Cause-Related Marketing (CRM)

Quiz:

Please imagine that you are thirsty in hot summer day and you are standing in front of vending machine.

You can buy the following water. (All 500ml) 

Which one do you choose?

*You cannot choose other drinks such as tea, coffee and soda now.

                 evian                              volvic                     Crystal geyser                 Suntory  

If you have a favorite brand, you will choose one.

If not, how do you choose?  Everything is OK?  It depends on price or some bonus?　

Some creative marketers propose an effective marketing plan, while a lot of sellers have spent much advertising cost and have fought competition to keep the prices down. This new marketing is called Cause-Related Marketing (CRM).

One of the most famous CRM cases would be DANONE “One liter for Ten liters”

When anyone buys volvic water, a part of the sale will be donated to African who are suffering from lack of fresh water.

Although water is a difficult product to differentiate from other companies, consumers empathized with the campaign and the sales of volvic water increased.

Cause-Related Marketing emphasizes Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR).

By showing a positive attitude to the social contribution activities, the company can not only increase sales but also can receive a good reputation and evaluation from its stakeholders such as customers, stakeholders and employees. CRM is a marketing which improves Corporate branding.

I know CRM is not always effective for all sales; however, I believe that a lot of companies will expand CRM as a new type of marketing in near future.