678 The Marketing Book
ships with customers or supporters, whether as
a charity, cause or business, are crucial and
should be guarded with great care.
Affinity credit cards probably represent the
largest sector in this aspect of cause-related
marketing. To date, more than 1000 organiza-
tions have launched affinity or co-branded
credit cards in a bid to raise funds, extend their
brand awareness, to add value and give some-
thing back to their customers, supporters,
members or fans. Starting in the UK in 1987,
when the Bank of Scotland launched the NSPCC
card, 7 per cent of all UK credit cards are now
affinity cards. Since 1987, more than £40 million
has been generated for various organizations
(Adkins, 1999a, Chapter 15).
The basic mechanic for an affinity card is
that in signing up for the particular card a
donation is made to the charity or cause. In
addition, in using the card further donations
are made for every £100 or so spent. The charity
therefore earns an income dependent on the
applications and usage of the card. The credit
card company gains access to a new universe of
potential users and makes its money in the
usual way, donating a percentage of this to the
charity or cause. Some cards offer the user a
choice of charities to support, whilst others are
dedicated to a particular cause (Adkins, 1999a,
Chapter 15).
Sales promotion
Sales promotion is such a broad category that it
is almost impossible to cover every possible
option. In the following paragraphs, therefore,
only some of the most frequently used and
innovative mechanics are outlined.
Purchase triggered donations
This is probably one of the most familiar
mechanisms used for cause-related marketing
within this broad category. Donations to causes
are triggered by purchase. The range of part-
nerships using this type of approach is endless
and includes companies, charities and causes of
all sizes (Adkins, 1999a, Chapter 15, 2002).
Examples range from biscuits, books, bank
accounts and bath oils to sauce, soap and soap
powder, amongst many other things. They
range from local Pizza restaurants wanting to
encourage sales by donating a percentage of the
sale of wine to local schools, to tens of thou-
sands of pounds raised by Comic Relief
through the sale of Persil (Adkins, 1999a,
Chapter 15).Trial triggered donations
Cause-related marketing can also be used to
trigger donations through trial, application or
signing up to a product or service and through
usage. The American Express Restoration of the
Statue of Liberty programme, already men-
tioned, is an example of such a model.Voucher collection schemes
Voucher collection schemes are a frequently
used mechanic for cause-related marketing.
Tesco’s Computers for Schools programme and
the Walkers Books for Schools programmes are
exemplary demonstrations, which together
have contributed over £100 million of benefit to
schools, whilst at the same time building their
brands, customer loyalty and sales. There are
many others, including a number of retailers in
the UK and abroad (Adkins, 1999a, Chapter 15).
Further details are provided in the case studies
to follow.Cause-related marketing as an
incentive to action
Cause-related marketing has been used effec-
tively as an incentive to promote interest,
dialogue, response, action and sales from mar-
kets as diverse as banking and insurance to
telecommunications. Examples range from
organizations wanting to increase the response
rate to research surveys where a donation was
promised to a charity in return for the survey’s