“Advertising is based on one thing. Happiness… Happiness is the smell of a new car. It’s freedom from fear. It’s a billboard on the side of a road that screams with reassurance that whatever you’re doing is ok. You are ok.”
— Don Draper, Mad Men
How do we reach cause marketing’s real potential?
Why the bike and the Don Draper quote?
We’ll circle back to that.
First let’s define cause marketing.
Cause marketing is when a brand connects its message to a social or environmental cause. While it’s only a C- or D-list buzzword, it’s everywhere.
Think of campaigns like Nike’s ‘Livestrong’, General Mills’ ‘Box Tops for Education’, or Dawn’s ‘Wildlife Rescue and Rehabilitation’.
Here are a few more examples:
- 📈 In the 1990s, OppenheimerFunds pivoted its messaging to speak more inclusively to women, as finance started to become less male-dominated. This approach not only reshaped conversations on Wall Street but boosted their mutual fund sales.
- 🧗 In 2022, Patagonia’s founder, Yvon Chouinard, donated 98% of the company to an environmental nonprofit. While there was no traditional ad campaign surrounding the move, the action cemented Patagonia’s reputation as a global leader of eco-consciousness.
- 🍏 For Earth Day 2023, Apple showcased their plan to achieve a zero-carbon footprint by 2030. Instead of pursuing some philanthropy, in true Apple style, they’re embedding the cause into the design and manufacture of their products.
A cause marketing initiative can take many forms: an NGO partnership, a company policy, an awareness campaign, or all of the above.
Done well, it strengthens branding, deepens customer loyalty, enhances employee satisfaction, and boosts market share. It’s an investment that can enhance not only sales but a company’s culture and productivity.
Cause marketing isn’t a huge topic, despite its pervasiveness
Though its potential is enormous, the conversation around cause marketing hasn’t reached the level of talks about “ESG” or “triple bottom line”. Why?
Perhaps it’s because people rarely see causes and marketing as fully integrated. Some ask, “What can a business do for a cause?” Others wonder, “What can a cause do for a business?” Few focus equally on both sides.
This imbalance limits the synergy needed for maximum force, like one of those old “penny farthing” bicycle with one wheel comically large and the other comically small.
What if we put cause/marketing in true equilibrium?
Let’s brainstorm.
Take Alphabet (Google), the world’s fourth-largest public company, valued at $1.937 trillion (on April 18, 2024). Imagine they committed 10% of profits—roughly $7.38 billion from their 2023 earnings—to urban greening in major cities.
New York City’s Department of Environmental Protection and green infrastructure budget totaled around $1.7 billion in FY 2024. Google’s contribution could quadruple that budget, revolutionizing the city’s sustainability efforts.
Over time, Google could distribute similar investments across cities worldwide. Such an initiative would boost their brand reputation, engage employees, earn tax incentives, and strengthen consumer loyalty—all while driving measurable environmental progress.
What’s the key?
Authenticity.
They have to really, truly want to make a difference.
Board members might scoff at the idea of contributing 10% of profits (and their responsibilities as a board member for a public company might systematically prevent them from embracing the idea in the first place, but that’s a conversation for another day), and that’s exactly why it could be such a radical, attention-grabbing, paradigm-shattering, and effective move for the company’s reputation.
Cause marketing initiatives need to be genuine. It needs to balance the two wheels of marketing and cause, like a modern, stable bike. No more penny farthing.
Although we do have a lot of authenticity broadly in the impact-business movement, a certain degree of authenticity, an earnestness to reach our true potential to change the world, continues to elude us.
Ten percent is exceedingly possible. And the difference it could make is tremendous. So why aren’t we doing it?
Google, Apple, and similar companies have sustainability programs, but the scale of their ambition lacks imagination.
All that’s missing is a shift in mindset.
The Draper quote, revisited
When Don Draper says, “Advertising is based on one thing… happiness,” he describes a transactional world where money is the ultimate goal. But what if businesses prioritized happiness—personal and collective well-being—as the end goal?
The 2023 World Happiness Report shows a strong correlation between doing good and feeling good. By aligning marketing with meaningful causes, companies could increase happiness for customers, employees, and executives alike.
Money and economies are extremely important. But what is money for, especially at the degree it’s concentrated in the wold’s top companies?
By definition, currency is a means to an end.
There’s so much room to explore the real potential of cause marketing.
Let’s start pedaling.
This story was originally posted on Medium, Apr. 18 2024
References
https://www.wired.com/2015/04/mad-men-recap-7b-ep-1/ Don Draper quote
https://www.prnewsonline.com/changing-mindsets-on-cause-marketing-one-ceo-at-a-time/
https://www.reuters.com/business/sustainable-business/ryan-gellert-patagonia-we-have-be-greener-than-green-make-profit-2023-04-11/
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=66XwG1CLHuU
https://companiesmarketcap.com/ (accessed 8 March, 2024)
https://finance.yahoo.com/quote/GOOGL/financials (April 18, 2024)
https://council.nyc.gov/press/2023/06/30/2440/
Other Resources
https://www.entrepreneur.com/en-ae/entrepreneurs/cause-related-marketing-a-win-win-for-brands-charities/297333
https://www.selfishgiving.com/blog/short-history-cause-marketing
https://fastercapital.com/content/What-is-Cause-Marketing.html
