Product Description

The only guide to understanding and making the most of one of the hottest trends in branding today

Nothing builds brand loyalty among today's increasingly skeptical, hard-to-please consumers like a proven commitment to a worthy cause on the part of a company. Known as Cause Related Marketing (CRM), this approach to branding has gained a great deal of momentum over the past decade, thanks, in no small part, to such recent, notable examples as McDonald's commitment to saving the rain forests and BMW's breast cancer fund-raising initiatives. Now, in the first book to explore the business benefits of CRM and its positive and negative impacts on business strategy, two experts explain the concept and fundamental principles of CRM and its place within the contemporary discourse on branding. And, with the help of numerous, fascinating, and instructive case studies, they demonstrate how marketers can harness the power of CRM to position and enhance customer loyalty to a brand, product, or service.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #724829 in Books
• Published on: 1999-06-09
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Hardcover
• 306 pages

Amazon.com
Cause Related Marketing, or CRM, is an increasingly popular corporate practice that seeks to tie a company or brand to a charitable effort. Think promotions promising a percentage of sales to specific nonprofits, or advertising touting particular philanthropic programs in addition to products or services, and you get the idea. At its best, CRM aids charities (raising awareness as well as cash), businesses (associating them with authentic social benefits), and consumers (providing ways to acquire products or services while simultaneously making charitable contributions). At its worst, the process rings hollow and may actually serve to hurt the companies involved. Hamish Pringle, former vice chairman of marketing for Saatchi & Saatchi, and Marjorie Thompson, current director of the company's Cause Connection, believe any firm that's sincere can use CRM.

In Brand Spirit, they explain the way a number of such campaigns--including the American Express Charge Against Hunger, Avon's Breast Cancer Awareness Crusade, and Reebok's Human Rights Now! Tour--were developed to assist relevant programs as well as enhance corporate image. Pringle and Thompson show through these and other detailed case studies how mutually beneficial programs are devised and deployed, and what they can achieve. "Commercial enterprises will continue to see real benefits in helping ensure a harmonious balance between the stronger and weaker in society," they write, "and in structuring themselves to deliver the optimum blend of self-interested altruism to their communities." Their subsequent proposal is a solid blueprint for companies of all types and sizes that wish to demonstrate actively a genuine commitment to the concept of corporate social responsibility. --Howard Rothman.

Book Info
Outlines what Cause Related Marketing (CRM) is, how it works, and how it can be used as an effective marketing tool for brands. Explains CRMs place in the context of branding as a whole, drawing on relevant case histories, the author's own experience to demonstrate how a marketer can harness the power of CRM. Softcover.

From the Inside Flap
Cause Related Marketing (CRM) can be defined as a strategic positioning tool which links a company or brand to a relevant charity or cause in a partnership for mutual benefit. CRM can enhance corporate reputation, raise brand awareness, increase customer loyalty, build sales, create press coverage and more. In an environment of intense competition the consumer requirements of companies and their brands are going beyond the practical issues of product performance and the more emotional aspects of brand personality and image. People are asking questions about the role of commercial organizations in society and are looking for demonstrations of good corporate citizenship. These developments have profound implications for our thinking about brands and branding. In order to remain competitive, marketers will have to find ways of adding new sorts of value to their brands to satisfy the emerging consumer demand for 'higher order' image attributes. Whilst some companies and brands have strong 'belief systems' which fulfil this need, many do not. For the majority, a CRM programme represents the quickest and most cost-effective way to acquire the necessary 'credo' to enhance brand position, as long as it's done with integrity and real commitment. This book explains the concept of CRM and its place within the context of current thinking on branding. Drawing on the authors' long experience in the advertising and charity industries and illustrating its concepts with relevant case histories, Brand Spirit demonstrates how a marketer can harness the power of CRM for a product, service or corporate brand.

Customer Reviews

Good book
Nutshell review - A really good book introducing the reader to cause related marketing. Well written, understandable, easy to learn from and apply.

Good Stuff!
In the age of huge, impersonal corporations, it's great to see that businesses can actually thrive by giving something back to the communities they serve. I can't think of a better way to build a brand, and loyalty for that brand, than through Cause Related Marketing.

This is must reading for anyone who runs a business!

Doing Well by Doing Good
This book is an eye-opener! Pringle and Thompson have given us a how-to manual on the art and science of cause related marketing. Solidly researched and documented, engagingly written, and replete with case studies from both sides of the Atlantic, Brand Spirit makes a convincing case for the efficacy and the ethics of doing well by doing good. No serious marketing practitioner can afford to remain uninformed about the cogent argument the book advances.

Koil Rowland, founder and retired CEO

Koil Rowland & Associates Jefferson City, Missouri, USA