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Because
Marketing
As a owner or
top level manager you need to be aware that there are many areas
your company or business must address that combine to form the
elements necessary for a successful enterprise. Needless to say
the foundation for success must be based on the company's
commitment to a unique, highly consumable, and "service to
mankind" orientated product or range of products. Of nearly
equal importance however, is the Mission Statement that forms
the "Soul" of the company. It is that intangible belief system
and philanthropic commitment that makes a company different from
the host of others trying to play in the same ballpark. Rarely
can the mission statement of a company be based on financial
rewards alone and still successfully bond with the customer. As
soon as the next "better deal" comes along, customers are lured
toward the promise of saving money.
No, part of your
marketing must be cause driven. I call it, "Because Marketing." People Love a Cause. Part of our human character wants to do
something meaningful with our lives. We want to make a
difference and a contribution that will make this world a better
place for our families, our friends and all people. This is one
of the things that separate humankind from the animal kingdom. Whether we acknowledge it our not, most of us feel that we are
to some extent "our brothers keeper". We know that there are
those that need our help but may feel helpless to do anything
about it.
It was four decades
ago when Bob Dylan first sang those now famous words, "The
times, they are a changin'." and the times are still a changin'
— faster and more furious than ever. It appears, though, that
the change is for the better.
A revolution has
started from, of all places, Corporate America. In the most
amazing conversion since Ebenezer Scrooge, business is rising to
the challenge of social relevance. This move toward corporate
global responsibility was made manifest by Ted Turner's
"no-strings-attached" gift of one-billion dollars to the United
Nations. And it wasn't only altruism — the media mogul's gift
was an exercise in what marketing analysts are calling,
"philanthropic economics." As Turner himself said it, "you must
learn how to give, just the same as you learned how to sell your
product." He went on to say that just giving people money
normally does not solve the problems you are trying to solve. Often it increases a bad situation. Teaching people how to solve
their own problems is much more effective in the long run. Whether you personally teach them or provide the funds for
others to teach, the results are generally the same. People
learn then work to better their plight in life. What they needed
was a hand up, not a hand out.
Informed investors
and marketers are finding that kindness and goodness sells. More
and more, advertising agencies and public relations firms are
impressing on their clients that consumers just feel better
about buying from a company with a heart.
What's behind this
phenomenon? There are a number of reasons for it, but the most
basic is a matter of human survival. No matter what our
socio-political persuasions are, you have to been asleep not to
notice that our earth is endangered, people are suffering with
illness and strife. Being seen as one who is doing something to
solve these problems will quite often make a difference in how
the consume perceives the products or services being
represented.
Over the years,
society has pretty well left such challenges to churches,
non-profit organizations and government agencies. In other
words, the bucks to battle the badness plaguing this planet came
from bake sales and car washes. Well, that's changing. Business
is stepping in to help shoulder the load. To be sure, their
motivation isn't always purely altruistic. Today's consumer is
wide awake to what's wrong in the world, and they are more
inclined to seek solutions. More socially and global conscious,
they tend to avoid companies whom they see as willing to
sacrifice the future of humanity on the altar of greed.
Examples of
companies that have turned their cause into cash are becoming
nearly endless. Ben and Jerry's — Founded by Ben Cohen and Jerry
Greenfield and located in Waterbury Vermont, this company built
an $80-million business helping local dairymen by buying milk
and cream locally. To meet their sense of social responsibility,
they set up the Ben and Jerry Foundation which gives 7.5 percent
of pretax profits to nonprofit organizations.
The Body Shop — An
$800-million cosmetics company founded by Anita Roddick, The
Body Shop has earned a loyal clientele using recyclable
packages, refusing to sell products tested on animals and buying
materials from underdeveloped areas to improve their standard of
living.
But money isn’t
always the most persuasive or functional form of helping. Take
for example Bob Barker the 30 year host of "The Price is Right,"
television show. At the end of every show he never failed to
sign off by saying, "Don’t forget to have your dog or cat spayed
or neutered." Over the years, that simple little gesture
probably prevented more pet over population that his donating
all of his acquired millions of dollars. He got the message out
to millions of people who love him and listened to his message.
It could be no more
complicated than that for you and your business. Perhaps a
simple message printed on the bottom of an invoice. A slogan on
an envelope, a word or phrase on your website. It’s not always
money that carries the day, too often it is the messenger.
So Guess Who's
Leading the Way? It shouldn't surprise you to find entrepreneurs
on the cutting edge of this economic revolution. Entrepreneurs
are, after all, defined as "enlightened capitalists". The
entrepreneurial mind is creative and resourceful. Of necessity,
they must continually look for ways to improve their products,
packaging and presentations. Cause driven to begin with, it's
only natural that an entrepreneurial organization would
incorporate the concept of philanthropic economics into their
business mission.
The most prominent
of all cause driven entrepreneurial entities would have to be
Multi-Level Marketing. In the same way that franchising has
moved from the fringes of free enterprise into the mainstream of
commerce, MLM is capturing the hearts and minds of enlightened
capitalists around the world. In fact, it may be that the reason
for the rapid rise in Multi-Level is that the very soul of MLM
is tied to a cause. It is a belief system that makes Multi-Level
Marketing companies different from the traditional direct
selling organization.
Multi-Level leaders
have found that money and material gain are simply not enough to
bond distributor and company. If money were all that mattered to
the distributor, they could be easily enticed by every new money
deal that comes along. Their own lives impacted by that
company's health product, so they want to share the good news
with the world.
An important "moral"
from this might be the following: Your company should consider
associating with social conscience and a cause. These kinds of
companies are proven to have more staying power in the
marketplace. The bottom line is, people like to do business with
companies that do well by doing good. |
