Social Entrepreneurship Helps Recession Proof Your Business

Posted on September 9, 2008
Filed Under Online Business, Promotion and Marketing | Leave a Comment

Corporate Social Responsibility
Cause-Related Marketing first surfaced in the early 1980′s by American Express. The idea, however, has been around since the dawn of civilisation…

Reciprocity.

The benefit for your business is more sales…

Giving service makes the world go round. For a graphic demonstration of the power of reciprocity, survey the online world. You cannot but help see terms such as “Mass Control Marketing”, or “Product Launch Formula”, “Butterfly Marketing”, “Moving The Free Line”.

What do these initiatives have in common? Common to all of them is the core concept of giving to potential customers hoping these prospects/people become customers. Sounds risky right?

There are plenty of freebie seekers out there after all. I will not disagree, there are plenty but there is little or no risk involved for these smart businessmen and women.

They know how people think, how you think, how I think. We all feel indebted to someone who does us a favour or gives us a gift (some more beholden than others mind).

It may seem off the wall to suggest giving – particularly in the turbulent times we now live in – will help with your business bottom line. You may instead think it is in fact a problem laden proposal.

American Express did not. On the contrary, they knew when they launched the pledge to give a penny to the restoration of the Statue of Liberty for every transaction made by customers, these would be pennies, dollars and even thousands of dollars well spent.

Great publicity cannot be bought, customer good will cannot be bought, improved employee morale cannot be bought (well, most of the time). They found out by giving, a far more powerful force is unleashed.

As a result of the American Express cause-related marketing drive, use of Amex cards increased by 28% and new users increased by 17%. In the following years, many more companies have had stellar successess with cause-related marketing. Companies like Coca-Cola, McDonalds, Avon, the list goes on and on… are now committed. And it’s not just big companies either who are wise to the benefits cause-related marketing can bring to the company bottom line.

More profits by giving money to good causes a great idea? Well…

During an appearance on “Late Night with Conan O’Brien” to publicise her role of the sex-crazed assassin Xenia Zirgavna Onatopp in GoldenEye, Famke Jansen asked him if he would like a demo of her characters signature move (involving her getting astride Conan on his desk and squeezing him with her thighs). Conan replied with “This is what we in the industry call a ‘no-brainer’.”

Giving ends with more receipts, it is a no brainer.

JointWinWin.com is a free cause related marketing business directory. As a business you can submit unlimited website listings for no cost giving you extra sales channels for your business. Watch this video for more info: http://jointwinwin.com/IntroductoryVideo-BlogPost

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