The Difficulty of Cause Marketing in the Age of Social Media
Posted: 6/30/2010 10:12:03 AM by
Jim Andrews | with 0 comments
At this point in the Facebook, Twitter and all other social networks era, I doubt there is any company—large or small—that has not found itself the subject of some online discussion that calls into question its behavior, motives, principles, etc.
The question facing businesses in that situation is whether and how to respond. When the criticism comes from consumers and customers, the prevailing wisdom is that companies cannot afford to ignore the conversation, especially when it is happening in their own social media channels.
That is why I’m surprised the typically astute General Mills has not responded to online chatter about the current cause marketing promotion being run by its Nature Valley brand to benefit the National Parks Conservation Assn.
The program follows the tried-and-true blueprint established by sibling brand Yoplait in its wildly successful and long-running Save Lids to Save Lives campaign for Susan G. Komen for the Cure. This includes minimum and maximum guarantees and the participatory element of consumers mailing in product packaging to trigger the donation.
Online commentary on both Nature Valley’s Facebook page and Reddit has raised a natural question about the program: Why does Nature Valley require the mail-in component instead of just automatically donating 10 cents for each granola bar purchased? Some online denizens are especially outraged because of the environmental nature of the cause, saying a program to benefit the NPCA should be as green as possible and should not require using fuel and other resources involved in mailing millions of wrappers. (General Mills does say it will recycle all wrappers redeemed.)
The answers to the question have come from other consumers, with the general consensus being that the requirement to send in wrappers is a way for General Mills to discourage people from participating so that it can limit the amount of its contribution.
As we know from the Yoplait example, quite the opposite is true. General Mills has discovered that the participatory element is precisely what drives excitement and interest in the program and raises the amount donated.
So why is the company not giving that simple and direct explanation to its consumers who are asking?
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Filed under: cause marketing, green, social media, backlash