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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 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.