Citizen Brand

Heads in the sand

 

 

I'm sick and tired of politics dictating the future health of our planet. Are you?

The cold, hard facts exist. Here is an excerpt from a recent article in Newsweek:

The burning of fossil fuels has raised atmospheric levels of heat-trapping carbon dioxide by 40 percent above what they were before the Industrial Revolution. The added heat in the atmosphere retains more moisture, ratchets up the energy in the system, and incites more violent and extreme weather. Scientists disagree about whether climate change will bring more intense or frequent tornadoes, but there is wide consensus that the 2 degrees Fahrenheit of global warming of the last century is behind the rise in sea levels, more intense hurricanes, more heat waves, and more droughts and deluges. Even if the world went carbon-neutral tomorrow, we’d be in for more: because of the CO2 that has already been emitted, we’re on track for another 5 degrees of warming. Batten down the hatches. “You can no longer say that the climate of the future is going to be like the climate of today, let alone yesterday,” says Judi Greenwald, vice president of innovative solutions at the Pew Center on Global Climate Change. “In all of the plausible climate scenarios, we are going to have to change the way we do things in ways we can’t even predict.”

As is usually the case, there are people at a grassroots level that are beginning to make small changes. the city of Chicago has several initiatives underway. One example, they have started planting trees in public areas that will survive warmer climates. They are trading out white oaks for swamp oaks which will survive in warmer climates. There are plans by the city of New York to paint all rooftops white to help reflect the sun in an attempt to keep Manhattan from becoming a heat island.

As the saying goes, all politics is local and it is clear political leaders at the local level have grown tired of waiting on national and global leaders to quit talking and start doing something. And here is where those of us engaged in supporting causes can try to help.

There is no more important cause than the environmental health of our planet. What I want to try to do and encourage others in cause to do as well is to find companies that are ready to step up and help. This could be companies of all sizes. Work with the cities at the local level to support through awareness, dollars and time the efforts they are undertaking to prepare for what a large majority of scientists say is going to happen.

It is these types of public-private partnerships working at the grassroots level that can make a difference. We can no longer wait on the national or global governments to take action.

Cause marketing for Venus & Mars

Late last year, the annual Barkley cause survey made a big discovery - men do have a heart. We talked to male consumers all over the USA and found out that men are impacted by cause marketing in nearly the same numbers as women. We also found out that only 3 out of 10 chief marketing officers were contemplating targeting men with a cause program. Sounds like some fertile ground for the right brand and nonprofit doesn't it?

At the Cause Marketing Forum in Chicago last week, I had the opportunity to meet with two small groups of fellow cause marketers to discuss cause and men. We had a great mix of people from agencies, companies and nonprofits. The discussion was spirited and we arrived at some interesting insights. The most significant one came when we talked about what motivates men in general and then discussed what that means when developing cause programs.

We all can agree that emotion plays a huge role in cause marketing. But while that is a primary motivator for women, is it the same for men? Our group in Chicago decided that it probably is not the primary motivator for men. Emotion will always be a factor in cause programs, but for men we decided that other dynamics may matter more - competition and accomplishment.

Men like to compete and men like to be able to see the results of the work they do. If you agree these are two big motivators for men, then the cause programs we develop to target men may look different than most cause programs today.

A cause program for men might have a component where the consumer is asked to take specific action or do some work as opposed to just writing a check or swiping a credit card to make a donation. A cause program for men might involve a competitive component where consumers who raise the most money for the cause or solicit the most participants for a cause are rewarded. The reward doesn't have to be a personal reward for the consumer. Instead it could be a brand increasing the amount it donates to its cause recognizing the milestones achieved by the male consumers it is targeting. Thus, the consumer can point with pride to what he has "accomplished." Starts to makes sense doesn't it.

We only had a couple of hours in Chicago but we all believe we identified some insights into how brands and nonprofits should look at programs that would get men involved. I look forward to hearing what others in the cause community think. Let the collaboration begin!