A Toast: Social Marketing Meets Good

Everyone’s all a-twitter about social marketing these days. It’s well-covered. The experts are emerging, and now you can hardly avoid the topic. They’re fantastic tools, giving us almost unlimited opportunities to created earned media and buzz.

So how can these things be used for good? Here’s one great example from Mullen.

The Bread Art Project.

Go online, create a slice of artistic toast, and share it with a friend. For every slice that’s created, a dollar goes to Feed America.

Try it, it’s fun.

(This is my creation, titled "SquareHead.")

The Gap Does A Chain Letter for Good

A great brand, a great cause, a weird tactic.

They call it “Give & Get.” In this good-hearted promotion, the Gap (parent co. of Gap, Banana Republic, and Old Navy) extended its Friends and Family discount of 30% to “everyone.” (At least, everyone who got the e-mail forwarded to them.) At the same time, they would donate 5% of every purchase to the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society. Fantastic.

I have two questions.

Is there any strategic relevance between The Gap and … leukemia? Not to take anything away from cancer research (my mom had breast cancer, and God knows we need the research). But this is a clothing brand.

What does The Gap stand for? Hip, comfortable fashions for all. There are lots of clothing charities that could use support from a retailer like the Gap. Help abused women dress for job interviews. Help homeless people with new clothes. Help struggling families provide clothing gifts for their kids at Christmas.

Suddenly The Gap’s core business has a mission, a greater purpose.

Imagine if they did an ad about that.

Next question. What’s up with the e-mail chain letter? If they really want to do some good, why not shout it out loud? Invite everyone. Or maybe, just maybe, is a chain letter the earliest form of social marketing known to man?

In any case, I hope the Gap and it’s friends and family donated tons of money to the L&LS.

What is “Societal Marketing?” (the birth of a blog)

There are a lot of terms floating around out there when companies refer to doing something good. So, to explain Societal Marketing, let’s first discuss what it’s not.

It’s not Corporate Sustainability, which is: “the practice of a company to lower its operational impact on the earth.”

It’s not Green Marketing: “the incorporation of earth-friendly benefits in a marketing program,” although Green Marketing is certainly one form of Societal Marketing.

Rather, Societal Marketing is the incorporation of a charitable end into a marketing program, be it a Green cause, an educational cause, a disaster relief cause, a hunger cause, etc.

But Societal Marketing is not Social Marketing (aka, Cause Marketing). The difference is, Societal Marketing has a goal of increasing product sales, not simply altruism. (Wikipedia has some nice definitions.)

I call it “Marketing + Good,” since Societal Marketing starts with the same goal as any marketing effort, but adds the benefit of making the world a better place. That combination is becoming more powerful than ever, resonating with today’s well-intended, globally-aware consumer. In fact, it’s often a more powerful driver of consumer decisions than price. People are willing to pay a fraction more for the feeling that their purchase will help a cause they care about. Societal Marketing leverages the emotional power of Cause Marketing on behalf of a consumer brand.

In my humble opinion, if a Societal Marketing campaign is structured well, success is three-fold. One is sales. Two, it makes the world a better place. And three, it creates brand loyalty by aligning values with the customer.

In these pages, I hope to showcase some great “Marketing+Good” work being done currently by leading agencies and brands. (And since I come from the creative side, I’ll definitely speak up – or not post – if it sucks.) By all means, send me campaigns you think fit the bill.