670 The Marketing Book
More recent interest in cause-related mar-
keting is generally argued to stem from Amer-
ican Express, who apparently coined the phrase
in 1983 and developed a number of cause-
related marketing programmes. American
Express’s support for the Statue of Liberty was
the most well-known programme. The concept
and the link were straightforward, with
approximately $4 million in support, including
print, radio and TV advertising. Customers
were encouraged to use their American Express
card: each time it was used a 1 cent donation
was made to the restoration of the Statue of
Liberty fund. New customers were encouraged
to apply for an American Express card and
participate. For every new American Express
card account approved, a $1 donation would be
made to the fund. American Express also made
donations on purchases of other American
Express products and services. In the course of
this three-month promotion from September to
December 1983, it was reported that over $1.7
million was raised for the Restoration of the
Statue of Liberty: use of American Express
cards rose by 28 per cent in just the first month,
compared to the previous year, and new card
applications increased by 45 per cent. Since
then, American Express has run over 90 pro-
grammes in 17 different countries (Adkins,
1999a, Chapter 3).
Cause-related marketing is defined by
Business in the Community as ‘a commercial
activity by which businesses and charities or
good causes form a partnership with each other
to market an image, product or service for
mutual benefit’. This is Business in the Com-
munity’s definition, developed following
extensive consultation amongst consumers and
practitioners, both in business and in charities.
This definition is now widely used in the UK
and abroad. The critical words within the
definition are commercial,partnership,marketing
andmutual benefit. Whatever cause-related mar-
keting is, it is certainly not philanthropy, nor is
it altruism. Cause-related marketing is a
marketing-driven activity. Parties, be they busi-
nesses, charities or good causes, enter a cause-
related marketing relationship in order to meet
their objectives and in order to receive a return
on their investment, where that investment
may be in cash, time or other resources, or a
combination of all.
There is no universal measure to show the
extent to which cause-related marketing is
being utilized; however, there are measures that
look at part of the picture. According to
American statistics, cause-related marketing in
the USA is worth 9 per cent ($828 million) of the
America sponsorship market and has been one
of the areas of growth over the last few years
(IEG, 2001).
Done well, cause-related marketing pro-
vides commercial advantage for all parties
involved, where commercial applies equally to
the charity, cause or business. Objectives part-
ners may wish to address can cover the full
marketing mix. They can range from organiza-
tional reputation, brand or image enhancement,
increasing loyalty and developing relationships
with consumers, building customer traffic or
PR, to generating income and resources. Each
of these objectives is of course equally relevant
to a charity, cause or business. Cause-related
marketing is about a win–win–win scenario
where the charity or cause and business win,
and indeed where the benefits also extend to
consumers and other stakeholders.
Cause-related marketing programmes are
based on partnerships, mutually agreed objec-
tives and mutual benefit. They should be foun-
ded on relationships of equal balance over time,
where each partner appreciates the contribu-
tion, strengths and weaknesses of the other.
Neither side has greater weight, value or impor-
tance in the equation, or gains at the expense of
the other. Integrity, sincerity, transparency,
mutual respect, partnership and mutual benefit
form the foundation (Adkins, 1998).
Cause-related marketing is therefore good
business, and it is good business for charities
and businesses alike. There should be no
question that, in the end, cause-related market-
ing partnerships are entered into because both
parties have something to gain.