Critical success factors of cause-related marketing

Cause Related Marketing (CRM) emerged in the 1980s following a campaign launched by American Express to donate money to different non-profit organizations as part of the San Francisco Arts Festival. Ever since, CRM has developed into one of the most popular corporate social responsibility strategies and has been practiced by some of the biggest corporations in the world, such as Kellogg's, Tesco, Avon, BT, and many more. In its early years, it was characterized as a fad, but its impressive growth in the last few years proves that it is seen as a highly potent tool for achieving the marketing objectives of a business. CRM has the potential to emotionally and rationally engage stakeholders with companies and brands and strengthen the management's effort to add value and sustain brands. CRM must be a longterm strategy and not an ad hoc initiative implemented to boost sales. A number of factors are critical to its success: well-defined underlying values, commitment of senior-level management, planning and implementing a strategic approach, careful selection of cause/charity, and communication and promotion.