Cause Marketing: Brand Positioning 2019

//Cause Marketing: Brand Positioning 2019

Cause Marketing: Brand Positioning 2019

As we head into 2019 many companies will be reassessing their marketing strategy. For me this is great because people actually start listening to what I spend the rest of the year saying anyway. However, I wanted to take a break from telling you to run Facebook ads, investigate Instagram stories or cultivate relationships on LinkedIn. Because whilst marketing is great you need to know what you’re marketing, aka what is your brand? Who are you as accompany? Getting in front of the right audience effectively and efficiently is one side of the coin, the other is resonating with that audience once they discover you. In this article we will look at one of the most effective ways to do that in a 2019 world – cause-marketing.

No one chariots a good cause like millennials. Well, actually there’s some competition for the most cause-driven generation now as Gen Z step into the frame. Turns out there’s enough of us now for us to be a thing, I’ve been mislabelling myself a millennial all this time. Now I don’t care much for the “millennials are this” and “Gen Z are that” statements, after all younger millennials and older Gen Z have more in common with each other than their own generations but the line has to be drawn somewhere (apparently).  But it is important because for years we have tried to answer the question of how to market to millennials and now we might have cracked the code they’re not the trend setters anymore.

If anything the younger generation are even more vocal as trend setters as they are the most native to today’s social sharing platform. As uncool as it is, parents want to be trendy so if their teen son or daughter thinks it’s cool the parents will inevitably jump on the bandwagon eventually. Think about it. Remember when Facebook was just for school kids or Instagram back before it was littered with cougar selfies? As marketers Gen Z are gold dust because if they think you’re cool the Gen X and millennials are often soon to follow. They will champion you so much that the millennials and Gen X won’t be able to avoid you, such is the nature of a social media first world.

So what makes Gen Z tick? The short answer (ironic given the 3 paragraph set up) is a good cause. Young and idealistic they just want to make the world a better place. Reduce plastic waste. Remove palm oil from products. Equality. And so on.

If you support a good cause, the most influential generation will have your back. Unless you’re being inauthentic then they’ll tear you apart without thinking twice, and don’t think you can fool us our BS sensors are on point. Take for example, the frozen food store Iceland. Remember the “that’s why mums go to Iceland” ads with Peter Andre and Kerry Katona? Now compare them to the publicity received in the last few months from their reducing deforestation by removing palm oil from their products campaign. The difference is staggering, especially when you consider that they never actually got to publish their TV ad at the time of writing this. When they stopped saying “hey mums, we’re the store for you” and started saying “this is what we care about” there was a monumental shift – a rally of support fronted by the 16 -22 year old demographic had them appearing in the twitter and Facebook feeds of people all ages.

This is just one example of cause marketing in 2018 but seeing companies figuring out that Gen Z are the most influential generation in an online environment and that what they care about is a good cause is, at least in my mind, a highlight of the year from a marketers perspective. The question is how are you going to use this knowledge in 2019? What cause do you authentically champion as a company?

Now, don’t get this confused. Don’t leverage a good cause as a marketing gimmick. I take a lot of issue with that. But to go back to the Iceland example there is a distinct sincerity behind their message. They’re not saying “we should stop deforestation” and stopping at that. They go further, they explain the causes of deforestation in the use of palm oil and the consequences of the deforestation focusing on the death of orangutans. But above all they accept their responsibility in using palm oil in their products and are actually taking action with the aim to have no palm oil in any own brand product. The sole focus is on the cause not, “deforestation is bad, now look at us” or “we should get rid of palm oil, which combined with our great prices and high quality food is why we are so amazing”. Simply “this is an issue, this is why it’s an issue. This is what causes it and this what we are doing to help stop it.”

Hopefully I have stressed enough the importance of authenticity and being sincere in your support of the cause, whatever it may be. If you try hijacking a cause and exploiting it for sales or awareness then you are [insert expletives] and you will be found out. The benefits of authentically championing a cause are minute, compared to the backlash you will receive if and when you are found out for being unauthentic and championing a cause from as calculated marketing move.

But, don’t let this scare you off. If you sincerely care for a cause let it be known. When you sell to someone they resist but when you connect with someone then they want you to sell to them. If you have a car garage and you care for the environment thus offer special bonuses for electric car owners, then electric car owners will come to you. Not because of the special treatment, (almost) everyone has unique selling points, but because they align with your missions and beliefs for taking better care of the environment. (Ps. I know nothing about cars or the environment, it’s just an example please don’t attack me if it’s factually inaccurate).

When you share a cause with someone they want to know you (either personally or as company) better and that alignment often carries more weight than your competitors promotional offer or USPs because when they buy from you that’s says something about them, who they are and what they stand for.

By |2019-04-12T09:17:29+01:00February 26th, 2019|Uncategorised|0 Comments

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