Advantages of Cause Marketing
One reason for the rise in cause marketing is the positive response
it elicits from consumers.65 Cone Communications, one of the leading firms advising companies on cause-related marketing, found convincing evidence in its 2011 Cone/Echo Global CR Opportunity Study:66
• 81 percent of consumers say companies have a responsibility to address key social and environmental issues beyond their local communities.
• 93 percent of consumers say companies must go beyond legal Compliance to operate responsibly.
• 94 percent of consumers say companies must analyze and evolve their business practices to make their impact as positive as possible.
• 94 percent would buy a product that has an environmental benefit; 76 percent have already purchased an environmental product in the past 12 months.
• 93 percent would buy a product associated with a cause; 65percent have already purchased a cause-related product in the past 12 months.
Cause or corporate societal marketing (CSM) programs offer many potential benefits to a firm: 67
• Building brand awareness: Because of the nature of the brand Exposure, CSM programs can be a means of improving recognition for a brand, although not necessarily recall. Like sponsorship and other indirect forms of brand-building communications, most CSM programs may be better suited to increasing exposure to the brand rather than to tying the brand to specific Consumption or usage situations, because it can be difficult or inappropriate to include product-related information. At the same time, repeated or prominent exposure to the brand as a result of the CSM program can facilitate brand recognition.