When is supporting a cause really only supporting you and your brand? When done authentically, social enterprise has a powerful social impact. Some businesses contribute because that is their key driver. However, when a social initiative is done (or could be construed as being done), primarily to drive sales, I suggest it does not. Yesterday one of my favourite Australian brands put out a promotion that, I feel, falls short of generous and does them a disservice. Dinosaur Designs offered to give you a free candle (to use during Earth Hour) if you spend over $100 in their store on Saturday 26 March. (See ad below.) Here’s what’s wrong with this picture: From a Marketing Perspective
- What sort of candle? Tealight? Designer? What is it worth? You’ll see in the ad there is no explanation.
- You need to spend $100 to get the gift. This offer is akin to the “Like our page on Facebook and we’ll donate to Japan” type of promotions that have received a lot of flack and push back.
From a Social and Contribution perspective My belief is that if you want to contribute to a cause, then contribute. Don’t make it conditional. What if Dinosaur Designs had said:
We are right behind Earth Hour and we want to help make it easy for you to take part in this great initiative. We’ll help you light your home while you have the lights out. On Saturday 26 March we will give away a free (description of an eco-friendly, good $ value, perhaps with a great story behind it) candle to anyone that comes by one of our stores.
Yep, it would have cost them a few dollars in candles. BUT it would have driven traffic to their stores AND created some reciprocity and goodwill. They’d still have benefited as a business, but the offer would be far more compelling. Social good can be very good for business too. But we need to keep it real. What do you think? P.S. Earlier this month I had the opportunity to see the story of TOMS shoes on a flight to the US. Then, I was lucky enough to hear the founder, Blake Mycoskie, tell the corporate story at SXSW. Truly inspiring. Here’s a link to one of his previous presentations, but look out for his South by South West talk. It was amazing.
