filter by author: Craig Bida
Be As Green As You Can Be
There’s a revolution brewing among the under-16 set. A new wave of personal advocacy and responsibility is taking root as kids are becoming more and more involved with issues of social responsibility—and starting to teach their parents about sustainability.
I recently experienced this firsthand speaking with an opinionated 8-year-old. What was she excited about? Litter-less Lunches. These are organized school events that mobilize families to choose products and pack school lunches in ways that generate less waste. This young crusader knew exactly how many pounds of garbage were generated by her school on litter-less lunch versus normal days (I don’t know about you, but I sure wasn’t thinking about my environmental footprint when I was 8.).
Talk to parents of grade school kids across the country, and you’ll hear similar stories. There is pressure to be a better global citizen that is bubbling up from younger generations and that is having a real impact on consumption patterns. As one father of two in Cincinnati told me, “It’s one thing when your town gives you a recycling bin, but another altogether when your 8-year-old asks why you aren’t separating out the trash, turning off lights in empty rooms and buying local apples instead of fruit flown in from New Zealand…”
If anyone should really care about these issues, it is this younger generation. By 2050, when this 8-year-old is in her late 40s, the planet’s +6B people will have grown to 10B—creating almost unimaginable demands for resources and impact on the environment.
The good news is that the future crusaders who will overcome these challenges are already here among us. Just don’t let the fact that they are 3 feet tall and listen to Miley Cyrus make you take them any less seriously. Today they are pestering their parents about recycling, Litter-less Lunches and turning off lights. Tomorrow, they’ll be driving innovation, solving problems and forging a new reality around global stewardship. Their future—and the future of the planet—depends on it.
Craig Bida is Cone's Executive Vice President of Cause Branding and Nonprofit Marketing.
Tags: environment children parents activism
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Where's the Cause?
Can you find the cause in this picture? Look hard – it’s in there somewhere, hidden among price-per-gallon signs, no smoking instructions and hot dog ads…
In case you didn’t find it, here’s the answer: It’s Citgo’s Fueling Good, a program through which Citgo gives away a year's supply of fuel and a case of motor oil to a deserving nonprofit, helping them by paying for transportation to deliver their mission (a recent winner was a Maine animal shelter).
This advertisement for the program, viewed in context of real-life gas pump clutter, highlights a critical challenge for cause marketing that has nothing to do with cause and everything to do with marketing: A need to focus on fundamentals to break through myriad commercial messages that target us every day.
In this example, the drama in the Fueling Good advertising – created here by prominent positioning of the iconic, typographically bold one-way sign – is misdirected. It doesn’t focus on the program’s core benefit of doing good in local communities. Smaller print invites the reader to learn more by going to a website, but how many people would read – let alone act – on that?
We live in an era of high expectations, with over 90 percent of Americans expecting companies to tell them directly how they are changing the world via improved products, services and operations. The lesson is simple: Act and communicate. No matter how bold or world-changing the efforts you are making, if you aren’t communicating them in a clear, compelling way, no one will know. Even worse for your brand, people might think you aren’t doing anything.
Tags: marketing causemarketing communications
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Cause Marketing - Alive and Well
In response to the USA Today KINDNESS blog post declaring the death of cause marketing as we know it:
Billions of dollars have been raised, millions of consumers have been engaged and untold lives have been impacted across the globe. Rest assured, cause marketing is alive and well.
But don’t just take our word for it. An overwhelming 83 percent of Americans want to see more companies support social and environmental issues, as revealed in Cone’s 2010 Cause Evolution Study. This is particularly true among moms and Millennials – the consumers driving spending and the social agenda – who are virtually unanimous in their desire to see companies stand for something.
Most professionals have long-agreed that simply tying a ribbon to a product is not a meaningful strategy for either business or social growth. And it doesn’t build brands either. Instead, what sets brands apart today is: 1) supporting issues aligned with their business growth and diverse stakeholder needs, 2) meaningful engagement beyond the transaction and 3) trusted, mutually beneficial partnerships.
Over the last two decades, cause marketing has changed our social fabric, giving consumers a way to contribute to critical issues like women’s health, education and preventable disease. Today, we are on the cusp of innovation as we evolve from transactional to transformational. Look to the future for dynamic, collaborative problem-solving against new (and emerging) issues, bold public commitments to drive impact and brands built on transparency and trust.
Lofty? Perhaps. But achievable, when put in the hands of the consumer through cause marketing.
- Craig Bida, Executive Vice President
Tags: youth causebranding research cone trends
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Partnering to Build Your Brand
I recently experienced a missed brand-building opportunity at Staples when I tried to salvage some files from a defunct computer. What happened was a great example of how companies need to make their social contributions clear and actively partner with their customers for even greater impact.
I took an IBM desktop circa 1997 (!) with a frozen hard drive and forgotten passwords to the Tech Services Desk at my local Staples, where I had a GREAT customer experience – the staff was thorough and the job got done quickly for a reasonable price. I would definitely go back and this transaction helped evolve how I thought about the Staples brand (solutions provider for my life vs. seller of pens and paper).
The missed brand-building opportunity came when the tech offered to recycle my computer. Terrific – computers should definitely not end up in landfills. Just one catch: It would cost me $10. I experienced a moment of consumer confusion – it wasn’t clear if Staples was making money off me, breaking even or picking up part of the tab. I ended up walking out with my old IBM, feeling skeptical about Staples’ green effort and figuring I could find a way to junk it responsibly that wouldn’t cost me $10. This ambivalence was cemented when I discovered my town has a program where I could recycle my computer for free (Staples’ website explains that a “recycling fee is charged to cover handling, transport, product disassembly and recycling”).
I applaud Staples’ effort to reduce the environmental impact of technology obsolescence. But here’s the miss: Staples had a chance to cement my loyalty by wrapping a successful, well-executed business transaction in a successful corporate responsibility experience. They missed an opportunity to partner with me to fulfill broader responsibilities vs. simply charging for a service. My good opinion of Staples might have been solidified if they had followed up the offer to recycle with an overture to partner – and put some skin in the game by offering to help me defray the cost of recycling somehow, either through cash, in-store credit, or even a coupon for future use back in their store.
Lesson learned: At a time when consumer expectations are higher than ever, and more and more brands are linking themselves to social causes, it is critical for companies to be fully transparent about the contribution they are making and to approach their customers as genuine partners.
- Craig Bida, Executive Vice President
Tags: corporateresponsibility transparency sustainability retail
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