Cause-related marketing

Quadflieg Carla

Analysis Paper 3

        Cause-related marketing (CRM) is a phenomenon that allows a company to partner with a charity or cause in order to stand out in the marketplace. This phenomenon has become widespread and popular in recent years as brands seek to please the public. Consumers want to feel socially engaged and are concerned about how their purchases contribute to a good cause. More and more consumers want to buy products from brands that are socially responsible (Autism Speaks Canada, 2019).

        Cause-related marketing, also called charity promotion, is a communication practice adopted by a company to promote a good, product, or service, part of the price of which is donated to a charitable cause to support its action. The purpose of this action is non-lucrative. This phenomenon, nowadays, makes the difference between companies. More and more of them apply this concept to meet consumers' expectations, needs, and changing values. Recent research by the MediaCom's Real World Insight Team has shown that 63% of consumers expect companies to contribute to the evolution of society by donating to charitable works. This research also shows that 40% of consumers are willing to stop consuming a brand if it does not have a positive impact on society (Sabri, 2017). These figures are significant and convincing: companies must take their social commitment seriously and therefore focus on their cause-related marketing to achieve it. There are a lot of benefits but the main ones are to enhance the image of the brand, increase the sales, and improve the public relations and the customer retention (Autism Speaks Canada, 2019).

        To illustrate this concept, I have chosen the example of the partnership between Pampers and UNICEF since 2006. For every pack of Pampers diapers purchased, UNICEF finances a vaccine for infants in less developed countries. The « 1 pack = 1 vaccine » formula is a real success today. Indeed, they have already donated funding for three hundred million vaccines, that help protect one hundred million women and their newborns, and helped eliminate the disease in fifteen different countries (Pampers, 2015). The vaccine they distribute most is the tetanus vaccine because tetanus is still a problem in poor countries where health care is limited. Their goal is therefore to eliminate MNT worldwide. Pampers is now one of UNICEF's largest corporate donors. In order to be such a success, the partnership played on the emotions and sympathies of the audience. Indeed, even if tetanus death in childbirth is uncommon in developed countries such as the United States, the majority of mothers understand the embarrassment that affected mothers must face. Pampers has also chosen to focus on a commodity product that the middle class can buy rather than a luxury product reserved for high society. This allows for greater visibility and income, not high per unit, but important in total. Every day, thirty-five million babies are diapered by Pampers (Scott, Dolan, & Johnstone-Louis, 2011).

        Today, caused-related marketing is a popular phenomenon among companies that want to stand out by having a positive societal impact. However, is this really a sincere commitment or is it rather a simple marketing maneuver only implemented to increase the company's profits? Of course, there are criticisms about cause-related marketing campaigns but there are criticisms for everything. Certainly, this probably brings more visibility to certain brands and this may have been their goal somewhere, but who can criticize a company that does a good deed for society? By following the example of Pampers and UNICEF, who could oppose this partnership that has already saved millions of lives? According to Gérard Bocquenet, Director of Fundraising and Proven Partners at UNICEF, the partnership between Pampers and UNICEF has raised awareness of maternal and neonatal tetanus among the world's population and has made a real difference in the lives of millions of people (ABC Bourse, 2016).

        In conclusion, at a time when societal development is one of the concerns of our society, companies are increasingly applying social cause-related marketing. This is a non-lucrative action and its goal is to contribute to a charitable organization in order to help someone or something that needs it. Even if this method is sometimes criticized, it remains mostly positive in terms of action. This is particularly the case with the alliance between pampers and UNICEF, which has saved thousands of lives and continues to grow. To continue to evolve, consumers must think before they buy. We must support as much as possible brands that have a positive impact on the lives of others, that produce in a sustainable way, and that have a positive impact on society.

References

ABC Bourse. (2016), Pampers et l’UNICEF célèbrent l’impact de 10 ans de partenariat pu                blic-privé lors du Forum économique mondial de Davos. Retrieved from https://www.abcbourse.com/marches/pampers-et-lunicef-celebrent-limpact-de-10-ans-de-partenariat-public-prive-lor_349415.        

C. This article was posted in January 2016, so it is recent. I am unsure if the information has been reviewed since its publication. The information is current for my topic because it is about the 10-year partnership between Pampers and Unicef, which I used as an example for my paper. The link for the article is fully functional.

R. The article is quite short but still efficient. It has some opinions from different people who work for these two companies but also from external people, which was good because I had « neutral » opinions. I looked at other sources but I thought this one was really interesting and I decided to work with it. It was clear and easy to understand. This information is accessible to everybody who wants to know more about the partnership between Pampers and UNICEF. I think that this source is a good one to illustrate my topic.

A. I don't know who wrote this article because it's not mentioned. However, the article was published on ABC Bourse, a site, as its name suggests, specialized in the stock market. For me, the article is quite credible because we have access to multimedia data (photos and other articles) that provide concrete evidence of what is developed in the article. In addition, we have access to testimonies from different people on the subject. We can contact the company by phone if we want more information. It is a commercial website because it is a .com.

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