2003 Cause Marketing Halo Award Winners
Click on the winners to see a program write-up
The Golden Halo Awards
Each year, the Cause Marketing Forum will recognize one business and one nonprofit
organization for their leadership and outstanding efforts in the field of cause
marketing. Here are the first-ever winners.
Business Golden Halo Winner – General Mills
 Over
the years, General Mills has been involved in numerous major cause marketing
campaigns, both corporately and through its individual brands. The company’s
biggest and longest-running cause marketing initiative is ‘Box Tops
for Education,” which is familiar to millions of parents. The program
raised more than $23 million for 77,000 schools in the 2002-03 school year,
bringing the total generated to more than $90 million.
 At the initiative’s core is the ‘Clip” program, which donates
up to $20,000 per school annually by giving 10 cents per boxtop coupon redeemed
from more than 800 General Mills products. Recent additions to the program
enable consumers to raise similar amounts by shopping online in the Box Tops
for Education Marketplace and charging with their Box Tops for Education Visa
card.
Yoplait’s “Save Lids to Save Lives” program began six years
ago when a yogurt plant in California agreed to donate some of its product
to a breast cancer fundraiser. The next year, Yoplait went national and since
has become the national presenting sponsor of the Susan G. Komen Breast Cancer
Foundation Race for the Cure series.
Cheerios has adopted reading as its cause. Last year, through its “Spoonful
of Stories” program, the cereal gave $400,00 to First Book to provide
underprivileged children with reading material, used its package to offer reading
tips and encourage to contribute to First Book and gave away 5 million classic
children’s books.
Also, Nature Valley Granola Bars has had a five-year alliance with the Nature
Conservancy and in a program launched this year, Betty Crocker partnered with
Share Our Strength to conduct “The Great American Bake Sale,” a
grassroots anti-hunger campaign. (back to top)
Nonprofit Golden Halo Winner – Susan G. Komen Breast Cancer Foundation
 In 1982, Nancy Brinker started the Susan G. Komen Breast Cancer Foundation
to help combat the disease that took her sister’s life. From early on,
cause-related marketing has been fundamental to the foundation, which has worked
with a wide variety of corporate partners.
Last year alone, cause-related marketing raised $30 million for the foundation
and generated billions of consumer impressions.
In its annual report, the organization stressed the importance of its corporate
partnerships: “Cause-related marketing is a forged partnership with dedicated
corporate citizens…Through the programs we participate in, the foundation
benefits, our partners benefit – and most critically – our key
audience benefits…We are proud of our pioneer heritage in the cause-related
marketing world.”
 Komen’s “Million Dollar Council” alone (those companies
whose partnerships have raised at least that amount for the foundation) is
an impressive roster. It includes: American Airlines, BMW of North America;
Ford Division of Ford Motor Company; Hallmark Gold Crown Stores; Johnson & Johnson;
Kellogg Co.; Lee Jeans; New Balance Athletic Shoe; Occidental Chemical Corp.;
Pier 1 Imports; Rally for a Cure; Titleist; Cobra & Footjoy Worldwide;
Women’s International Bowling Congress; Women’s Mortorcycle Foundation;
Yoplait USA; and Zeta Tau Alpha Fraternity.
(back to top)
Campaign Awards
Best Environmental/Wildlife Campaign
Gold – “Safe Steps Home,” a joint project of Clorox Fresh
Step kitty litter and the ASPCA.
 The ASPCA feels that cat overpopulation poses the greatest challenge to shelters
and that the solution lies in education, spaying and adoption. Frest Step sought
to impress cat lovers with its commitment to fighting feline homelessness through
a $250,000 annual donation to the ASPCA.
To drive the message home, Clorox attracted media attention with an “education
through music” strategy during Adopt-A-Shelter-Cat month. Singer/songwriter
Jann Arden recorded a promotional CD of her hit song ‘Saved” that
was given free to those who gave $10 to the Safe Steps Home program. A radio
tour, audio, video and print news releases, on-pack promotion and other promotional
tools resulted in more than 60 million media impressions that benefited the
company, the cause and, ultimately, America’s cats. (back to top)
Silver – “National Mower Tune-Up Month,” a partnership between
Briggs & Stratton and the National Wildlife Federation.
With a 70% market share for outdoor power equipment engines, Briggs & Stratton
sought to drive sales of its lawn mower tune-up kits among consumers who don’t
maintain their equipment. The company turned to the National Wildlife Federation
to build credibility for the campaign message, which stressed that tune-ups
significantly reduce emissions and fuel consumption. The campaign had more
than 175 million impressions and tune-up kit sales tripled. (back to top)
Best Health Campaign
Gold – “Get Tied to the Cure,” a program of Ford Motor Co.
and the Susan G. Komen Breast Cancer Foundation.
 To increase Ford’s desirability among women, it became a national sponsor
of the Race for the Cure Series in 1995. Each year, Ford finds new ways to
leverage this relationship. Examples in 2002 include:
- Creation of a Kate Spade silk scarf sold at Bloomingdale’s that
raised $342,000.
- Involvement of 4,000-plus Ford dealers as local sponsors
at 112 Race for the Cure events.
- A print, online and outdoor advertising
campaign featuring 18 celebrities modeling the scarf.
- Distribution
of more than 1 million Breast Cancer Awareness bandanas to participants
(back to top)
Silver – “Lee National Denim Day,” a corporate initiative
of Lee Jeans supporting the Susan G. Komen Breast Cancer Foundation and produced
by Barkley, Evergreen & Partners Pr firm.
Seven years ago, Lee sought to increase acceptance of jeans in the workplace,
to bring about higher sales. Lee felt it wanted to give back to its most important
consumers, women 35 and older. Barkley Evergreen & Partners teamed it with
Komen to create Lee National Denim Day, a nationwide casual day to raise money
and awareness in the fight against breast cancer. In 2002, $6.5 million was
raised by 21,000 groups and 138 million media impressions were generated. (back to top)
Best Free-Standing Insert Creative
Sponsored by Valassis
Gold – “Angels in Action,” a home-grown program developed
for Georgia-Pacific’s Angel Soft toilet tissue by DVC Worldwide.
 Angels in Action invites kids to compete for 10 $5,000 scholarships by submitting
examples of their acts of kindness. Many of the winning children have created
their own charities to address the needs of their communities.
Craig Watson, 13, of East Brunswick, N.J., was featured in an FSI that described
his creation of “The Happy Birthday Foundation,” which throws birthday
parties for children in homeless shelters. (back to top)
Silver – “Inspire Greatness,” a 10-page FSI distributed
by Procter & Gamble Co. to more than 60 million households to benefit Special
Olympics.
The section contains photos of Special Olympics athletes and their families,
along with copy urging consumers to get involved. A combination of 10 cent
donations linked to coupon usage and retail fundraising events enabled the
program to raise $4.8 million for Special Olympics in 2002. (back to top)
Best Social Service/Education Campaign
Gold – “Feeding Children Better,” a project of ConAgra Foods
and America’s Second Harvest, produced by Cone Inc.
 In 1999, ConAgra Foods decided to focus its philanthropic efforts on one cause:
ending child hunger in the U.S.. It teamed with America’s Second Harvest,
the nation’s largest domestic hunger relief organization and its network
of more than 200 regional food banks serving 23 million Americans annually.
A three-pronged strategy was developed: getting food to needy children through
100 Kids Cafes; repairing breakdowns in food distribution; and raising national
awareness about child hunger through a three-year public service campaign with
the Ad Council (and encouraging the company’s brands to develop their
own hunger promotions.) Among the program’s 2002 accomplishments were
the completion of the 100th Kids Café and the fulfillment of its commitment
to purchase 100 trucks for food banks. (back to top)
Silver – “Verizon Reads,” a collaboration between Verizon
and numerous literacy groups.
The program leverages corporate philanthropy,
consumer and customer outreach, employee participation, celebrity participation
and multiple partnerships to improve literacy. Literacy advocates from Al
Jarreau to Tiki Barber raise awareness and funds for literacy in their communities,
and Verizon supports them with media campaigns utilizing everything from
posters
inserted in newspaper to bill inserts reaching tens of millions of customers. (back to top)
Best Joint Message Promotion
Gold – “Blue Oval Certified Commitment to Kids,” from Ford
Motor Co. and the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children.
 Ford made a commitment to upgrade its dealer network in 2001 and needed a
way to attract customers to experience the positive changes. The Commitment
to Kids program invited parents to visit dealerships to receive free, personalized
child identification kits, complete with a photograph and set of fingerprints – key
information in cases of child abduction.
Overall, the program resulted in the photographing and fingerprinting of more
than 850,000 children and garnered 700 million PSA impressions and 153 million
editorial impressions. (back to top)
Silver – “National SAFE KIDS Week 2002,” from Johnson & Johnson
and the National SAFE KIDS Campaign.
In May 2002, the National SAFE KIDS Campaign and founding sponsor Johnson & Johnson
launched one of the largest helmet safety programs ever, “Use Your Head,
Wear A Helmet,” It included national media, hundreds of grassroots community
events, a Sunday FSI, point-of-purchase merchandising and a donation of $1
million worth of bicycle helmets. The campaign had 170 million media impressions
and more than 1,500 events reaching more than 1.5 million persons. (back to top)
Best Transactional Campaign
Gold – “Cook for the Cure,” a partnership of KitchenAid
and the Susan G. Komen Breast Cancer Foundation, produced by Saatchi & Saatchi.
 KitchenAid studied its marketplace and found that the appliance category was
of such low interest that 805 of consumers could not recall the brands they
owned. To differentiate itself, KitchenAid chose to work with the Komen Foundation
to inject a touch of pink ribbon into the “sea of white” that confronts
appliance customers when shopping and stay top-of-mind with them.
The program started in 2001 with a $50 donation by KitchenAid with purchase
of a pink version of its popular stand mixer and grew to include a $50 donation
with purchase of major appliances during National Breast Cancer Awareness Month.
In 2002, KitchenAid worked with Gourmet magazine and celebrity chefs to encourage
thse with a culinary passion to host ‘dinner with a purpose’ fundraisers
for Komen. The overall program was publicized with advertising in 26 publications,
co-op advertising, point-of-purchase programs for retailers, direct mail, a
dedicated Web site and product packaging. (back to top)
Silver – “Samsung’s Four Seasons of Hope,” from Samsung
Electronics and the charitable foundations of four admired athletes: Boomer
Esiason, Arnold Palmer, Magic Johnson and Joe Torre.
The program, produced by Innovative Marketing Services, partnered Samsung
and the sports legends for a national and retailer-specific program that aims
to improve the quality of life for children and their families. Each superstar
was teamed with a Samsung retailer via special appearances, a print campaign,
Internet advertising and sales promotions that tied donations by Samsung to
the athlete’s charity to purchases of specified products. The campaign
was a PR success for Samsung and a powerful sales generator for its retailers,
as well as raising $1.1 million for the charities.
(back to top)
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