Is the law coming after cause marketers?

CAUSE MARKETING TODAY

October 2011

Greetings!

Twelve years ago, 16 state attorneys general issued a report proposing cause-related marketing legal guidelines. Since then the AGs have uttered barely a peep on the topic.

Last week, New York Attorney General Eric Schneiderman broke the silence. His office announced a review of companies that had fielded campaigns claiming to link product sales to donations to breast cancer charities.

The AG's office made no allegations that it had identified fraudulent "pink" cause marketing campaigns. It said the inquiry was designed to protect the interests of consumers and charities. We'll keep you informed.

While breast cancer may be the cause of the month, new research from the 2011 Cone/Echo Global CR Study reveals a different cause celebre. Economic development was the top cause companies should support according to 34% percent of consumers in ten key international markets and 43% of US respondents.

Perfectly timed with the results of that study is a major new campaign by Starbucks and the Opportunity Finance Network (OFN). Launching November 1, Create Jobs for USA encourages people to make donations that OFN will manage to support community businesses in underserved markets via affordable loans.

Consumers making a minimum $5 donation online or in stores will receive a patriotic-looking bracelet featuring the word "Indivisible". The Starbucks Foundation will kick things off with a $5 million donation to OFN.

To help you stay up to date with this and other campaigns hitting the market, CMF has created an exciting new free service: Cause Update. Sign up and we'lll deliver short reviews of the latest initiatives directly to your inbox (or RSS reader).

David Hessekiel

President

Cause Marketing Forum

PS -- If you're launching a campaign, let us know at info@causemarketingforum.com so we can spread the word!

November Webinar:

Cause Marketing and Facebook

1:30 - 2:30 pm ET on Oct. 20

Based on a CMF whitepaper to be released November 3, this webinar shares key findings and provides an opportunity to hear directly from several pioneers of cause marketing on Facebook.

Join us to learn about:

The tremendous potential - and big challenges - Facebook presents cause marketers
Creative engagement strategies that encourage sharing
Facebook's evolution and where it's headed
The critical need for clear, measurable objectives and how to set them
What it takes to craft a successful partnership on Facebook
Must-have communication tools for success

Free to CMF Members, $99 Non-Members

Registration includes a free copy of the white paper

Register Now

Speaker Profiles

Megan Strand is the director of communications for the Cause Marketing Forum and the whitepaper's primary author and researcher.

Margaret Morey-Reuner is the senior manager for values marketing at Timberland and has led the company's Timberland's virtual forest Facebook campaigns.

Carie Lewis: As Director of Emerging Media at The Humane Society of the United States, Carie is the lead social media and mobile strategist for the nation's largest and most powerful animal welfare organization. .