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Tim Watts

"Spiritual Branding"

BRW

July 16, 2000

With consumers taking a deeper interest in the social and environmental consequences of their buying decisions, marketers are moving beyond rational and emotional branding strategies to what is being dubbed "spiritual branding".

A growing number of companies, often in mature, competitive markets, are forming close partnerships with community or environmental organisations. Through joint fundraising and promotional activities, they are seeking to link the values associated with these causes with the structure of beliefs associated with their brands.

Marjorie Thompson, the director of advertising agency Saatchi & Saatchi's cause-related marketing division in London, is the author, with Hamish Pringle, of a new book on the trend called Brand Spirit (John Wiley & Sons, $39.95). "There are more and more products on the shelves, and the flow of information through media and advertising is at unprecedented levels," she says. "People are being overloaded with choice, while at the same time being informed better than ever before. They are now eager to know where their products are coming from. Are they genetically modified? Are they environmentally benign? Are they made by child labor in developing countries? It is about trust. Cause-related marketing is a way to break through the clutter and win trust."

Thompson cites a 1997 Cone/Roper report on cause-related marketing in the United States, which found that 76% of consumers would switch to brands associated with a good cause if price and quality were equal. "People in affluent societies are looking for ways to meet their higher-order needs related to social responsibility and being part of the community. Purchasing a brand which supports a cause you're interested in is one of the most painless ways of doing this," she says.

Brand Spirit profiles a series of recent links or partnerships between brands and social or environmental causes. These include the breakfast-cereal maker Kellogg partnering Kids Help Line in Australia to reinforce its commitment to the health of children; British Airways' alliance with Unicef, a global charity directed at improving the quality of life in developing countries; and BMW's strategy of appealing to female consumers by establishing a link with breast cancer research in the US.

"What sets these campaigns apart from traditional corporate charitable involvement is the mutual benefit at the heart of the strategy," Thompson says. "Many companies are plagued by what I call the 'chairman's wife syndrome', where money is set aside to be spent on good causes but ends up on gala balls, and sports and cultural sponsorship. It is pure self-indulgence and provides limited benefit to the cause and no added value to the company's customers, suppliers or staff.

"In cause-related marketing we see this charitable expenditure being integrated into the main marketing budget and connected to the structure of beliefs associated with the brand. The partnership with the cause becomes a central part of the brand-building exercise."

Thompson says finding the right match between the brand and the cause is essential. "Young, media-savvy people in particular will be wary if there is no synergy between the brand and the cause. You can't just put toilet paper and diabetes together. It just is not relevant and will be perceived as lacking credibility. People want to see the connection and evidence of direct involvement from the company."

The Kellogg partnership with Kids Help Line counselling service, which was formed in 1998, is an example of the multi-faceted relationship to which Thompson refers. Kellogg has agreed to donate 5 cents for every packet of cereal sold ($500,000 a year based on 1998 sales of about two million packets a month), devoted the back of more than seven million cereal packets to information about how to use the service, provided management expertise to the board of Kids Help Line, hired singer Kylie Minogue to act as the Kids Help Line ambassador, and produced and paid for television commercials for the service.

"Transparency in the campaign is fundamental," says Thompson. "With the Internet and other advances in communication technology, companies will be found out if they only half-commit to a cause. A few years ago, a children's clothing company in the United States signed up with a charity alleviating child poverty and it was then revealed that the brand's clothing was made by children in developing countries. The fallout was huge."

Thompson also claims that cause-related marketing has the secondary benefit of building healthy organisational culture. "Mission statements to communicate a company's core values are in vogue but tend to be platitudinous and are rarely effective. Cause-related marketing provides a concrete point of information for staff about what the organisation stands for. Employees know they don't just work for the company, they work for the cause as well."