Citizen Brand

Felicity Huffman talks up Lee National Denim Day

It's almost time to put on your jeans and fight breast cancer. The 15th annual Lee National Denim Day is Friday, October 8. Go to www.denimday.com and sign up today. If you have already signed up, tell a friend to get on over there and support leading research in the fight against breast cancer.

Felicity Huffman is 2010 Lee Denim Day Ambassador

Our 2010 Lee National Denim Day ambassador is Felicity Huffman. Of course, her most recent gig is playing one of the Desperate Housewives on ABC Sunday nights. But my personal favorite role by her was on one of the best but most short lived shows on television - SportsNight.

Now Felicity will be turning her passion and talent toward helping Lee Jeans, the Entertainment Industry Foundation and our newest partner, the Cancer Support Community raise needed dollars for research and support programs.

You can join Felicity and the team anytime you want at DenimDay.com

 

Cause Oscars

 

Thanks to David Hessekiel of the Cause Marketing Forum for honoring Lee National Denim Day as one of his Top Ten all time cause marketing programs.

It has been an honor for all of us at Barkley to be a part of this historic program.

Link here to see David's article in AdAge listing all ten of the best cause programs ever.

Denim and five bucks: a powerful duo

Friday, October 2 is Lee National Denim Day and registrations are pouring in from all over. If you haven't registered, you can do so right now at http://www.denimday.com

Register yourself, your company or organization or form your own team. It's easy to do. And you can see what your donation does in the fight against breast cancer here. 

And if you happen to be in the Kansas City area on Friday, October 2, head downtown to the KC Live venue in the Power & Light District and see our 2009 Ambassador, Christina Applegate. The public celebration starts at 3:30.

The power of denim and five bucks is a wonderful thing.

Because it's the right thing to do

There has been a great debate raging across the 'sphere and Twitter today regarding cause marketing. It was instigated by a Stanford professor who wrote this piece suggesting that cause marketing should be renamed "consumption philanthropy." Here is one excerpt:

"I disagree with this assumption. Consumption philanthropy individualizes solutions to collective social problems, distracting our attention and resources away from the neediest causes, the most effective interventions, and the act of critical questioning itself. It devalues the moral core of philanthropy by making virtuous action easy and thoughtless. And it obscures the links between markets—their firms, products, and services—and the negative impacts they can have on human well-being. For these reasons, consumption philanthropy compromises the potential for charity to better society."

While the professor had much to say about cause marketing, this paragraph jumped out at me. Especially the notion that cause marketing devalues the moral core of philanthropy by making virtuous action easy and thoughtless. I take great exception to this.

To the contrary, cause marketing adds great value to the moral core of philanthropy because it can make it easier for anyone to take a virtuous action and support a cause that is important to them. And it certainly is unfair to call a person's engagement with a cause program thoughtless. I think of the hundreds of thousands of people who put on a pair of jeans in October and give five dollars to fight breast cancer as part of Lee National Denim Day. Their simple act of wearing jeans is not thoughtless. In fact, it turns the simple and frequent act of wearing jeans into a truly virtuous act that for one day is made something very meaningful.

I also respectfully take issue with Professor Eikenberry when she says cause marketing compromises the potential for charity to better society. Just the opposite, the power of a brand and a nonprofit teaming up to shine a bright light on important causes can do more to raise people's awareness of the needs around them. With greater awareness comes the potential for greater financial support for the cause and the betterment of society.

What I want to thank the Professor for is sparking interest in cause today. I appreciate her perspective and want her to know that those of us in the cause arena work diligently every day to make sure the programs we develop and execute are working to make the world a better place. 

Denim Day kickoff

The new and improved Lee National Denim Day website launched in the wee small hours this morning. A big thanks goes out to many of our partners at Barkley for burning the midnight oil to make our kickoff deadline.

For our clients, Lee Jeans and the Entertainment Industry Foundation , this is an important launch. This is year 14 of the program and in a troubled economy, Denim Day is the kind of grassroots program that anyone can participate in. Wear your jeans on Friday, October 2 and pay five dollars to help support specific research being done by the best researchers in the world.

We have a very special ambassador this year. It is our first Denim Day alum to do a return engagement for us. Christina Applegate helped us with Denim Day the first time in honor of her mother's fight against breast cancer. This year, Christina is doing it for herself as she battles back from her own bout with the disease. And she is representing survivors everywhere, as you will experience when you visit DenimDay.com.

Now is the perfect time to sign up your company, civic group, Scout troop, religious group, school or start your own team of family, friends and neighbors. Five dollars can make a difference.

Moms love causes

The 2008 edition of the PRWeek/Barkley Cause Survey is published and any company who is not involved in cause branding today should take notice.  Why?  Because moms, who are responsible for more than $2.1 trillion in consumer spending this year like to spend with companies that support good causes.

The survey revealed that moms demand companies use their power for good, with 85.6 percent saying it’s important for companies to support a cause. With regard to their purchasing decisions, 58 percent say they would pay more for a brand that supports a cause, 69.2 percent say they would try a brand because it supports a cause, and 76.8 percent say they would recommend a brand that supports a cause. Overall, 66 percent of moms say they have purchased a brand because it supports a cause.

You can download a pdf of the survey and article along with a transcript of our 2008 Cause Roundtable by going to this link at the Barkley website.

And here is a link to a column on cause written by PRWeek's Erica Iacono who we work with each year to develop the survey.

In this economy, the companies that have established cause programs will benefit from the special relationship they are developing with their customers.  And those companies that don't have them, now is a fine time to consider starting one.  It could prove to be the point of differentiation that separates a company from its competitors.  And when the economy does improve, the difference will be even greater.

Lee National Denim Day

There is still plenty of time to join the fight against breast cancer and wear your favorite jeans at the same time.  Friday is the 13th edition of Lee National Denim Day and all you need to do is head over to www.denimday.com and sign up.

You can join an existing team or start one of your own and invite all your friends, family and coworkers on board.  Five bucks gets you a seat at the table and a chance to don your jeans for a cause instead of just because.

Your donation goes directly to a team of researchers at America's leading cancer research institutions.  Lee Jeans has teamed up with the Entertainment Industry Foundation to create the Lee Translational Laboratories where research is currently underway that is destined to lead to new breakthroughs in the fight against breast cancer and perhaps other cancers as well.

So get your good jeans washed and go to denimday.com and donate a five to fight breast cancer this Friday.

Lee National Denim Day - 2008

Tim Daly and Chandra Wilson will be our ambassadors for the 2008 edition of Lee National Denim Day.  The TV docs are teaming up to tell America to wear their jeans on October 3 and give five bucks to fund critical research in the fight against breast cancer.

This is the 13th year for Denim Day.  Lee Jeans and Barkley created the program in 1996 and today it is a model for grassroots cause branding programs.  Our partner, the Entertainment Industry Foundation and its Women's Cancer Initiatives use the millions of dollars raised to fund collaborative research teams at a dozen leading cancer research institutions nationwide.

As our client at Lee, Liz Cahill said, "We've learned from our incredible team of scientists in Lee Labs that just like jeans, one cancer treatment does not fit all.  Through our Lee Labs for translational research, the early detection blood test, and our work with the National Breast Cancer Coalition, we're making a significant impact in finding and treating this disease in its many different sub-types and arming people with the information they need if they're faced with a diagnosis."

Companies, organizations or individuals wanting to form their own teams can begin signing up June 5th at denimday.com.  And then be ready to wear your jeans and make a difference.

Be memorable in the mark that you make

If your best customer asked you, "What do you stand for?" Do you have an answer?

Trust. Credibility. Authenticity. These are the hallmarks of great public relations campaigns. None of them are easily attainable. And all require a lot more strategic thinking than simply sending out a few news releases. Yet there are still people out there who believe that public relations is still making sure the media is informed of an organization’s activities. Not so anymore.

An organization that wants to gain its fair, or more than its fair,  share of the customer’s mind today has to think about more than simply making sure the media knows what it is doing. It is not about just developing and delivering a message. It is about listening and finding ways to engage with customers.

Companies must be connecting with their customers emotionally and intellectually, as well as through the pocketbook. The key is to find ways to engage them in two-way communications or activities.

Today with the same retailers in strip malls on every other block in every city of every state, brands are more local than government. In order to remain viable, brands must be more attuned and responsive to the public. 

The solution is a marketing strategy to forge an emotional connection between a brand and its customers—cause branding.

A brand with a focused cause branding strategy aligned with a specific cause that is relevant to consumers can take the next step and stake a claim in the minds of consumers. “Brand X was there for us when the storm hit. It financially supports programs to improve adult literacy. Brand X is giving back to the community and investing in our future. I will support Brand X and tell my friends and family to do the same.” This is the potential impact on reputation that a focused cause branding program can have.

Cause Branding is a continuous, 365-day-a-year association with a cause via internal and external programs. In the purest form, a brand brings its core values to life by supporting a cause or nonprofit partner that embodies those same values. It is a true branding endeavor to align a cause and a brand’s support for that cause in the consumers’ minds. It is linkage:  Ben & Jerry’s and the environment; the National Football League and United Way; Lee Jeans and breast cancer. Lee National Denim Day was created 12 years ago and today it is considered by experts to be one of the most successful cause branding programs ever. Learn more about it and why it works.

Just how important is cause branding to your customer? What are other corporations doing to connect? Discover the latest research in the 2007 PRWeek/Barkley Cause Survey.

And then challenge yourself to figure out whether or not you have an answer to the question, "What do you stand for?"