Cause MarketingAn Approach Towards Corporate Social

ResponsibilityIn Bulgaria

Presentation Overview

• Introduction

• Purpose of the Paper

• Methodology

• Findings

• Conclusion

• Future Research Suggestions

Introduction

• Cause marketing represents cause-specificity of CSR.

• It can effectively target many social and environmental issues while delivering positive corporate image, strengthening brand affiliation and enlarging market shares.

• According to the 2012 Edelman goodpurpose® nearly half (47 percent) of consumers have bought a brand at least monthly that supports a cause.

Purpose of the Paper

The purpose of this paper is to identify the characteristics of cause marketing as an

approach towards corporate social responsibility in companies operating in

Bulgaria.

Methodology

• A sample of 50 randomly selected companies using cause marketing.

• Categorization of the cause marketing practices (main topics).

• Examine the types of collaboration between the surveyed companies and non-profit organizations.

• Identifying the marketing mix elements used in cause-related marketing campaigns.

Findings – Main Topics

• Ecology – preservation of nature.

• Health – prevention of diseases.

• Children – special care, preventing abuse, happy childhood.

• Education – equal opportunities for education, minorities, lifelong learning, etc.

• Orphans – prevention, providing shelter, adoption.

• Sport – different sports, sport activities among the society.

• Art – supporting arts and culture, talented people.

• People with disabilities – improving the living space, offering job opportunities, etc.

Findings – Collaboration Types

• For each sold product the company donates a certain amount of money.

• A percentage of the total sales of a product is spend on charity.

• The profit or part of it is donated.

• Developing a strong relation between the product, its usageand the supported cause.

• Administering a company proposed cause.

Findings – Marketing Mix

Price Product Place Promotion0%

10%

20%

30%

40%

50%

60%

70%

44%50%

24%

58%

Conclusion

• The partnership between business and non-profit organizations evolves and covers a wide range of activities.

• The main topics and types of cause-related marketing campaigns, which tend to expand rapidly.

• The surveyed companies utilize the elements of the marketing mix, but need more sophistication in its use.

• The relation between cause marketing and corporate social responsibility still concerns only the product and only half of the companies use this as a CSR approach.

Future Research Suggestions

• Examining customer responsiveness to cause marketing campaigns.

• Studying the specifics of cause-related marketing by types of industry.

• Examining its impact on key performance indicators.

THANK YOUFOR YOUR ATTENTION!

February the 19-20th, 2013

Petar Petrov, PHD studentE-mail: p.k.petrov@ue-varna.bgMarina Kamenova-Timareva, PHD studentE-mail: manikam23@abv.bg

ICOM 2013