Cause-related marketing: who cares wins 683
seen. The audit also serves as a useful basis for
the later stages of negotiations and programme
implementation. Apart from setting SMART
objectives, it is important also that the mechan-
ics for programmes are simple and straightfor-
ward. The ‘KISS’ principle of ‘Keeping It Simple’
is critical in the development of an effective
cause-related marketing partnership. When
defining the nature of an activity, therefore, the
following must be considered (Adkins, 1998):
The creative idea.
The balance of benefit between charity or
cause, business and consumer.
The range of products/services involved.
The mechanics of delivery.
Whether the goals are achievable.
Appropriate donation value.
The communications messages and strategy.
The exit strategy.
Valuing the opportunity
The value of a potential partnership will be
unique to it. There is no formula, but it is clear
that ‘value’ refers to many elements beyond the
purely financial. Increased awareness,
enhanced reputation, product or service differ-
entiation, developed relationships, loyalty and
emotional engagement, added value, increased
sales or contributions and an exciting PR story
etc. all contribute to the potential value of a
partnership for both the business and the
charity or cause. When negotiating the details
of the partnership, everything that will contrib-
ute to this value needs to be considered and
will be helped by referring to the results of the
‘audit of your assets’. All of these elements
have the potential to add value to the relation-
ship and help to achieve common objectives. It
is important to remember that consumers sup-
port cause-related marketing, and fully accept
and indeed expect that there should be benefits
to business as well as to the good cause
(Adkins, 1997, 1999b).
It is also important to consider in negotiat-
ing the partnership what the reaction of the
various stakeholders will be to the balance of
the final agreement. When negotiations are
concluded, all parties should be pleased with
the outcome and the potential mutual benefit to
be derived from the cause-related marketing
partnership.Assessing the risks
Clearly, there are risks with cause-related mar-
keting. Reputations take years of investment,
are fragile and can be destroyed in a moment.
Neither side can afford for their reputations to
be tarnished. It is important, therefore, to
appreciate the potential risks on both sides and,
before setting up a cause-related marketing
programme, to conduct a full risk assessment
independent of the potential partner. Risk
assessment covers three key considerations:
reputation, logistics and financial risks
(Adkins, 1998, 1999a). The risk audit should be
done thoroughly as it is critical that partner-
ships are developed on solid foundations.The formal agreement
Before drafting any legal document it is impor-
tant to seek qualified legal advice. In this
chapter only a basic outline of the types of
issues to be considered is provided. Legal
advice needs to be taken in every case. There
are a number of basic documents that cause-
related marketing practitioners should be
aware of, at least when developing a cause-
related marketing partnership and programme.
These are as follows (Adkins, 1998, p. 12, 1999a,
Chapter 23): The Charities Act 1992 and 1993.
The Charitable Institutions (Fundraising)
Regulations 1994.
The British Codes of Advertising and Sales
Promotion.
The Trades Description Act 1968.
The Control of Misleading Advertisements
Regulations 1988.