Case in point, consumers respond better to brands that participate in causes they care about. Participation, both in social networking and external causes, meets our basic human needs: To find significance and recognition. What cause can we align with for a marketing relationship in order to gain positive brand value and competitive advantage? Is that serving the brand, marketing, consumers, our society? . Instead, I propose marketers trace their efforts back to those basic human needs and start trying to meet them. Martin. . The amount of each? MORE >>

The Good, The Bad and The Ugly of Cause Marketing. The above presentation was delivered to the Cause Marketing Forum last Tuesday, February 14. It focused on lessons learned integrating social media into cause marketing campaigns, and how the influx of conversations requires a new level of authenticity from causes and nonprofits. In addition to the questionable creative, numerous tactical errors were made making Groupon’s 2011 Super Bowl ads one of the worst cause marketing campaigns ever. The Good: Small Business Saturday. MORE >>

I’ve read the many posts on the Komen/KFC cause marketing partnership , most of them bashing KFC for cause washing. The logic is that eating fried chicken causes weight gain, a pre-condition of breast cancer. Yet when causes choose a brand partner that hurts their mission, they rarely take ownership of their poor strategic management. wrote a long post on the topic a year ago, Brutal Truths About Cause Marketing when “social media for social good&# was the meme of the day. It tarnishes the Komen brand and causes more harm than good. MORE >>

Zoetica teamed with Network for Good to co-author Cause Marketing through Social Media, a free eGuide ( you can download it here ). Companies deploy matching grant contests that ask participants to rally the most donations for their favorite causes. As the CSR movement evolves, companies will continue to leverage cause marketing initiatives to meet new, triple bottom line demands and create a halo effect for brands. Cause Marketing is at its best when all the pieces – relevant cause, strong marketing proposition, and compelling call to action – come together. MORE >>

In a brilliant moment of guerilla cause marketing, GMC gave road warrior and homeless advocate Mark Horvath a brand new Terrain today at SOBCon. Adrants publisher Steve Hall was at SOBcon and had this to say about the marketing moment, “We all cringe when a brand gets in front of a crowd at a conference even though we know it’s the brand’s money that helps make the even possible. GMC handled it well and offered support for a good cause. The cause — InvisiblePeople — is a natural tie for GMC. think it was very nicely handled.&#. MORE >>