674 The Marketing Book
messages, to direct mail and customer care. It is
clearly the role of marketing to manage these
interfaces, to ensure a consistent delivery of the
product promise and the reception of key
messages amongst all stakeholder groups,
across all markets, over time. These interfaces
and opportunities need to be continuously
leveraged. There is no doubt that one of the key
attributes of strategic cause-related marketing is
its ability to connect with stakeholder groups on
a number of different levels simultaneously.
As has been suggested, price and function-
ality are increasingly equal and replicable in
this world of fast-paced communication at a
touch of a button. Values are increasingly
scrutinized by consumers and can indeed be
the way forward as a differentiator for the
marketing of business in the future. Hence the
importance of cause-related marketing as a way
of demonstrating these values in a highly
visible and tangible way.
Common themes that can be seen in
marketing plans include enhancing reputation,
building image and brands, creating relation-
ships and loyalty amongst customers and the
stakeholders, adding value, generating aware-
ness and PR, driving trial and traffic, providing
product and service differentiation, developing
emotional engagement with the consumer and
other stakeholders, and obviously increasing
sales, income and volume. These are all core
objectives driving the marketing in business in
today’s context. Cause-related marketing has
been shown to help achieve these objectives
and more.
The consumer and other stakeholders have
ever higher expectations of business, both in
terms of product and service provision and in
terms of quality and price, but, as has been
argued, they are also increasingly interested in
understanding the values behind the products,
service and company. Values, and adding value
to those values, are not only an increasingly
important part of the business proposition but
are being seen to be key influences in con-
sumers’ buying decisions. The marketing
department therefore needs to be attuned to
and aware of this, and develop their marketing
strategies accordingly. The evidence demon-
strating the concern, expectation of stakehold-
ers and the positive effect of cause-related
marketing on consumers, is building. The
business case is compelling. Consumers expect
businesses to be socially responsible, a respon-
sibility which consumers regard as close to that
of government and above that of charities and
religious institutions (Adkins, 1999b). Business
in the Community research has shown that 81
per cent of consumers agree that, price and
quality being equal, linking with a cause would
make a difference; consumers would switch
brands, change retail outlets and have a much
better perception of a company doing some-
thing to make the world a better place (Adkins,
1999b). Consumers’ demand and expectation
for corporates to be social responsible, cannot
be underestimated.
Evidence of consumer support is demon-
strated through Business in the Community’s
quantitative and qualitative research, includ-
ingThe Ultimate Win Win Win,Profitable Part-
nershipsandThe Game Plan. All these research
studies were conducted during the course of
Business in the Community’s cause-related
marketing campaign work as part of a
research programme that continues. The Ulti-
mate Win Win Win, conducted amongst a
representative sample of over 1000 consumers
and supported by Research International, indi-
cated not only consumer expectations of busi-
ness, but also the predicted impact of their
behaviour and perceptions based on their
understanding of a company’s corporate social
responsibility and cause-related marketing
(Adkins, 1999b): 81 per cent of consumers indicated, price and
quality being equal, linking with a cause would
make a difference.
66 per cent would switch brands.
57 per cent would change retail outlets.
86 per cent had a much better perception of a
company trying to do something to make the
world a better place.