**When I sat down to write about this topic, I thought this would be a quick little post. It turns out this stuff is more complicated than I anticipated so I’m breaking it into a series of 3 separate posts. The final post will have a little geeky gift from me to you.** Every time [...]
Embedded Philanthropy: The Future of Giving
Involving consumers and employees in corporate philanthropic efforts has grown significantly in scope and breadth in recent years. Cause marketing and cause branding have become a marketer’s tactic-du-jour touted everywhere (including this blog) as the best way to engage not only the attention but also the hearts and minds of consumers and employees alike. While [...]
Don’t Let Cause Go Green
**************************************************************************************************** Funny. But true. I worry about causes going down the path that “Green” took. What once stood for environmental stewardship now stands for…well, who knows what it stands for. The term has been so muddled and prostituted by marketers. Green Gone Wrong We’ve all seen ridiculous campaigns masquerading as “green”. Greenwashing has overtaken the [...]
Your Cause: Destination or Continuum?
Can your cause be “solved”? Are you working on an issue that has a definitive solution toward which you direct your sails on a daily basis? Is your wildest dream to work yourself out of a job? Is your cause a destination? Cause-As-Continuum Odds are the answers to these questions are “no”. Whether you’re a [...]
Cause Marketing Smackdown
Ok, I’ll admit. I’m biased. When I first read about 7-Eleven’s “Cup with a Cause” program as a part of a 6-week promotional campaign, I thought, “puh-LEASE”. The popular convenience store partnered up with ConAgra (no comment) to sponsor World Wrestling Entertainment’s “SummerSlam” event (whatever that is). I was fully prepared to write it off [...]
