This Focus piece will be looking at the American Express RED campaign and cause related marketing as a whole.

RED is delving deep into the ethical space of marketing. New consumers are more values conscious and this is translating into a new focus for many companies who have their finger on the pulse and rate social responsibility as highly as any eventual sale. If the 80’s were defined by Gordon Gecko’s “Greed is good”, the early stages of the 21st century at least are being shaped by Cause Initiatives and the efforts of über-stars like Bono.

Ethical consumption has turned the concept of reward and incentive promotions from and an inward facing, personal perk to an outward gazing, socially responsible activity with serious impact. A percentage of every purchase made with the RED American Express card goes to The Global Fund, which fights AIDS in Africa. With co-founder Bono so deeply tied to the initiative, the card has become one of the hottest accessories in the UK.

The force behind the campaign is obviously the donation component - A perfect alignment between what consumers want and what American Express wants. The end value of the donation made by Amex wouldn’t be any different to the value of reward promotions on offer with their standard cards. More importantly though, it takes the act of shopping – a guilty pleasure – and plays it against support for a good cause - a guilt-relieving activity. The RED card then acts as a reminder and public advertisement of the cardholder’s generosity every time they open their wallets. It is this brilliant tug at the heart strings of the socially conscious consumer (and perhaps the fashion wannabes as well) that provides the feel-good rush every time they use the card, giving RED literally a greater share of wallet.

There are some basic guidelines for cause-related campaigns and RED has provided first hand evidence of most. Here’s a quick run down:

Emotionally rewarding:
There needs to be emotional rewards for people to take up the effort. Pretty obvious one, but without a simple mechanic for people to easily share and discuss their efforts within their own social circles, the traction is lost. Recognition in any form is rewarding.

The call to action:
Cause-related marketing is most effective with “guilty pleasures” like chocolates, designer shoes, and elaborate weekend getaways – cases where the pleasure of consumption is usually negated by the guilt. Linking these forms of retail therapy with an altruistic behaviour, like a donation, alleviates guilt and legitimises the purchase. Some would argue that a call to action offering a feel good glow of doing something responsible makes the very act of consumption tied to it even more pleasurable.

Choosing the Charity
Its probably a good idea to find out a little about your customers and what they’re concerned about before going full steam ahead with Making Poverty History. I would like to point out here that if you’re a company exploiting a labour pool from a developing country, you can’t right your wrongs by buying thousands of white bands. Unfortunately, the public are a little too clever for those types of antics and the backlash would be astronomical when it gets out on the blahasphere, and it will!

Some things to consider:
- The kind of exposure from the charity.
- Sponsorship from other companies. Who’s doing what?
- Some charities need support but are least able to pay for marketing.

The Dollars?
If you’re supporting a cause, don’t try and compensate for the donation by jacking up the prices of your products. One way to control costs maybe to limit the length of time the campaign runs. The per-item donation should be essentially determined by your customers. Just remember that donating $0.10 cents on every purchase is not the same as donating 1% on a $10.00 item.

Turn it Viral
Making a cause related campaign viral provides a compelling offer. Cause-related messages have a distinct advantage over regular brand messages in that they are intrinsically viral. Consumers are participating in something that is socially responsible and sharing this information with their peers provides recognition and justification far beyond a white band.

Checklist for Cause-Related Viral Programs
- Tie every consumer action to a cause-related action (e.g. donate $1 for every purchase)
- Test different donation amounts and ways of framing the offer
- Use your messaging to give participants a “warm glow”
- Ask everyone to share your call-to-action with an in-process “tell your friends” prompt
- Make recipients accountable to their friends
- Positive recognition for participation