CAUSE MARKETING TODAY 

June 2016     


It was so invigorating to see so many of you just a few weeks ago in Chicago for the annual Cause Marketing Forum conference. With over 500 attendees, it was our biggest conference yet!

One of this year's most popular keynote speakers was Partnership for Healthier America's Ryan Shadrick Wilson who shared their quest to turn fruits and vegetables into a "big brand" in an attempt to combat the growing childhood obesity crisis.


Of the $1.6 billion spent on advertising food and beverages to youth, only 1% is spent on produce advertising. Leveraging the cool-factor of a growing cadre of non-paid celebrities, the organization and its partners created a new brand "FNV" (fruits n' vegetables) and took to social and earned media to re-position fruits and veggies as "cool".

The early results are encouraging. With over 1 billion media impressions, 7 out of 10 targeted millennials familiar with the campaign stated that they ate and purchased more veggies.

The FNV campaign has come with some significant lessons for the organization. Ryan shared the following:

1) Although it was a hard decision, the organization decided to put the FNV brand forward and keep their new nonprofit brand out of the spotlight.

2) Working with celebrities is amazing...and a lot of work. Be sure to weigh the potential positive impact vs. the resources needed to wrangle celebrity talent.

3) Just because you're a good cause doesn't mean you can't be hip and have a little fun!

To see the full story, click here to watch Ryan's keynote.
 


David Hessekiel
President
Cause Marketing Forum

P.S. Need additional visibility and recognition for your social good efforts? Apply for PUBLIC's Innovation Award for a chance to have your campaign featured in a major publication - read more and apply here.  Entry deadline: June 30.

P.P.S. Want to hear more perspectives on CMF2016? Check out these posts here, here, here and here

June 28, 1:30pm ET  
$99 or FREE to CMF Members
(not a member yet? Join today!)
    
In Ethiopia, malnutrition and hunger are daily struggles. Challenged with educating as many people as possible, leading global organization Mercy Corps enlisted the help of entertainment powerhouse Warner Bros. to tackle this issue in a compelling and entertaining way: a radio soap opera.

This year-long volunteer project enabled four Warner Bros. employees to apply their marketing, storytelling and creative skills to create a powerful behavior change program for communities in rural Ethiopia and empower vulnerable families to survive through crisis, build better lives and transform their communities for good.

This webinar will share a behind-the-scenes look at this partnership including top level training for Mercy Corps staff, an international trip to Ethiopia and an overall impressive skills-based volunteering experience for Warner Bros.

You will learn:
  • What it takes to meaningfully engage corporate employees in international skills-based volunteering
  • Challenges the partnership faced and how to overcome them
  • How one volunteer has applied the experience to her work and perception of her workplace
  • How Mercy Corps is measuring early indicators that lead to behavior change, including changes in thinking, using a method and software tool called SenseMaker

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