More than ever, the buzzword “cause marketing” is popping up in our everyday conversations. Thanks to the rising importance of corporate social responsibility with today’s consumer, companies are taking a hard look at the causes that resonate with their customer and ways to incorporate these causes into marketing and sales strategy.  

While we’ve probably all heard the words cause marketing, there might be confusion on the actual definition. Cause marketing is defined as a type of corporate responsibility in which a company’s promotional campaign has the dual purpose of increasing profitability while bettering society. Causemarketing.com defines cause marketing simply as “doing well by doing good.”

A recognizable cause marketing campaign is the TOMS “one-for-one concept” where the company promises to give one pair of shoes to a child in need for every pair of TOMS shoes purchased at retail. The model allows for TOMS to both give back to less fortunate children while generating profit, maintaining an upstanding business reputation and generating positive public relations.

A cause-related marketing program differs from an anonymous or low-key donation to a nonprofit. A cause marketing program is one that lets the public know that this company is socially responsible and interested in the same causes as its customers. An added value of a cause marketing campaign is that the marketing and public relations efforts come from both the charity and the company’s marketing teams. This is the key to the authenticity of the messaging and mission.

Today’s shopper has the desire to make the world a better place by supporting important causes. Findings have shown that when a shopper is presented with two products of equal value, they tend to make a purchase decision based on the product dedicated to a cause or making a difference. Shoppers are recognizing and responding to these causes by voting with their wallets. In our parents’ and grandparents’ day, they would write a check to the charity of their choice, but in today’s fast-paced society, shoppers are looking for ways to give back through their actions and their purchase in particular.

According to an article in the Harvard Business Review, brands are recognizing that CSR is necessary. These brands are increasingly using social purpose to guide marketing communications, inform product innovation and are steering investments toward social cause programs.

If your business or brand doesn’t stand for a cause, you run the risk of customers turning to your competitors and even losing valuable employees to a company with a strong CSR. According to a Cone Cause Evolution Survey, the number of consumers who say they would switch from one brand to another if the other brand were associated with a good cause has climbed to 87 percent, a dramatic increase in recent years.

In this new era, customers and even your own employees want to know how your business model is making our world a better place.

If developing a campaign to “ending world hunger” seems like a tall bill for your team striving to hit sales goals, starting or participating in an existing cause marketing campaign can be the first step of an attainable goal to crafting your CSR plan.

At Produce for Kids, all of our promotional campaigns fall under the cause marketing umbrella and are based on the model of boosting sales while doing good. Founded on the idea that like-minded produce brands could come together to give back and generate sales for the industry as a whole, there will never be a Produce for Kids promotion executed that does not give back.

On a retail level, Produce for Kids works with grocers across the country to first understand their customer and what causes are important in their market area. With this knowledge as the framework, the Produce for Kids team then builds a cause marketing campaign that incorporates like-minded brands around the chosen charity. Feeding America is a viable “cause” option for many retailers as the Feeding America network is comprised of 200 food banks and 60,000 food pantries across the United States. Many grocers are vested in helping to feed their local communities so raising funds that stay local and go direct to the food banks makes sense.

With the wave in digital activity amongst consumers, Produce for Kids has added online promotional campaigns that give meals to those in need through Feeding America. One of these campaigns is the Power Your Lunchbox program, which has provided 1.2 million meals to families in need since 2013. The program provides an extensive marketing support of lunchbox friendly partner products during the back to school timeframe while also giving meals back to those in need.

Whether your organization is developing its own cause marketing initiatives or embracing an existing cause marketing promotion, it’s clear we are living in a unique time in the world where we are able to improve the world around us while improving our bottom line.

In simpler words, we can “do well, by doing good.

(Amanda Keefer is the director of marketing communictions for Produce for Kids)