Cause-related marketing: who cares wins 679
completion, to cause-related marketing as an
incentive for a mortgage product. Cause-
related marketing partnerships have also been
used by large department stores as incentives
for shopping evenings and by car manu-
facturers as a mechanism to drive trial.
Pilot tests have been carried out to evalu-
ate the effectiveness of a widget versus a cause-
related marketing-based incentive where the
charitable donation has proved very successful.
The value of the cause-related marketing dona-
tion needs to be carefully judged, but when
right, it can significantly boost responses and
actions. It also provides the potential start of
the dialogue with customers or potential cus-
tomers, and reinforces the organization’s values
and commitment to their wider community by
making a real contribution, a factor that has
increasing resonance with many stakeholder
groups, including customers (Adkins, 1999a,
Chapter 15). An example of cause-related mar-
keting being used in this way would be Toyota
using a donation to The Muscular Dystrophy
Group to incentivize the return of market
research surveys (Adkins, 1999a, Chapter 15).
Competitions, games and draws
Charitable benefits have been incorporated into
competitions, games and draws, when the
individual not only wins a prize but a donation
is made by the business to the charity at the
same time. This approach has been used by
businesses as diverse as soap and toilet tissue
manufacturers to tree growers and high street
banks. This enables both the winner and the
competition organizer to be seen as heroes, and
the consumer and the charity to win, providing
a potent proposition (Adkins, 1999a, Chapter
15). Examples included a major high street
bank that was trying to encourage the public to
review their financial arrangements. In booking
to see the financial adviser, the customer
received a pack of Christmas cards. Inside each
one was the chance to win a financial prize,
which the bank matched with a donation to a
children’s charity (Adkins, 1999a, Chapter 15).
Self-liquidating cause-related
marketing promotions
Another means of integrating cause-related
marketing into the marketing mix is through
the use of self-liquidating promotions, whereby
consumers are presented with a special offer,
which is available at a small cost. The small
price the consumer pays finances the offer and
the donation is made to a charity. Examples of
this type of application include a savoury snack
product in support of Comic Relief in 1999. In
this case a promotion was run on the packet,
offering consumers the chance to purchase a
Comic Relief video. For every video bought, the
manufacturer donated £1 to the charity
(Adkins, 1999a, Chapter 15).New for old
Under the sales promotion umbrella ‘new for
old’ is a mechanic often employed for cause-
related marketing with the objective of, for
instance, encouraging trial, awareness, differ-
entiation or reinforcement of the brand values
etc. Basically, consumers are encouraged to
trade in their old product for a new one when a
donation of cash or the second-hand product is
made to the charity or good cause. Examples
include the cause-related marketing partner-
ship between a clothes retailer and a homeless
charity, and also between an office supplies
company and a school, where a number of
schemes have been run to supply schools with
much needed printers and fax machines
(Adkins, 1999a, Chapter 15).Facilitated giving
Cause-related marketing can also take the form
of facilitated giving, whereby the business
partner provides a vehicle to facilitate customer
donations to the charity. Airline foreign coin
collections like BA’s ‘Change for Good’ are
classic examples. At its simplest it consists of an
in-flight appeal by video, envelopes or in the
in-flight magazine, and on-board announce-
ments for customers to donate their unwanted