
   
• 81% of Americans want companies to support health issues. ¹
   
• Women provide a disproportionate amount of family caregiving services and make a disproportionate number of decisions related to the health and financial support of family members.
   
• 93% of women say that they have a more positive image of a product or company when it supports a cause they care about.¹

Employees prefer companies that support social causes—your company’s ability to attract new employees will be enhanced.

• Assuming equal location, pay, benefits, and responsibilities, 72% of Americans say they would choose to work for a firm that supports charitable causes over one that does not. ⁴
   
• More than 97% of MBA graduates from 11 top American and European business schools would be willing to give up an average of 14% of their expected income to work for a company reputed to be socially responsible and ethical. ⁵

Cause marketing is good business. Your company benefits. Your customers benefit. Society benefits.

Sources:  

1.     2004 Cone Corporate Citizenship Study

2.     Princeton Partners Integrated Marketing Agency

3.     2004 National Cause Marketing for Cancer Research survey

4.     2004 Deloitte and Touche USA Survey

5.     “MBA Graduates Want to Work for Caring and Ethical Employers.” Stanford Graduate School of Business, January 2004.
 

Facts about marketing and consumer behavior

• 65% of consumers rate their friends as the most trusted source of product recommendations; only 27% rated experts as the most trusted source.
  (Source: Yankelovich, 2004)
   
• 76% of Americans talk about at least 1 brand per day, and average talking about 10 brands per day. (Source: TalkTrackTM, Keller Fay Group, 2006)
   
• The average person has 112 marketing-relevant conversations per week
  (Source: TalkTrackTM, Keller Fay Group, 2006)
   
• 91% of consumers regularly or occasionally seek advice about products and services before making a purchase.
  (Source: BIGresearch, 2007)
   
• 94% of consumers regularly or occasionally give advice about products or services they purchased.
  (Source: BIGresearch, 2007)