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Cause Results
Manufacturer and Retailer Cause Marketing Attitudes and Practices
Eighty-one percent of respondents in a national survey of manufacturers and retailers indicated that sales impact is a top factor when deciding to adopt a cause marketing program. Ninety-five percent of respondents also said that some of their cause marketing initiatives are multi-year, long-term efforts – an average of five years in length, indicating an evolution from what were formerly short-term promotions.
On June 16, 2004, PowerPact, LLC, a multidisciplined marketing solutions agency, in partnership with the Cause Marketing Forum, today announced the results of an inaugural study of manufacturers’ and retailers’ attitudes and practices surrounding cause marketing. The purpose of the survey is to understand how companies integrate cause platforms and nonprofits into their marketing efforts, and identify best practices that ultimately drive sales and help causes.
The survey polled leading Fortune 500 consumer product manufacturers and national and regional retailers engaged in cause marketing such as Procter & Gamble, General Mills, Snapple and Kroger. The survey used both qualitative and quantitative measurements to uncover how manufacturers and retailers view the evolving discipline of cause marketing.
“We’re seeing more emphasis today placed on creating cause marketing programs that deliver a return on investment and make the cash register ring,” says Alison Glander, CEO of PowerPact. “When cause marketing produces sales, companies can allocate more marketing dollars toward these programs and make a bigger impact on curing social ills.”
Key Findings:
Cause Marketing is Here to Stay
The future looks promising for the cause marketing industry and those who are already engaged acknowledge plans for continued commitment.
- Forty-one percent of respondents said that all of their cause marketing programs are multi-year and 95% said that some are multi-year programs with a five-year life span.
- One hundred percent of the respondents engaged in cause marketing indicate that their companies plan to maintain or increase their use of this strategy.
When ROI Matters Cause Marketing Works
In the past, cause marketing programs have not been expected to deliver the same bottom-line results as other marketing programs. Today’s cause marketing programs can and should deliver against bottom-line objectives and provide a social benefit.
- Eighty-one percent of respondents said that sales impact is a top factor when deciding whether to adopt a cause program.
Closing the Gap Between Manufacturing and Retail
When it comes to engaging the consumer, manufacturers and retailers need to work together toward the shared goal of increasing sales, consumer awareness and consumer dollars for the cause. More revealing is the emphasis that retailers put on the localization of cause programs, the manufacturers’ ability to customize its programs for its retail partners and the degree to which the program engages store associates, retail’s ambassadors to the community.
- Only 36% of manufacturers and retailers surveyed felt they understood each other’s needs.
Cause marketing will approach $1 billion in corporate spending in 2004, according to the IEG Sponsorship Report. "A novel concept only 20 years ago, cause marketing is now a core strategy for many companies in the post-9/11, post-Enron period," said David Hessekiel, president of Cause Marketing Forum, Inc. "This study indicates that cause marketing's growth will accelerate as manufacturers and retailers learn to better integrate their efforts."
Glander adds, “The more marketing dollars we can funnel into the cause marketing pipeline, the better we will be at focusing consumers’ dollars toward nonprofit organizations. Generating consumer dollars for cause programs also builds awareness of social issues and develops loyal constituencies for nonprofits. The people who are shopping with a cause in mind are the same people who will get out and lobby.”
The 2004 Manufacturer and Retailer Cause Marketing Attitudes and Practices Study was commissioned by PowerPact in partnership with The Cause Marketing Forum.
About PowerPact
PowerPact is a multidisciplined marketing solutions agency, headquartered in Richmond, with personnel in 20 other cities. In June 2004, PROMO magazine ranked PowerPact No. 4 on its list of the top 100 promotional agencies in America. The company has deep experience creating and executing multidisciplined cause marketing campaigns for companies and brands such as Aventis, Yoplait, Betty Crocker,
Procter & Gamble, Fresh Step, ING, Marshall Fields and Mervyn’s. PowerPact also works with nonprofits including the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation, America On the Move, the Susan G. Komen Breast Cancer Foundation, Virginia Tobacco Settlement Foundation, March of Dimes, Leukemia & Lymphoma Society of No. California, National Black Arts Festival and Vital Voices. For more information on the Manufacturer and Retailer Cause Marketing Attitudes and Practices Study, please contact Melissa Radin with PowerPact at 877-361-5700.
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