A Fly on the Wall at the Halo Award Judging

Neck deep in binders, boxes, DVDs and thumb drives, six judges, one Cause Marketing Forum president and I (!) spent an intense day in a midtown Manhattan conference room recently sorting through Cause Marketing Halo Award entries. The goal? To reach consensus on which 2010 campaigns from the US and Canada should receive gold and silver Halos in 9 different categories.
While the others had to make difficult decisions, I had the opportunity to sit back and observe the process. Several things jumped out at me:

Art vs. Science
While there were a few unanimous favorites, most of the categories sparked lively discussion and debate as the panel carefully weighed the merits of each cause marketing campaign. To me, this spoke volumes about the fact that cause marketing is as much an art as it is science. Had cause marketing been a scientific formula, a panel of judges would hardly have been needed, because each cause campaign could’ve been rated on a scientific scale. That said, the winning cause campaigns that rose to the top did an excellent job clarifying those ever-important quantitative data.

It’s Not About the Budget
While some of the winners certainly had large budgets, that was not true for all winners. The judges were particularly struck by campaigns that showed careful and clever originality and campaigns that showed courage in the cause they chose to support.

First Impressions Count
Because of the diverse background of the judges, each came to the table ready to pitch their favorites. But those favorites shifted slightly after discussion. Even among seasoned cause marketing pros, first impressions are important. Certain campaigns resonated more with certain judges based on first impressions or their personal ability to relate to the cause or company. If this is true for professionals, it is doubly true for consumers.

This also speaks to authenticity of cause marketing campaigns. Often that less-than-ideal first impression had to do with brand match. If it wasn’t deemed credible or seemed too far of a stretch, that first impression was weak. A campaign’s ability to effectively communicate this brand fit was hugely important here, as well. Having to dig for a back-story is never a good communication strategy, especially in the cause marketing realm.

Ruthless About Results
This panel did an excellent job of staying focused on results – both for the cause and for the business. With the recent rise in cause marketing, the line between cause marketing and philanthropy has become increasingly blurry. I was impressed with the level of attention paid to ensure that the winners truly supported both the cause and the business case in win-win partnerships.

Optimistic
After seeing so many amazing cause campaigns in one place, I’m optimistic. Optimistic that cause marketing will continue to change and evolve around sound strategy, solid partnerships and authentic connections.

The Winners
Curious about these Cause Marketing Halo Award winners for 2010? You should be! They’re quite impressive. And now for the shameless pitch: the best place to learn about and potentially even meet these winners is the Cause Marketing Forum annual conference. We’ll be working with some of these winners to present their learning in brief snippets throughout CMF11 this year so you can benefit from their experiences.

Please plan to join us in celebrating these outstanding cause marketing campaigns. While I’ve shared some observations in this post, there are other intriguing trends that may just surprise you this year!

Which Halo Award-winning campaigns are your favorites? Any predictions on trends for this year?

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