Cause marketing is responsible for helping to contribute to social causes, without neglecting the profitability of the company or brand; The objective of this type of marketing is to generate profits for both the company and society. Here participate from non-profit organizations, to companies focused on making profits, but also interested in carrying out social works.
This type of marketing emerged in the eighties in the United States; and it becomes visible in the launch of a solidarity campaign, linking the purchase of the company's products with making a contribution to a specific social cause, this benefits the company both in the sale of its products and in the link that it is created with customers. It can be said then that this marketing is between the conventional lucrative and non-profit marketing.
In the beginning, this kind of marketing was applied by companies as a short-term strategy, created to obtain sales, however over time it was modified until it was applied in the long term; in addition to having spread to the different business sectors, being implemented through new technologies.
Among the advantages offered by the use of this marketing are:
Increase in purchase motivation.
Promotion of the product or brand.
Improvement of the image of the company.
Improved positioning.
Improvement in the company-client relationship.
Differentiation from the competition.
Motivation of company employees.
Among the disadvantages involved in the practice of this marketing are:
If problems arise, the credibility and reputation of the company may diminish.
If the marketing strategy is seen only as a business tactic, it would reflect a negative image to consumers.
Trivialization of solidarity.
No social problem is solved.
By applying this kind of marketing, the company can make a very strong difference from its competitors, in addition to creating a good name for the company. This kind of marketing will be successful if the strategies applied are used in the correct way, and if the company is really linked to the cause it defends, since at the slightest suspicion that this is a simple commercial marketing, all the efforts made by the company they will have been in vain
