Cause-related marketing: who cares wins 687
are, alongside the customer, the ‘hero’ for the
school in the community. The store manager
presents the equipment to the schools as it is
delivered, often with local MP presence and
support. Tesco’s support for education has also
evolved and has included a number of impor-
tant elements. This has included, through Xem-
plar Education, the partner and provider of the
equipment, support to schools in doing audits
of schools’ computer systems, to help schools
identify what is needed. Basic training and
access to training rooms have also been pro-
vided, as have dedicated helplines etc.
To date (2001), over £70 million worth of
equipment has gone to schools nationwide,
including over 46 200 computers and 394 000
items of additional IT-related equipment. There
has also been approximately £100 000 worth of
IT training for teachers.
From the business point of view, the
benefits have included enhanced reputation,
image and profile, as well as reinforcement of
the brand values. Tesco is recognized as an
innovative retailer and has also increased cus-
tomer footfall and sales as a result.
Cause-related marketing makes commercial
sense. It can deliver greater benefits per pounds
spent than almost anything else a company can
do and can achieve a wide range of business,
marketing, fundraising, and social benefits.
Tim Mason, Marketing Director, Tesco plcA more detailed case study is provided in
Adkins (1999a).
Nambarrie Think Pink for Action
Cancer
Nambarrie Tea Company Ltd, a 35-person tea
company in Northern Ireland, has an ongoing
partnership with Action Cancer. The main
cause-related marketing focus of this partner-
ship happens in October each year, when
Nambarrie support Breast Cancer Awareness
month. Nambarrie’s target market is women
aged 16–60 and sadly so is the target group for
breast cancer, where Northern Ireland has the
highest incidence anywhere in the world, and
this is therefore a prominent social issue.
Looking for an innovative way to develop
their marketing approach and build relation-
ships with their customers, the partnership
between Nambarrie and Action Cancer was
highly complementary. Both organizations
were marketing orientated, targeting the same
audiences. Nambarrie brought its FMCG mar-
keting expertise to bear on the Action Cancer
challenge, which was to increase awareness of
the issues, encourage self-examination and
fundraise. Action Cancer benefited Nambarrie
through the use of their identity and the halo
effect of such an association.
The breadth of depth of Nambarrie’s sup-
port for the cause is exceptional in a number
of ways. The holistic support of the company
has included donations to the charity from
sales of promotional packs of tea, television
advertising and website development support,
as well as extensive staff involvement, from
fundraising activities through to stopping the
production line for a day to help the charity
pack their pink ribbons. The company has also
used its warehousing and distribution net-
works to store and deliver the charity’s
fundraising ribbons.
Nambarrie demonstrated through the
ongoing cause-related marketing partnership
that size of company and number of employees
are not necessarily the only or the critical
factors in developing an award-winning cause-
related marketing strategy. Imagination, crea-
tivity and commitment are essential if the
programme is to be fully leveraged and have
maximum benefit for all concerned.... I particularly urge smaller companies like
ourselves to get involved with cause-related
marketing because the benefits are absolutely
enormous, for the company, for the cause and
for the consumers themselves.
This is the most comprehensive marketing
initiative that the company has ever under-
taken. The return on investment has been
enormous in terms of corporate, brand and