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The Silent Sports Trade: Sex Trafficking
I am an athlete, I am a fan, and I am a woman.
As an athlete, I celebrate. I celebrate the skills and lessons I learned on the field (and truth be told, sitting on the bench).
As a fan, I cheer. I cheer because I love the feeling of solidarity and community that comes from a shared commitment to a local or professional sports team.
But as a woman, I cringe. I cringe because I know that some of our most celebrated sporting events, from the Super Bowl to the World Cup, are also the occasion of a terrible crime: the sex trafficking of tens of thousands of women and children.
Experts estimated that as many as 10,000 prostitutes descended on last year’s Super Bowl in Miami, many of whom were trafficked. And it’s not just American football. Tekla Roberts, a trafficking survivor and anti-trafficking activist, spoke of her first-hand experience at NASCAR races and golf tournaments.
A study by the Future Group noted that during the year of the 2004 Olympics in Athens, the number of known human trafficking victims nearly doubled. With more than 2 million people trafficked each year globally, most of whom are women and girls, the problem is obviously larger than sporting events. But because of its high profile, the sports industry has a unique opportunity to address this issue.
So what are the changemakeHERS among us doing to tackle this problem? Experts in this field often point to the 4P approach to combating trafficking: prevention, protection, prosecution and policy.
There are a few interesting examples involving individual Changemakers from the sports and airline sectors. One such example is Trafficking911, which launched its “I’m not buying it” campaign around the 2010 Super Bowl. Several athletes, including Dallas Cowboy Jay Ratliffe, got behind the effort and recorded a compelling video stating “real men don’t buy sex.”
The Airline Ambassadors, the industry’s relief and development organization, partnered with the nonprofit Innocents at Risk to educate airline personnel and issue procedural guidelines for addressing suspects of trafficking on flights. Free Generation International launched its “RED Card against Trafficking” campaign in conjunction with the 2010 World Cup in South Africa, but it struggled to find corporate partnerships willing to associate their brands with this important but difficult issue.
These efforts are commendable, but to really make change in an issue that crosses sports and countries, companies need to get involved. Having worked for the past seven years in corporate responsibility at Nike, I was incredibly fortunate to broker partnerships between my company and nonprofits around the world. We focused on supporting programs that leveraged the power of sport to bring about positive social change, from women’s empowerment to conflict resolution. But it is time for us to also work with this industry to address the dark underbelly of its own events.
I look forward to hearing ideas and solutions from the community of ChangemakeHERS about how to help the sports industry realize its full potential when it comes to empowering and protecting women.
- Ziba Cranmer, Vice President
This post was written for and posted by Ashoka's Changemakers Idea ExChange Blog as part of its 2011 HERS Campaign in celebration of International Women's Day.
Tags: global causebranding superbowl cone events trends employees
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Why to Think Twice About Cause Voting Campaigns
Pepsi Refresh made a huge splash with its launch in 2010 and, more than a year later, it’s still getting a lot of attention. With all the fanfare, it’s hardly surprising it has caused a bit of a stir in the cause marketing world as companies consider whether a voting campaign could also be their best bet for consumer engagement. Before you dive in, consider some challenges unfocused voting campaigns face:
1. Impossible oversight: Despite Pepsi’s best efforts to police it, allegations of cheating and fraud continue to plague the campaign. With so many organizations competing, it’s virtually impossible for Pepsi to vet the organizations and keep tabs on their activities, particularly the smaller ones who are off the radar.
2. Scattered results: Reporting results is another challenge because these programs focus on so many issues, at so many levels, in so many places. They can talk about dollars given, number of organizations funded or estimated number of people impacted, but the question will remain as to the deeper level of impact they may have made on any given issue.
3. Conflicting returns: Recent results indicate Pepsi Refresh may have bolstered the company’s brand among consumers, but because there is no direct product tie-in, it hasn’t had the same positive effect on sales. Pepsi seems sated with the positive consumer engagement and buzz, but other companies may expect different results.
4. Resource drain: The voting trend is forcing all nonprofits to continually tap their networks of donors and supporters for votes. Consumers will tire, and it’s a drain on resources for all organizations, particularly the small.
5. Lost cause: As the saying goes, when you don’t stand for something, you stand for nothing. This is a risk companies face with such a broad approach. Even with millions of dollars in grants, it’s hard to articulate what Pepsi stands for today, which is not a promising indication for long-term brand equity.
The key point is that open voting campaigns, like Pepsi Refresh, come with a unique set of challenges and considerations. This unfocused model is not a sustainable way to engage stakeholders and achieve long-term brand equity or social outcomes when used as a stand-alone strategy. However, some companies are taking a more focused approach by limiting voting to strategic partners or issues, which can be powerful ways to engage consumers while reinforcing what they stand for. We anticipate the voting trend will steer away from an unfettered list of causes and organizations, and companies will better harness their consumers’ desire to have a voice by deepening engagement within a strategic cause.
To view Cone’s full POV about voting campaigns, including best practices, visit our website.
Posts under the Knowledge Leadership byline come from Knowledge
Leadership team members Sarah Kerkian and Casey Brennan. Follow us on
Twitter: @ConeLLC, @SarahKerkian, @Casey
Tags: causebranding campaigns trends superbowl
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Advertisers Must Use Creativity to Drive Change
It’s not enough for ads, and today’s advertisers, to just sell things – they have to change things, too. In fact, consumers identified advertising as one of the best channels for companies to communicate their good deeds. In response to the demand, some ad experts are stepping up to the plate, using their skills and creativity to foster an advertising-fueled revolution – for good.
One can scarcely discuss advertising at this time of year without mentioning its biggest stage – the Super Bowl. This Sunday, brands will spend an estimated of $270 million to capture the attention of American consumers. Although some companies in the past have used the forum to promote the causes they support, one advertising firm is asking its comrades to go a step further. ADD or DELETE is a campaign encouraging individuals to identify which Super Bowl ads they think “add” to society and those which should be “deleted” from the marketplace – raising awareness for how dollars could be better spent. In addition, the firm issued an ongoing challenge to advertisers to re-direct five percent of global ad spend to support global good, representing about $25 billion annually.
No Right Brain Left Behind is an initiative challenging teams from creative industries to craft products and approaches that promote creativity in education. Led by several advertising heavyweights and in partnership with Social Media Week 2011, the call-to-action will address widespread problems such as poor math scores and falling graduation rates. The initiative plans to pilot winning submissions for how to make school curricula more creative in 2011 and 2012.
Companies – including advertising agencies – are being held increasingly accountable for helping to solve social and environmental issues. Solutions require each entity to leverage its unique assets and marketplace influence for the greater good. So, as you’re rating the ads this Sunday, ask yourself if your industry has answered the call and how your organization can do its part to better leverage the incredible outlet and significant dollars advertising provides.
Posts under the Knowledge Leadership byline come from Knowledge Leadership team members Sarah Kerkian and Casey Brennan. Follow us on Twitter: @ConeLLC, @SarahKerkian, @CaseyB
Tags: causebranding campaigns superbowl
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FIFA World Cup Cause Buzz Falls Flat
Sports have an uncanny ability to unite communities, capture attention and inspire goodwill, so major sporting events are a natural fit for cause-related messages. Which is why we are disappointed that so far during the FIFA World Cup – the sporting event boasting the world’s largest audience – the only buzz we’re hearing is coming from vuvuzelas.
Image: BanTheVuvuzela.blogspot.com
With some digging, we found Coca-Cola’s “Youth Talent Development Initiative” in South Africa and FIFA’s “20 Centres for 2010” – an effort launched in 2007 which aims to promote public health, education and football in disadvantaged communities across Africa. But we were hard-pressed to find word of these efforts in major U.S. media. And what about on-the-ground or online cause messages? Those were few and far between as well – most created by NGOs.
No one has followed the topic closer than blogger John Kim on his site, World Cup CSR. For over a year he’s been tracking any and all corporate commitments to the greater good affiliated with the event. His conclusion? Nil. Kim tweets, “Fifa's Centre's 4 Hope R the closest things 2 sponsor related CSR initiatives I've seen while here: disappointed.”
Is this a sign of a trend? The global meeting in South Africa is not the first major sporting event with lackluster cause tie-ins. The 2010 Super Bowl, which despite the hoopla over Pepsi’s departure, lacked social messaging almost entirely during the actual game. This was a decline from the array of cause campaigns we observed in 2009. Prior to that, the 2008 Summer Olympics seemed to lack cause messages aimed at American viewers, as well.
Despite the immense resources put into these events, brands with an established cause or CR presence have not been using the world stage to communicate their commitments and to activate consumers. The World Cup will stand as yet another missed opportunity and overall a disappointment for cause marketers.
What do you think? Did you see something we didn’t? Post the World Cup cause messages you’ve seen by commenting below.
Tags: causemarketing causebranding events trends sports global superbowl
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Where Did All the Cause Ads Go?
Every year, we watch the Super Bowl with great expectations for cause marketing, which has become more prominent in the sought-after advertising spots. Although Pepsi received much of the pre-Super Bowl advertising buzz for not buying spots and instead investing in its cause program, the Cone team felt disappointed there weren't more cause efforts during the big game.
Check out the video below to hear what they had to say:
Tags: causebranding superbowl
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Pepsi Trading Super Bowl Advertisements for Cause Marketing
Undoubtedly the biggest night in advertising, the Super Bowl attracts all the big players – from Anheuser-Busch InBev to GE – and for the past nine years, Pepsi has been one of the biggest. Until now. This week, the beverage giant announced it will not be advertising in the 2010 Super Bowl. Instead, Pepsi will be investing $20 million into its new cause marketing program.
What a difference a year makes. Last February, we gave kudos to several companies that spent top-dollar to communicate their social and environmental commitments during the Super Bowl. As the 2010 Super Bowl approaches, we are blown away by one company’s decision not to. Pepsi is forgoing millions of guaranteed consumer eyes and ears for higher-touch social media tactics that will be incorporated into its cause program in the coming year. This decision speaks volumes about both the changing role of media and the growth of cause marketing as a central part of brand strategy.
So, as we head into 2010 with hopes of an economic recovery in our sights, there is really no denying that cause has reached new heights. We stand at an exciting moment in time for cause – at the onset of a new year that will bring new opportunity. And with such bold moves from big brands, it appears we’re off to a good start.
Tags: causebranding campaigns newmedia superbowl
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Touchdown or Fumble? Cause-related marketing and the Super Bowl
Advertisements for Bud Light Lime and GoDaddy.com may have scored the most viewers (according to Nielsen) in the most-watched Super Bowl of all time, but from our perspective, not surprisingly, the true victors were the brands who used this estimated $100,000-per-second forum to communicate their commitments to social and environmental issues. 
Pedigree’s Adoption Drive commercial (#7 on USA Today’s Ad Meter) was humorous and endearing and a nice alternative to the heart-wrenching animal adoption spots we’re most used to seeing, but as the Good Concepts blog notes, it may have been more successful with a more direct call-to-action for consumers. GE’s smart grid technology ad (#28) featuring the Scarecrow from the Wizard of Oz was inventive and nostalgic, if not exactly actionable. And Kellogg’s Frosted Flakes spot (#36) was simple, actionable and community-oriented, a shift we’re beginning to see in many programs as companies reassert their role as good neighbors in times of turmoil. Kellogg’s also put consumers right in the driver’s seat for its cause program, something our research has found is important to 84 percent of Americans when they support cause-related campaigns.
As a whole, the three cause-minded spots were successful because they were simple, largely engaging and well-aligned with the upbeat, effortless tone consumers expect from Super Bowl ads.
But we want to know what you think. Did this year’s cause-related marketing spots score a touchdown or fumble the ball? Take part in Cone’s poll to share your opinions. We’ll share results on the What Do You Stand For? blog.
Click Here To Vote! (or visit us on Facebook)
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Update:
The results are in, and 100% of respondents agreed that this year's cause-related Super Bowl ads were a touchdown! However, we must disclose that there were only seven participants- a slow start for our first poll, but thanks to those seven for participating!
Have a burning question? Let us know! We will be posing questions to our readers regularly.
Tags: campaigns superbowl
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