Opinion
Assertions
4/27/09:
BMO’s
Power of Blue platform put us in mind of a
similar program launched in the summer of ’07. In October of that year, this column cited
WaMu Live! and its offer to provide retail banking customers with
VIP treatment at entertainment venues across the U.S. as an example of “
sponsorship done right, in that it directly improves the consumer experience and delivers meaningful benefits that competitors can’t match.” We still believe that, but little did we know that less than a year later the
enlightened sponsor
Washington Mutual–who spent in the mid seven figures on the five primary sponsorships that provided the foundation for WaMu Live! at its start–would be
gone, swallowed up by
JPMorgan Chase in the wake of the largest bank failure in U.S. history. Now it appears that Chase, also a longtime savvy sponsor,
does not intend to continue the rewards program. WaMuLive.com has been
shut down and Chase has already informed at least one venue, the
Hollywood Bowl, that it will not be a sponsor for the ’09 season, which was to have been the third year of a three-year contract signed by WaMu. While we respect Chase’s need to focus its spending during this horrendous time to be in the banking business, it is a
shame that this program is
falling by the wayside. With
Congress still
scrutinizing financial services companies’ sponsorship activity–
Bank of America sponsorship chief
Ray Bednar was called to a meeting with members of the North Carolina delegation this past week to explain the company’s strategy–WaMu Live! provided an
example of a sponsorship that
wasn’t about well-heeled hospitality. It simply delivered perks to
ordinary consumers who could certainly use them these days, and more importantly, aided the sponsor’s
bottom line by increasing
loyalty measures and helping to
retain customers.
Privately held home furnishings retailer
Crate & Barrel, which does very little in the way of marketing beyond direct mail, reports
positive results from its involvement with
DonorsChoose.org. The nonprofit allows consumers to go online and direct donations to
individual classroom projects posted by teachers whose public schools
lack funding for basic equipment, new books, etc. According to Ethical Corporation magazine, DonorsChoose received a $1.6 million social innovation award from Amazon.com and the Stanford Graduate School of Business in ’06. Because using the money to fund projects directly would not have fulfilled its mission to “
engage citizens,” the nonprofit considered converting it into
vouchers that
individuals could use to fund projects they selected. However, DonorsChoose did not have a
distribution system to get vouchers into the hands of new citizen philanthropists, as it calls its supporters. That’s where Crate & Barrel stepped in. The retailer agreed to
print 20,000 vouchers in amounts from $25 to $100 and distribute them to select customers as a thank you for their business. In
tracking those customers who received and redeemed the vouchers, Crate & Barrel found that
three-quarters of those who redeemed vouchers described the chain as “
community-minded,” while just
21 percent of shoppers who did not receive vouchers said the same. Six months after they were involved in the program, those who used their vouchers had spent
16 percent more on additional purchases than those without vouchers. Even those who received vouchers but didn’t redeem them spent
five percent more than returning shoppers who weren’t part of the program.
Jim Andrews