cause-related marketing

The economic downturn is hitting the pet industry, too. To compete in a crowded and shrinking market, Mars' dog food brand Pedigree will buy its first-ever Super Bowl ads. But, rather than directly advertising their dog food, Pedigree will promote dog adoptions. Pedigree executives are convinced that "the cause-marketing approach is the way to go." Branding executive Eli Portnoy agreed: "You can't trust your investment banker, you can't trust the government. But you can trust your dog." Pedigree marketing executive John Anton said, "More dogs are going to end up in shelters because of home foreclosures. ... Every time we run this campaign, we see increased sales." The cause-related angle has the added benefit of not reminding football enthusiasts of last year's pet food recalls. Pedigree, in particular, "voluntarily recalled dry dog food" as recently as this summer, "due to possible contamination with salmonella." The Pedigree ad will be designed by Omnicom ad firm TBWA/Chiat/Day.

Consumer Reports WebWatch's Beau Brendler is questioning SaveTheFrog.com, a new Web site by the Discovery Channel's Animal Planet and the Clorox bleach company. The site purports to educate people about environmental concerns related to the planetwide disappearance of frogs. As Brendler points out, however, "What the Web site doesn't detail is the Clorox company's environmental record over the last couple of decades. It has been less than stellar." Brendler also points out that the domain for SaveTheFrog.com is registered to Fleishman-Hillard, one of the world's largest PR firms. "We know Clorox is trying to position itself as a 'health and wellness' brand, and that their new green image campaign prompted the Sierra Club's Florida chapter to complain about a deal the parent organization did with Clorox," he writes. "Corporations do this kind of thing. But what's a little troubling is the way Animal Planet, part of an organization that's a well-known and respected producer and broadcaster of documentary films on, among other subjects, the environment, has treated the Clorox frog site. Animal Planet's site can't seem to make up its mind whether SaveTheFrogs.com is an advertisement or editorial content."

On December 2 and 3 in San Francisco, "international business representatives will discuss their use of water." The $1900 conference -- titled "Corporate Water Footprinting" -- gives major corporations an opportunity to "announce their new efforts to promote 'water neutrality,' the claim that they can return to local aquifers every drop of water taken for business." Speakers at the conference include executives from Coca-Cola, PepsiCo, MillerCoors and GE. Coca-Cola has already announced plans to become "the most efficient company in the world in terms of water use in the beverage industry," and eventually "water neutral." Yet some scientists question the very concept of water "neutrality." Jeff Conant of Food and Water Watch argues that the phrase is hypocritical marketing. "Multinational corporations like Coke and Nestle would like us to think that they are doing their best to protect our water," he writes, but "these corporations produce non-essential sugary products with the single-minded goal of generating profit. ... Currently, 12 percent of the world's population uses 85 percent of its water," and "lack of clean drinking water leads to nearly 250 million cases of water-related disease each year and between 5 and 10 million deaths." In related news, Canadian environmental groups have filed a complaint against Nestle, saying the company's ads calling bottled water "the most environmentally responsible consumer product," among other "eco-friendly" claims, are misleading.

The Edelman PR firm recently conducted a survey to find out what keeps consumers loyal to a name brand in challenging economic times. They found that "the trick is to forge a 'double-value' for a product by developing a tie-in to a social cause." Cause-related marketing can be a powerful marketing technique. The environment, health, poverty and education were the top causes likely to inspire consumer loyalty. Companies offering what seems to be an added benefit to purchases are appealing to the emotions of the consumer. According to the survey, "only a quarter of consumers gain contentment while shopping. More than four-in-ten (42 percent) say helping others brings a sense of contentment." Unfortunately, it is often impossible for consumers to judge the actual impact that cause-related marketing creates since the amount donated or where it specifically goes is rarely disclosed.

As the Center for Media and Democracy reported previously, the Sierra Club / Clorox deal -- where Clorox uses the Big Green environmental group's name and logo to sell its "Green Works" line of cleaning products, in exchange for Clorox paying Sierra Club "an (undisclosed) percentage of sales" -- is quite controversial. But it's brought in the green for Clorox. Advertising Age reports that "Green Works sales are estimated at $20 million, the product has gotten exposure on 'The Oprah Winfrey Show' and 'The Ellen DeGeneres Show,' and Clorox has raised its volume forecast five times." Meanwhile, the Sierra Club has been slammed by members and non-members alike. Green Works "brand manager" Mark Kohler dismisses the criticism as "misinformation." Kohler says the negative press has been "frustrating" for Clorox, and AdAge advises marketers to "carefully review both sides of a relationship" before launching a corporate / non-profit partnership. But Clorox appears to be profiting handsomely, while four Sierra Club chapters actively opposed the deal, which -- according to some accounts -- was a factor in the Sierra Club's suspension of its Florida chapter.

You've heard the term "greenwashing." It refers to corporations that try to appear "green" without reducing their negative impact on the environment.

Since 2002, the group Breast Cancer Action has promoted its "Think Before You Pink" campaign. It's fighting "pinkwashing," which is when corporations try to boost sales by associating their products with the fight against breast cancer. Pinkwashing is a form of slacktivism -- a campaign that makes people feel like they're helping solve a problem, while they're actually doing more to boost corporate profits. Pinkwashing has been around for a while, but is now reaching almost unbelievable levels.

Can you green a Hummer?Discovery Communications is spending $100 million to re-make its home television network into "Planet Green," the first television channel devoted entirely to environmentally-themed programming. Programs will feature "green" Hollywood stars like Leonardo DiCaprio, rocker Tommy Lee and rapper Ludacris, and will show viewers how to remodel their homes and cook using environmentally-friendly methods and materials. But the "exclusive automobile sponsor" of the new "green" channel is General Motors, which makes gas-guzzling Hummer SUVs. Even with gas at $4 a gallon and Hummer's 32-gallon gas tank costing $128 to fill, GM still plans to roll out the largest Hummer yet this fall. The H3T is 22 inches longer than the H3, and has a four-door cab and an open truck bed. Thanks to plummeting Hummer sales and maybe also the obvious clash with its desire to be considered "green," GM is considering selling off the brand.

Recently while browsing the Web I came across UrbanDictionary.com, which is sort of a wiki of contemporary slang. I found some of the newer words listed there amusing, like "hobosexual" (the opposite of metrosexual; someone who cares little about their looks), "consumerican," ("a particularly American brand of consumerism"), and "wikidemia" ("an academic work passed off as scholarly yet researched entirely on Wikipedia").

Then I came across a word that put me into a more thoughtful zone: "slacktivism."

"Slacktivism" (alternative spelling "slactivism") is a fusion of the words "slacker" and "activism," and UrbanDicationary.com defines it as "the act of participating in obviously pointless activities as an expedient alternative to actually expending effort to fix a problem." It refers to ersatz acts that people perform that they have somehow come to believe are full of meaning, like slapping a magnetic ribbon on your car to "support the troops," wearing a colored rubber wristband to "fight cancer," or refusing to buy gasoline on a certain day to protest high gas prices, instead of, say, actually changing your lifestyle to use less gas.

"The catastrophic earthquake that rocked China's Sichuan province has changed the entire tenor of the coming Olympics" -- and the shift is good for beleaguered Olympics sponsors. "Marketers such as Coca-Cola, McDonald's and Samsung have had their Olympic efforts to date tarred by protesters" concerned with China's poor human rights record, especially in Tibet, and its support of the Sudanese government. But those issues have been overshadowed by the Sichuan earthquake, which killed more than 55,000 people. "Many of the top Olympic sponsors have been among the most generous and aggressive in responding to the Sichuan crisis," according to Advertising Age. "Coca-Cola donated more than $3 million and gave more than 5.7 million bottles of water. McDonald's served 17,000 meals daily to earthquake victims, relief workers" and others. Public relations consultant David Wolf explained that China is "a big market, and companies, if you want to look at it cynically, want to be seen as making a contribution. But many of the people ... are genuinely shocked by the images coming out of Sichuan and want to do everything they can."

In early April, the global oil company Chevron announced that it has entered into a five-year deal with the foundation created by the professional golfer, Tiger Woods. Woods proclaimed that "Chevron has a track record and a commitment to bettering the communities where they operate." Chevron's record, such as its partnership with the Burmese military dictatorship on the Yandana gas pipeline is "certainly nothing with which Woods should want his name attached," writes Dave Zirin in The Nation. Asked about Chevron's record, the president of the Tiger Woods Foundation, Greg McLaughlin, stated that its partners share its mission to help young people. "President McLaughlin should think more seriously about what Chevron is and what they do: they pollute, they destroy, they conspire with dictators, and heaven help anyone who gets in their way. Now they want to burnish their 'brand' by partnering with Tiger Woods," Zirin concluded.