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August 20, 2010 at 2:14 PM by Research & Insights

Healthy habits can do more than trim your waistline – they may also prevent crime, create career opportunities or replace a probation sentence. Although this sweeping statement may come with the disclaimer “results not typical,” we noticed several programs that demonstrate the positive impact healthy behaviors can have on social ills:


Healthy Food Reduces School Crime
One Wisconsin school, taking part in the Education for Healthy Kids pilot program, sought to reduce crime by changing the cafeteria menu. By stripping the school of junk food and replacing it with healthy options, the school principal noted a significant decrease in vandalism, litter and a reduced need for police patrolling the hallways.

Running Creates Opportunities for Homeless
The nonprofit Back on My Feet promotes self-sufficiency for homeless populations by engaging them in running as a means to build confidence, strength and self-esteem. Teams are assembled at homeless shelters and meet three days a week for runs. Good attendance is rewarded with membership in the Next Steps program, which aligns participants with educational and job training opportunities, financial literacy sessions, job partnerships and housing programs. The program boasts a success rate of over 50 percent in helping members move their lives forward.

Marathon Training Replaces Youth Probation
An Oklahoma-based program called Run the Streets challenges at-risk youth to train for a half marathon in lieu of legal mandates such as juvenile detention, group homes and probation. Through the experience, participants learn the benefits of goal-setting, character development, adult mentoring and improved health. The outcome? The relapse rate for Run the Streets participants is only four percent – while youth placed in a group home for six months get back into trouble 25 percent of the time. What’s more, a group home placement costs about $25,000 while taking part in Run the Streets runs a mere $350 per participant.

We applaud the fresh approach these three programs have taken – demonstrating the cause and affect between health and social issues. We’ve all recognized that healthy behavior will help reduce cancer and other diseases, but as these programs show, its impact can be much more far-reaching. These examples serve as a guide for how social ails can be remedied with a healthy push in the right direction. Where are there other synergies between health and social issues?


Tags: corporateresponsibility causebranding campaigns health sports

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June 18, 2010 at 2:00 PM by Research & Insights

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.

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: causebranding events trends sports global superbowl causemarketing

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