Goodwill Gets an A+ in Social Math
July 2, 2010 at 11:38 AM by Knowledge Leadership
Goodwill, which appeared as a leading nonprofit in the The Cone Nonprofit Power Brand 100, has put several success factors into play with the new campaign. Here are a few best practices the campaign demonstrates, which others can look to for inspiration:
Demonstrate Tangible Impact: By using social math, the Donation Impact Calculator makes it easy for donors to understand the social impact of their donations. The site also keeps a running tally of how many pounds of usable goods Goodwill has diverted from landfills for the year (note: at the time of this post, the tally was at nearly 1 billion pounds).
Align with Meaningful Partners: Levi Strauss & Co. launched “A Care Tag for Our Planet” in partnership with Goodwill, which includes messaging on product care tags encouraging people to wash their clothes in cold water, line dry and donate to Goodwill. In addition, Goodwill partnered with Lorie Marrero, best-selling author of The Clutter Diet: The Skinny on Organizing Your Home and Taking Control of Your Life, to show people that cleaning out their closets and donating is one way to live simply, live green and have community impact.
Provide A Visual Cue: Goodwill drew inspiration from the iconic recycle triangle-and-arrows symbol in creating its “D” for Donate logo. Soon to appear on everyday products, it serves as a universal reminder to “recycle” through responsible donation, helping provide opportunities for others while diverting usable items from landfills.
Activate Consumers: Goodwill is encouraging donors to flaunt badges of honor for their good deeds by providing Donate flair for Facebook, Twitter and personal blogs – showing their networks that they support donating responsibly and making an impact on the community and the environment.
Issue a Rallying Cry: The campaign issued The Donate Challenge, encouraging people to visit the site, use the calculator and learn more about how to donate with purpose. The effort looks to educate and inspire people and shift their perceptions about the effects their contributions can have within local communities and on the environment.
Goodwill is already a household name for many Americans. Through its creative use of online tools and strategic partnerships, the nonprofit is sure to help re-energize support for donating and ensure it will stay a household name for generations to come.
This week, Cone is pleased to announce the formal launch of its Nonprofit Marketing discipline, with services designed to help nonprofit organizations strengthen their brands and raise funds. This is Cone’s fifth discipline; the agency also helps organizations build trusted brands through the execution of Cause Branding, Brand Marketing, Corporate Responsibility and Crisis Prevention and Management. For more information, visit www.coneinc.com/nonprofit-marketing.
Tags: bestpractices nonprofitpowerbrand100 nonprofitcausebranding corporatepartnerships campaigns newmedia
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- 1 jacket = 11 minutes of career counseling
- 1 working computer = 8.1 hours of on-the-job training
Demonstrate Tangible Impact: By using social math, the Donation Impact Calculator makes it easy for donors to understand the social impact of their donations. The site also keeps a running tally of how many pounds of usable goods Goodwill has diverted from landfills for the year (note: at the time of this post, the tally was at nearly 1 billion pounds).
Align with Meaningful Partners: Levi Strauss & Co. launched “A Care Tag for Our Planet” in partnership with Goodwill, which includes messaging on product care tags encouraging people to wash their clothes in cold water, line dry and donate to Goodwill. In addition, Goodwill partnered with Lorie Marrero, best-selling author of The Clutter Diet: The Skinny on Organizing Your Home and Taking Control of Your Life, to show people that cleaning out their closets and donating is one way to live simply, live green and have community impact.
Provide A Visual Cue: Goodwill drew inspiration from the iconic recycle triangle-and-arrows symbol in creating its “D” for Donate logo. Soon to appear on everyday products, it serves as a universal reminder to “recycle” through responsible donation, helping provide opportunities for others while diverting usable items from landfills.
Activate Consumers: Goodwill is encouraging donors to flaunt badges of honor for their good deeds by providing Donate flair for Facebook, Twitter and personal blogs – showing their networks that they support donating responsibly and making an impact on the community and the environment.
Issue a Rallying Cry: The campaign issued The Donate Challenge, encouraging people to visit the site, use the calculator and learn more about how to donate with purpose. The effort looks to educate and inspire people and shift their perceptions about the effects their contributions can have within local communities and on the environment.
Goodwill is already a household name for many Americans. Through its creative use of online tools and strategic partnerships, the nonprofit is sure to help re-energize support for donating and ensure it will stay a household name for generations to come.
This week, Cone is pleased to announce the formal launch of its Nonprofit Marketing discipline, with services designed to help nonprofit organizations strengthen their brands and raise funds. This is Cone’s fifth discipline; the agency also helps organizations build trusted brands through the execution of Cause Branding, Brand Marketing, Corporate Responsibility and Crisis Prevention and Management. For more information, visit www.coneinc.com/nonprofit-marketing.
Tags: bestpractices nonprofitpowerbrand100 nonprofitcausebranding corporatepartnerships campaigns newmedia
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Dawn: A New Day?
June 25, 2010 at 12:24 PM by Knowledge Leadership
After 30 years helping to rescue wildlife from oil pollution, the Dawn Saves Wildlife campaign is more relevant than ever before, amid the largest oil spill in U.S. history. The connection to the crisis is direct – it has donated thousands of bottles of its dish liquid to clean birds affected by the Gulf oil spill. So it would seem that the company has a credible opportunity about which to communicate its efforts, yet Dawn does not appear to be altering its strategy in light of the oil spill.
A few media outlets have highlighted Dawn’s support, including a placement in The New York Times and a mention on CNN. One article noted Dawn has purchased Google adwords to direct searchers to the campaign Facebook page. But, the company itself has not made substantive changes to its TV advertising messages (e.g., a Gulf-specific tag), Web site or even issued a press release in light of its continued commitment to relief efforts. In fact, the current ads were slated to run before the crisis occurred, and there’s no word whether Dawn will continue the campaign after they are scheduled to stop at the end of June.
The choice by Dawn to keep its efforts under the radar comes in stark contrast with other corporate relief efforts – Hooters has touted its donation of pantyhose to make booms that will absorb oil, and Microsoft teamed with TV host Stephen Colbert to donate money to relief efforts every time Colbert said the word “Bing” during his half-hour comedy show.
Times of crisis are bound to be sensitive, and Dawn has to be careful about how it communicates its efforts. The worst thing the company could do is appear to be leveraging the spill as an opportunity for its brand. But because Dawn Saves Wildlife is an established, credible cause effort, there may be a real opportunity for the brand to tweak its messaging (and perhaps even its charitable contributions) in light of the very real, very relevant disaster we face today.
What do you think? Voice your opinion about Dawn’s communications, and what its communication strategy should be moving forward by voting in our latest blog poll.
Tags: campaigns crisis causebranding currentevents environment
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After 30 years helping to rescue wildlife from oil pollution, the Dawn Saves Wildlife campaign is more relevant than ever before, amid the largest oil spill in U.S. history. The connection to the crisis is direct – it has donated thousands of bottles of its dish liquid to clean birds affected by the Gulf oil spill. So it would seem that the company has a credible opportunity about which to communicate its efforts, yet Dawn does not appear to be altering its strategy in light of the oil spill.
A few media outlets have highlighted Dawn’s support, including a placement in The New York Times and a mention on CNN. One article noted Dawn has purchased Google adwords to direct searchers to the campaign Facebook page. But, the company itself has not made substantive changes to its TV advertising messages (e.g., a Gulf-specific tag), Web site or even issued a press release in light of its continued commitment to relief efforts. In fact, the current ads were slated to run before the crisis occurred, and there’s no word whether Dawn will continue the campaign after they are scheduled to stop at the end of June.
The choice by Dawn to keep its efforts under the radar comes in stark contrast with other corporate relief efforts – Hooters has touted its donation of pantyhose to make booms that will absorb oil, and Microsoft teamed with TV host Stephen Colbert to donate money to relief efforts every time Colbert said the word “Bing” during his half-hour comedy show.
Times of crisis are bound to be sensitive, and Dawn has to be careful about how it communicates its efforts. The worst thing the company could do is appear to be leveraging the spill as an opportunity for its brand. But because Dawn Saves Wildlife is an established, credible cause effort, there may be a real opportunity for the brand to tweak its messaging (and perhaps even its charitable contributions) in light of the very real, very relevant disaster we face today.
What do you think? Voice your opinion about Dawn’s communications, and what its communication strategy should be moving forward by voting in our latest blog poll.
Tags: campaigns crisis causebranding currentevents environment
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FIFA World Cup Cause Buzz Falls Flat
June 18, 2010 at 2:00 PM by Knowledge Leadership
Image: BanTheVuvuzela.blogspot.com
Tags: superbowl causemarketing causebranding events trends sports global
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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: superbowl causemarketing causebranding events trends sports global
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2010 Cause Marketing Forum Recap: Engagement is Key
June 15, 2010 at 3:53 PM by Chris
Ultimately, the common thread running through all of these topics is the need to engage stakeholders in your cause branding and corporate responsibility activities. At Cone, we call this "Shared Responsibility" and feel strongly that it's where the industry needs to go.
To have the greatest social impact, companies must move beyond philanthropy and transactional cause marketing toward supporting issues that are material to business growth and allow for stakeholders to be engaged in collaborative solutions.
Margaret Morey-Reuner from Timberland (Cone client) spoke directly to this concept during the “CSR Meets CM” dinner, sharing how Timberland has actively engaged consumers through its Earthkeeper program to provide input and be "Voices of Challenge."
No one company or nonprofit can do it alone. By embracing Shared Responsibility, not only can you better identify and avoid potential legal, transparency and partner selection issues, but you can also empower stakeholders to help drive innovation and become true advocates for your efforts.
- Chris Mann, Account Director
Tags: engagement causebranding cone transparency sharedresponsibility conferences
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I had the pleasure of attending the 2010 Cause Marketing Forum Conference in Chicago this month, and as always, David Hessekiel and his team did a great job encouraging conversation on hot topics in the industry.
Many of the discussions I heard and was a part of at the conference - and afterward - have been around legal issues (Ed Chansky scared everyone in a good way), transparency (Cone's Mike Lawrence helped to simplify it for everyone) and choosing the right partners (Komen & KFC is still being talked about heavily).
Ultimately, the common thread running through all of these topics is the need to engage stakeholders in your cause branding and corporate responsibility activities. At Cone, we call this "Shared Responsibility" and feel strongly that it's where the industry needs to go.
To have the greatest social impact, companies must move beyond philanthropy and transactional cause marketing toward supporting issues that are material to business growth and allow for stakeholders to be engaged in collaborative solutions.
Margaret Morey-Reuner from Timberland (Cone client) spoke directly to this concept during the “CSR Meets CM” dinner, sharing how Timberland has actively engaged consumers through its Earthkeeper program to provide input and be "Voices of Challenge."
No one company or nonprofit can do it alone. By embracing Shared Responsibility, not only can you better identify and avoid potential legal, transparency and partner selection issues, but you can also empower stakeholders to help drive innovation and become true advocates for your efforts.
- Chris Mann, Account Director
Tags: engagement causebranding cone transparency sharedresponsibility conferences
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Marks & Spencer Stay on CR-Point with ‘Plan A’
June 11, 2010 at 1:25 PM by Knowledge Leadership
Is the sustainability message sustainable? This is the question posed for a session Cone will lead today for The Conference Board, and as many of us in this space know, the answer is an unabashed “yes.” For those still unconvinced, here are a few supporting points:
There are many telling examples that showcase how sustainability is not just holding steady, but actually gaining steam, but yesterday’s Environmental Leader highlighted a particularly compelling case. U.K.-based Marks & Spencer launched Plan A in 2007, with 100 sustainability-focused commitments to achieve in 5 years. The program has effectively weathered the economic turmoil to stay on point to meet its 2012 goal. In fact, the company has achieved 62 of its original targets and is slated to achieve all except seven by 2010 – two years ahead of its original schedule.
The company this year ALSO added 80 new or extended commitments with a goal of becoming the world’s most sustainable retailer by 2015. The icing on the sustainability cake is that not only is the company meeting or exceeding its original goals, Plan A became cost positive in 2009. This year, Plan A generated a $73 million dollar profit that was reinvested in the company. And if there's one thing that makes a corporate initiative sustainable, it's a financial return.
See Marks & Spencer’s “How We Do Business Report 2010” for complete details about its commitments, including candid stakeholder feedback about the activities – and, yes, responses from the company on how it’s addressing these concerns.
Tags: campaigns research corporateresponsibility cone economy sustainability conferences bestpractices
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1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 ... 62 << Previous Next >>Is the sustainability message sustainable? This is the question posed for a session Cone will lead today for The Conference Board, and as many of us in this space know, the answer is an unabashed “yes.” For those still unconvinced, here are a few supporting points:
- Investment in CR Steady: 86 percent of companies say investments in green products and green product development will be the same or higher in 2010 than 2009. (GreenBiz.com)
- Consumer Expectations Remain High: 85 percent said their expectations of companies to make and sell environmentally responsible products and services during the economic downturn was the same or higher. (Cone)
- Reporting on the Rise: Nearly 40 percent of firms on the Standard & Poor’s 500 index filed non-financial reports last year, a one-third jump over 2008. (Corporate Register)
- Experts Agree Sustainability Works: 88 percent of global thought leaders agree that improving sustainability performance improves overall brand image. (GlobeScan)
There are many telling examples that showcase how sustainability is not just holding steady, but actually gaining steam, but yesterday’s Environmental Leader highlighted a particularly compelling case. U.K.-based Marks & Spencer launched Plan A in 2007, with 100 sustainability-focused commitments to achieve in 5 years. The program has effectively weathered the economic turmoil to stay on point to meet its 2012 goal. In fact, the company has achieved 62 of its original targets and is slated to achieve all except seven by 2010 – two years ahead of its original schedule.
The company this year ALSO added 80 new or extended commitments with a goal of becoming the world’s most sustainable retailer by 2015. The icing on the sustainability cake is that not only is the company meeting or exceeding its original goals, Plan A became cost positive in 2009. This year, Plan A generated a $73 million dollar profit that was reinvested in the company. And if there's one thing that makes a corporate initiative sustainable, it's a financial return.
See Marks & Spencer’s “How We Do Business Report 2010” for complete details about its commitments, including candid stakeholder feedback about the activities – and, yes, responses from the company on how it’s addressing these concerns.
Tags: campaigns research corporateresponsibility cone economy sustainability conferences bestpractices
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