The Marketing Book 5th Edition

Political

bodies

Organization

Employees

Suppliers

and

distributors

Non-

governmental

organizations

Pressure

groups Consumers

Opinion

formers

Shareholders

Volunteers

Wider

community

Government

Support

groups

Trade

bodies

Wider

community

Beneficiaries

Cause-related marketing: who cares wins 673

It is these protests that focus the media and
consumer spotlight on brands and the com-
panies behind them, with the result that busi-
ness and indeed their marketing approaches are
very much under the public spotlight. It is these
pressures from the social, political, economic
and technological points of view that are driving
the developments in marketing, where values
and trust provide the foundation on which to
build relationships amongst stakeholders.
Building successful marketing relation-
ships is dependent upon managing a matrix of
internal and external stakeholder relationships
(Figure 26.1). The stakeholder model is core to
the development of marketing today and is
critical to the effectiveness of cause-related

marketing. Without consulting with stakehold-

ers on their various levels, the future for brands

and marketing looks bleak.

Successful relationship marketing requires

a relationship based on commitment and trust,

which is underpinned by values including

honesty, transparency and integrity. Strategic

cause-related marketing can play a role in

developing the value proposition and in build-

ing and maintaining many of these relation-

ships, both internally and externally.

Stakeholder relationships and perceptions of

organizations are formed as the result of a whole

variety of interactions and interfaces with the

business. This can range from broadcast adver-

tising and in-store or on-pack promotional

Figure 26.1 An organization and its stakeholders
Source: Adkins (1999a).