eROI Days Email Agency

My #1 Online Marketing Prediction for 2007 was that cause-related marketing, if done correctly, would have the most buzz and effectiveness. Dove continues to get accolades for its “Campaign for Real Beauty” and even investment banks like Goldman Sachs are doing the right thing by strong-arming energy utility bad boys to go green.

However, the one campaign that I was sure would out-perform all others in the cause-related marketing arena was the Red Campaign where dozens of major brands charge a premium for their red-colored products and give a significant portion of the proceeds to the AIDS effort in Africa. I may be wrong on this one. AdAge reports that “Bono & Co. Spend up to $100 Million on Marketing, Incur Watchdogs’ Wrath” while only bringing in $18 million in revenue (the quick math shows a $82 million loss).

1. Thoughtful, cause-related marketing is the biggest winner in 2007. Pay attention. If you do this right, you will put your company on the map AND make the world a better place. This may just be the best business advice you get all year. Ask your co-worker, your department, your entire company what single non-profit they want to support and throw a lot of energy behind it. Better yet, co-create a new program or new event with an existing, reputable non-profit and you’ll see that your employees, customers, and prospects, as well as your kids and your spouse will help you take this cause, and indirectly your company to the next level.

The best example of this is a brand we used to take for granted, Dove. Dove launched “The Campaign for Real Beauty” and let the fact be known that the company no longer simply sells soap. Dove is now so much more than a set of commodity products. Dove sells real beauty; natural beauty; non-superficial beauty. The Campaign for Real Beauty website features a one-minute film that shows the transformation of an average-looking woman into a strikingly gorgeous supermodel. Only by seeing this process can we truly comprehend the illusion that the media has portrayed of these fabricated dream girls. The beauty of this site is that it doesn’t end with just awareness of the problem. It launches immediately into an actionable item for eight to 12-year-old girls to sign up for Dove’s real beauty workshops. These workshops teach girls about the importance of identifying beauty within themselves in the pre-teen years before the peer pressure to be like the mythical supermodel drives them to anorexia or bulimia.

A couple of years ago, eROI began its own partnership with Portland-based non-profit, Friends of the Children, by co-creating an event called Friends Art Fair. In just 2 years, the event has raised $55k and has garnered 2.5 million media impressions thru email marketing channels, print media, and media sponsor KPTV Fox 12 News. However, we have yet to do a campaign around a cause that is relevant to the e-marketing world. Make sure you sign up for our newsletter to be the first to find out about our cause-related campaign in mid-2007.

eROI President Ryan Buchanan writes in iMediaConnection about the Dove campaign:

“Dove no longer sells soap. The company is so much more than a set of commodity products. Dove sells real beauty; natural beauty; non-superficial beauty. The Campaign for Real Beauty website features a one-minute film that shows the transformation of an average-looking woman into a strikingly gorgeous supermodel. Only by seeing this process can we truly comprehend the illusion that the media has portrayed of these fabricated dream girls. The beauty of this site is that it doesn’t end with just awareness of the problem. It launches immediately into an actionable item for eight to 12-year-old girls to sign up for Dove’s real beauty workshops. These workshops teach girls about the importance of identifying beauty within themselves in the pre-teen years before the peer pressure to be like the mythical supermodel drives them to anorexia or bulimia.

This site has generated major buzz for good reason. It is authentic, genuine, and true to the Dove brand. It is an extension of the type of values that Dove has demonstrated for the past several years as one of the first major brands to feature larger women in their ads. It challenges convention and educates. As a viral website, “Campaign for Real Beauty” employs all of the right strategies and tactics. It’s easy to send the website to a friend, it has a compelling call-to-action, and it positions the educational resources on the site as the main focus– a testament to Dove’s humanitarian reasons for creating the campaign. It is clear what is important here, and that isn’t just selling product. It’s helping women and girls redefine beauty to change their life in a positive way.

The website is clearly targeted towards women and girls, but us men and boys are a big part of the equation. As for me, I think my wife is stunningly beautiful whether she is getting out of the tent on an early morning of a camping trip or dressed up in an evening gown for a swanky date. However, I must say that the superficial, heavily-altered, Photoshopped supermodel in the advertisement at the end of the Dove film is straight-up HOT! Men are a simple breed. My question to Dove is, what’s next? How can you break through to men?”