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David Hessekiel  //  David Hessekiel is the founder and president of the Cause Marketing Forum, a business dedicated to helping companies and causes succeed together.

Nov 24 / 3:44am

The Great Measurement Dilemma

When I worked at a consumer promotions agency back in the 90's, I was astonished to discover how difficult it was to quantify the ROI of even a relatively simple consumer packaged goods program.

Put a coupon out in the marketplace and you'd think that you'd be able to fairly quickly and easily assess its impact.    Well it turned out that different retailers had different rules about coupon values.   That in some markets coupons were published at the same time that the product received special placement in stores.   That sometimes competitors tried to counter the impact of your coupon by lowering their prices.    And to make matters worse, there was a lag of several months between the time the coupon appeared in Sunday papers and the time you received meaningful reports from the coupon clearinghouses.    We often ended up with reams of data and few solid insights.

Solving that riddle is child's play compared to quantifying the impact of a cause marketing program.   Why?  Because we attach so many potential financial and social payoffs to these initiatives.   What was the impact on consumer attitudes toward the brand?    Did it impact sales?   Were employees motivated by the program?   How many people in need were aided by the program?    How much did the nonprofit have to invest in staffing and implementing the program relative to the contribution it received?    The list goes on and on.

Inadequate measurement is far from unique to the world of corporate social initiatives, but the positive potential of better capturing and communicating impact amplifies the need for stronger analysis.   As the great management guru Peter Drucker simply put it: "What is measured improves."

That is why the Cause Marketing Forum regularly returns to the topic of measurement with workshops, conference keynotes and -- coming on December 8 -- a teleconference.   On that date, Farron Levy, CEO of True Impact, will share "Cause Marketing Measurement: Techniques for Practical Implementation"   (If you can't make the live session at 1:30 pm EST, a recording will be available at http://causemarketingforum.com/audiocourses.asp)

Over the years True Impact has worked with companies from Deloitte to PNC Bank to The Home Depot to create workable systems for capturing meaningful data to assess the value of programs and insights on how to improve them.

Join us if you'd like to get a better handle on your cause-related program in 2010.
Nov 22 / 12:19pm

Dealing with skeptics? Helpful advice

Along with falling leaves, when October comes I know I can count on seeing:  1) a tidal wave of breast cancer campaigns and 2) a bevy of critical articles, some thoughtful, some just knee jerk attacks.

I suspect there would be a lot more cause marketing of all stripes if it were not for corporate fear of press and consumer skepticism.

Self VP/Publisher Kim Kelleher has seen this first hand during two years of talking to companies about the magazine's GOOD research.   In fact, consumer skepticism was the top reason marketers gave her for not talking about the good they were doing.

In response, Self focused its latest survey of women on exploring skepticism.  They came up with some very useful insights:

1) Only 16% of consumers meet the magazine's definition of highly skeptical.

2) Surprisingly, these skeptics are MORE likely to purchase products from companies they perceive as doing good things.

3) Skeptics are highly involved in supporting causes -- their skepticism comes from caring.  

Self suggests companies embrace, not avoid, the skeptics out there through transparent, ongoing communications and long term -- instead of quick promotional -- cause commitments.   (Click here for a more in-depth description of this terrific study and its recommendations.)

 

Nov 22 / 12:18pm

Retailers Mixing Value and Values

At a time when you'd expect retail advertising to be only about "low, low prices," it's striking how many companies are mixing value and values messages:

Land's End offers a 20% discount when you donate a used coat.  Macy's gives a dollar to the Make A Wish Foundation when you drop off a letter to Santa.  Wal-Mart has donated 35 refrigerator trucks to food banks as part of its $32 million Giving Back for the holidays campaign.  The list goes on and on (NY Times advertising columnist Stuart Elliott calls it a cause marketing "boom.") 

The latest PRWeek/Barkley PR Cause Survey helps explain why retailers invest in cause marketing at their most critical time of the year. Among the survey's findings:

--  97% of marketing executives polled called cause "a valid business strategy."

-- 91% of consumers said it was important for companies to support a cause (up from 86% in 2008)

Unfortunately, the survey also showed that the economic downturn has led 37% of consumers to cut back on charitable donations.  Cause marketing is not a substitute for personal giving, but at a time of such great need it's great to see more companies helping fill the gap.

Nov 22 / 12:05pm

Launching the Cause Marketing Forum Blog

Greetings friends!  Someday you'll be able to tell your children that you were present (at least virtually!) on November 22, 2009 when the Cause Marketing Forum entered the blogosphere.

Yes, the time has arrived to add a blog to the outlets for our news and views on doing well by doing good via CauseMarketingForum.posterous.com

I hope that this will make it easier for veteran and new members of our community to access the case studies, statistics, best practices, opinions, job posts, resource recommendations and more that we share via causemarketingforum.com, newsletters, Linkedin and Twitter.

As Jackie Gleason used to say: "And away we go!"