Using Corporate Citizenship to Differentiate Your Brand  by Ken Bernhardt Regents' Professor Robinson College of Business, Georgia State University Atlanta Business Chronicle - July 23, 2004 A number of polls done during the past few years have shown that American consumers are increasingly demanding that companies play a more active role in supporting social causes. American Express pioneered this movement in 1983 when they created a program to donate a portion of each customer's credit card purchases to the Statue of Liberty Refurbishing Program.  Following the huge success of this program, American Express trademarked the term "Cause-Related Marketing" which can be defined as the linking of a company, brand, or product to a social cause or issue for the mutual benefit of the sponsor and the beneficiary.  The for-profit partner is typically looking for a way to associate its product with the social cause to boost its appeal to target market customers to achieve bottom line profits.   September 11th had a major impact on consumer perceptions of the role of cause-related marketing. Research done by Cone Communications in partnership with the Roper Organization showed a dramatic increase in the percentage of consumers who believe that companies have a responsibility to support causes - - to eight in ten Americans post September 11th vs. just over half in the study they did just prior to September 11th.  Their research also showed that almost nine in ten consumers expected companies to continue to support causes during an economic downturn.  Eight in ten consumers also stated that a company's commitment to causes is important when they decide which companies they choose to do business with, and when price and quality are equal (which is often the case today), three-quarters of consumers say they would be likely to switch to a brand associated with a good cause. Perhaps even more important, the Cone/Roper study demonstrated the impact of cause-related marketing on employee morale.  Employees whose companies have cause-related programs are 38 percent more likely to say they are proud of their company's values than employees in companies without these programs. Carol Cone, the CEO and founder of Cone Communications maintains "by empowering employees with volunteerism opportunities, matching gifts, and other ways to impact social issues, companies can provide employees with Ôpurposeful work' and strengthen their organizations at the same time."   And as has been well documented, in service-related businesses, happy employees lead to happy consumers. Examples of companies that have effectively used cause-related marketing are Home Depot, which created Team Depot to place employees as volunteers with local home-renovation and environmental programs, and Avon with its Breast Cancer Awareness Crusade that has raised many millions of dollars for women's health programs.  Today more and more smaller organizations are discovering cause-related marketing as a way to increase the relationship it has with customers and employees. What things should a company be thinking about as it begins to initiate these types of programs? Perhaps most important is the determination of whether the mission of the non-profit is consistent with the values of your company and products.  Savvy non-profit organizations have learned to seek out the marketing people at companies with compatible missions rather than the contributions people. That's one reason some non-profits have started to combine the marketing and development functions. Kurt Aschermann, Senior Vice President of Marketing and Development for Boys & Girls Clubs of America, is a 30 year veteran creator of strategic partnerships between non-profits and businesses. He has developed a series of considerations for businesses to explore as they develop cause-related partnerships with non-profit organizations.  He points out that many companies never ask about the people they will be working with at their non-profit partner - - who will be doing the work; how much experience do they have; how much of their time will be spent on the relationship, etc.  A company would never hire an ad agency without determining the answers to these questions, and they shouldn't sign a cause-related marketing partnership agreement without answers to these questions.  Do they approach philanthropy like entrepreneurs?  Who is on their board of directors?  If they are business people, chances are they "get it" and the program will be successful. How well is the organization managed, how much do they spend on administrative costs, and how much do they pay their people?  These all can be examined by viewing the non-profit organization's IRS Form 990 which is available on the Guidestar.com website.  The Form 990 reveals a great deal about the prospective partner.   Another area to explore with the potential partner is their guiding principles for cause marketing.  What are the things they will do and what are the things they will not do?  When appropriate, can they deliver at the local level through their affiliates as well as at the national level?  Since long-term consumer impact requires long-term cause marketing, can they commit to more than one year?  Will they agree to measure the results of the activity?  Are you both measuring the impact the same way?  Aschermann tells the story of a failed relationship (later recovered) where the non-profit was measuring value of awareness generated and the business was measuring sales increases. This caused a "disconnect" that almost resulted in the severing of the partnership. To prevent this, Aschermann recommends a letter of agreement detailing who will do what, what kind of public relations will be generated and by whom, the "measureables," rights each partner has to the use of the other's logos, brand names, etc., and how each can terminate the relationship.   In today's post-Enron environment, great opportunities exist for companies, large and small, to show consumers that they are different from competitors and are worth supporting. As I ask my students, what type of business person are you going to be as the 21st century progresses - - one who is responsive to consumers on all important dimensions or not?