When creating corporate proposals for cause marketing programs, do others in your organization say “think like a brand manager”? With 12 years of experience in brand management at consumer packaged goods (cpg) companies, I can provide some insight into that directive.
Intent vs. Reality
Brand marketers like the idea of partnering with non-profits because of the goodwill projected onto brands – the welcomed effects of increased sales and stronger consumer affinity. However, reality trumps good intentions with internal organizational priorities, structures, processes and budgets. With multi-brand consumer goods companies, the competition for resources is fierce. As a brand manager, I constantly advocated for adequate funding for my projects and priority marketing programs – competing for the same resources as other brands company-wide.
Though we’d like to trust a “perfect” partnership will evolve, it’s incumbent upon brand managers to rigorously vet proposals upfront. Below are some of my key questions when evaluating cause marketing programs and some ways non-profits can address them.
Question #1: Is there a strategic “fit”?
Marketer’s view:
Brand marketers protect and nurture their brand’s equity vigilantly. So strategic partnerships are viewed with a critical eye vis-à-vis “right fit.” This includes sharing enough commonalities such as missions, branding elements and consumer targets.
Tips for Non-Profits:
Demonstrate a genuine understanding about the corporate brand. To do that, learn about the brand’s history, positioning, personality and competitive threats. There are numerous approaches, but here are a few suggestions:
- Look at the brand’s packaging, shelf placement and price at grocery stores and other distribution outlets to understand positioning.
- Peruse mainstream magazines and Sunday coupons to see whether and how the brand promotes itself (in those mediums)
- Search news outlets (e.g. newspapers; trade publications like Brandweek, Progressive Grocery) for category and product insights
Show your high level of marketing sophistication by articulating your mission, vision, authentic brand meaning [what your non-profit stands for], and unique proposition [what your non-profit delivers better or how is different than similar organizations]. Go ahead and draw similarities between your constituents and the brand’s target audience on demographic and attitudinal dimensions. It’s important to use marketing terminology, as above, so brand marketers feel assured they have a clear understanding of strategic fit in a familiar language.
Question #2: What is the potential positive sales impact?
Marketer’s View:
The priority is achieving current business goals, namely sales growth. So a cause marketing program will be evaluated foremost in terms of growth potential – whether this tactic will incent consumers to buy more product.
Tips for Non-profits:
Show the extent to which product sales could be generated, as best as possible. The more relevant quantitative data that indicates success, such as sales growth or return on investment, the easier the sell-in to the company. Other evidence such as results (e.g. media impressions, donations) from similar or smaller cause marketing programs can serve as good proxies. Remember that your proposal is competing with other revenue-generating programs — like couponing and advertising–which have quantitative evidence to demonstrate effectiveness. So it’s important to include a similar level of rigor.
Question #3: How unique is this partnership?
Marketer’s View:
Competitive advantage is an important consideration. Also, this cause marketing program needs to break through the clutter and create “buzz” in order to engage the consumer.
Tips for Non-profits:
As transactional experts, non-profits should be creative in developing ideas that will distinguish your program from other activities in the marketplace. Creativity can come through in different executional aspects — like the core creative idea, media vehicles and call-to-actions.
Question #4: What & How to Measure?
Marketer’s View:
Marketers tend to rely heavily on research studies and usually feel uneasy making decisions with weak supporting data. They need appropriate, robust data convey to management that a particular marketing program was a good investment. At the onset, solid metrics must be established that clearly define outcomes linked to strategies such as increased awareness and sales growth. Also, metrics help build a learning component into the program to help guide future work.
Tips for Non-profits:
Clearly state your desired outcomes, and where possible, methodologies upfront to ensure meaningful explanatory results. Share your expertise with the marketing team as to what outcomes and tactics are prudent and reasonable to measure, based on historical programs. For example, meaningful tangible results may include number of dollars raised, people reached or served, or media impressions garnered given the program design. Then identify the 2-3 key desired outcomes that are most valuable for each party, which is usually accomplished in collaboration with the corporate partner. Instead of reinventing the “business metrics wheel,” look to utilize existing tracking tools and techniques that may be customized to measure your specific cause program.
Question #5: Potential to be a multi-year platform?
Marketer’s View:
As business people, brand marketers want the biggest “bang for the buck.” Sometimes it’s acceptable to spread the investment over a few years, if the program can meet financial hurdles. Though companies may not be able to initially commit to a multi-year partnership, marketers prefer to invest in programs that the brand can “own” over a 1+ year timeframe.
Tips for Non-profits:
Thinking about your proposal on a 2-3 year horizon, evolving the program markedly each year, can help increase its appeal to corporate brands. Perhaps you start with smaller scope and augment the program geographically or demographically in subsequent years.
Question #6: What are the resource requirements?
Marketer’s View:
Besides the obvious question of cost, there is also the question of staffing and support given all of the business priorities. Brand teams are not typically staffed with a dedicated resource for partnerships. So execution of the program may need to be relatively “turnkey” or the brand team may ask the non-profit take on more responsibilities.
Tips for Non-profits:
In order to set clear, realistic expectations, be upfront and direct about the level of service you can provide based on your infrastructure and capacity. On the other side, ask questions about the company’s processes to understand the decision-making and approval timeframe.
Like non-profits, brand managers have to make hard choices every day about the dollars spent to support and grow a brand. There are trade-offs in the context of strategic fit, “added value” marketing potential, intense financial pressure (both goals and costs), and resource requirements. However, a robust, strategically aligned cause marketing partnership can yield dividends beyond what each organization could accomplish alone.
Brand Managers – anything to add? Nonprofits – can you implement these tips? Share with us in the comments.
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