676 The Marketing Book
Models
Increasingly, enlightened companies like Tesco,
Centrica, Lever Faberg ́e (Adkins, 1999a, Chap-
ter 16) and others are getting behind key social
issues and linking their brands to charities and
good causes, to develop mutually beneficial
partnerships. It is easy to see why. As has been
explained, cause-related marketing is ‘a com-
mercial activity by which businesses and char-
ities or good causes form a partnership with
each other to market an image, product or
service for mutual benefit’. This is Business in
the Community’s definition, developed follow-
ing extensive consultation amongst consumers
and practitioners, both in business and in
charities. Cause-related marketing is precisely
that, marketing related to a cause, where
marketing is constantly developing new strate-
gies and techniques. If one accepts that the
marketing mix consists of the four ‘Ps’ of
product, price, place (distribution) and promo-
tion or promotional mix, cause-related market-
ing falls within this promotional mix. The
promotional mix is ever growing and therefore
so is the scope of cause-related marketing. The
promotional mix includes advertising, sales
promotion, public relations or publicity, spon-
sorship, licensing and direct marketing, which
includes loyalty and relationship marketing etc.
The limits of cause-related marketing are cre-
ated or defined only by the limitations of one’s
imagination.
In order to provide a useful framework,
cause-related marketing approaches can per-
haps be grouped under six broad categories as
a minimum. These are advertising, public
relations, sponsorship, licensing, direct market-
ing and sales promotion. A brief explanation
for each is provided below, followed by case
studies (Adkins, 1999a, Chapter 15).
Advertising
Advertising clearly includes a variety of media,
ranging from broadcast, including radio and the
Internet, advertising to print and press cam-
paigns. Cause-related marketing advertising
therefore can include any or all of these media
and more. From a content point of view,
advertising-led cause-related marketing may
focus for instance on communicating a partic-
ular sales promotion, as in the Tesco’s Com-
puters for Schools programme (Adkins, 1999a,
Chapter 16). Apart from raising awareness,
funds and resources for a particular cause or
issue, the objectives from the organization’s
point of view can range from anything from
building, reinforcing and demonstrating corpo-
rate and brand reputation, to providing differ-
entiation, encouraging relationships and loyalty
between the product, service or charity cause, or
corporate to driving traffic, trial and sales.
Advertising-led cause-related marketing can
also refer to the advertising of a particular cause
or issue where the business aligns itself to a
particular good cause and uses its advertising to
communicate that cause’s message. An example
of this would be Nambarrie and the support of
Action Cancer (Adkins, 1999a, Chapter 16).Public relations
Public relations (PR) is often cited as a key
benefit and indeed key objective for a cause-
related marketing partnership, and in some
cases represents the lead marketing discipline
in defining, creating and implementing a pro-
gramme or strategy. The key to getting PR
coverage for the cause-related marketing pro-
gramme is the same as the key for generating
PR for any other activity. Newsworthiness,
innovation, excitement and a compelling mes-
sage are all crucial. There is, however, a
significant difference for cause-related market-
ing. The balance in communication for a
cause-related marketing programme must be
absolutely appropriate. Essentially, both the
media and the public have to be clear that any
cause-related marketing partnership is sincere,
open, transparent and honest: that the relation-
ship is based upon a partnership of mutual
respect and that there is a balanced benefit to be