680 The Marketing Book
foreign currency. This currency is then donated
to a variety of charities, which in BA’s case is
UNICEF. To date, the BA Change for Good
programme has raised over £12 million for
needy children around the world, by exposing
over 40 million passengers a year to the
partnership. There are many other examples
using the same mechanic, including utilities,
restaurants and hotels, to name but a few
(Adkins, 1999a, Chapter 15).
Summary
As has been argued, consumers and other
stakeholder groups have high expectations of
businesses. Clearly, in an age where informa-
tion held on consumer’s interests and habits is
growing at an incredible rate, the opportunity
exists to understand what motivates an indi-
vidual from a charity or cause point of view,
and to develop marketing strategies which are
in tune with their expectations and interests,
and to communicate with them accordingly.
Research shows that over 80 per cent of
consumers have indicated that, price and qual-
ity being equal, linking with a cause would
make a difference; they would change brands,
switch retail outlets and have a much better
perception of a company trying to do some-
thing to make the world a better place. The
opportunities to build the business whilst
making a real positive difference to the wider
community are therefore significant, providing
a win–win–win (Adkins, 1999b).
Towards excellence
Developing a company’s cause-related market-
ing programme takes time. It also needs to be
handled very carefully. There are huge rewards
to be gained from cause-related marketing,
from the business, charity and good cause, and
consumer perspective. There are also huge
risks. Brands take decades to build and only
moments to destroy. Cause-related marketing is
not a fig leaf to cover fundamental flaws within
a business. In order to create an award-winning
programme, therefore, it is essential to develop
and implement the partnership with sensitivity.
There is no substitute for a great creative idea,
but that alone will not guarantee success in
cause-related marketing. The potential risks
and rewards are much greater than a standard
marketing activity, as it engages the emotions
of the consumer and other stakeholder groups,
and emotions must be handled with care. The
Business in the Community cause-related mar-
keting guidelines outline the key principles and
processes for effective cause-related marketing.
These cause-related marketing guidelines were
developed through extensive consultation with
consumers, practitioners in businesses and
charities, as well as agencies and representative
bodies. The key principles for cause-related
marketing were identified for these guidelines
as follows (Adkins, 1998): Integrity.
Transparency.
Sincerity.
Mutual respect.
Partnership.
Mutual benefit.If the partnership with a charity or good cause is
not based on these key principles, it is not cause-
related marketing, and it is likely to flounder. If
it is based on these principles, however, and key
processes are followed, it is likely that an
excellent programme will be developed that
provides mutual benefit for all parties. The key
processes that were identified through the
Business in the Community cause-related mar-
keting guidelines (Adkins, 1998) are: Planning and preparation.
Negotiating the partnership.
The formal agreement.
Managing the programme.
Communicating the programme.
Monitoring, measuring and evaluating the
programme.