While You Were Working (LIVE) Ep. 19: The one about cause marketing

We hope you enjoy this week’s While You Were Working (LIVE) episode. If you’ve been tuning in for a while, you may notice that the format is a little different this week. We want to hear what you think! Our hope is that you feel like you’re a part of the conversation we are having around the daily topic and will share your thoughts around each episode topic.

This week we discuss the topic of cause marketing and hone in on why marketers need to pay attention to this societal shift in consumer behavior that is demanding more social responsibility from businesses.

Here’s a snippet of episode 19 and what we found most important about this topic:

Inspiration on this topic came from the recent campaign launched by Lacoste. They put together a really well-thought out cause marketing campaign that not only aligned with their brand message, but created social buzz for both their brand and the endangered species featured on their polos.

The reason their campaign worked so well is that it aligned with their own brand seamlessly and almost effortlessly made the cause the forefront of the campaign focus.

Here’s the campaign promotional video for the Lacoste Save Our Species campaign.

Different but very much aligned is the rise in demand for more corporate social responsibility.

Recently there have been several big corporations to take the stand for a brand focus on something to impact the greater good of the community at large. Facebook and Google are two that have been talked about the most in the marketing world with they shift in focusing on creating better digital interactions for their users. An interesting business shift for both of them since these moves directly impact the current flood of revenue coming in from advertising.

Stay tuned as we continue to monitor this shift for brands and how it impacts marketers. The biggest takeaway for you in all of this is to remember that as a brand or business, you don’t have to reach, be followed, connect or sell to everyone. In fact, it’s better to cultivate a community that is engaged with your mission and WANTS to buy from you.

Additional resources on cause marketing and the impact it’s making right now:

In the recent political climate around gun control, we’ve seen several major brands take a stand and try their hand at a marketing focus in corporate social responsibility. Most notable, Dick’s Sporting Goods went the CSR route with their policy changes around the selling of guns and several other companies have announced they are cutting ties with FedEx due to its association with the NRA.

If you’re looking for an in-depth look at the basics of corporate responsibility marketing, then you’ll want to read this article: PR For A Purpose: Bringing Corporate Social Responsibility Back To Basics

Along the corporate responsibility route, we recently discussed the changes Facebook and Google are making to their platforms in While You Were Working (LIVE) Ep. 18

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