BU 5700 Marketing Techniques

Cause Marketing Final Project

Plymouth State University Graduate School of Business
Project Overview
This is the final project for BU 5700 and should be considered the
course capstone activity. In this project you will select a cause (charity
or non-profit) that you are personally interested and then you will
select a Fortune 500 company that is currently not involved with your
selected cause and propose a potential strategic partnership tht
benefits both sides equally.
The justification you select for combining the cause (charity)
and the company you choose is very important and should not
be taken lightly. Simply jamming two organizations together
will not suffice. I expect a well-developed, clearly articulated
set of reasons why you feel the company and the cause
organization will BOTH benefit from this strategic partnership.
A common mistake students make in this project is they
simply choose a wealthy corporation to fund a poorly funded
cause. This is not what this project is about. I am seeking a
solid connection between the company and the cause with
little focus on just the finances.
You are to create a full marketing plan that would logically combine
your selected cause with your selected corporation. I define a cause as
an activity that benefits a non-profit organization or initiative. An
example could be the Red Cross or the Susan G. Komen Breast Cancer
Foundation. Cause marketing refers to a type of marketing involving
the cooperative efforts of a "for profit" business and a non-profit
organization for a mutual benefit. The paper you will deliver to me is a
persuasive document that connects the two organizations and your
justification for suggesting this partnership.
Please use the following paper format outline
Section One: Executive Summary
A paragraph that introduces both the cause and the company
providing an overview as to why you see a potential partnership. This
should be a concise set of statements that does not get too into the
details of the pairing.
Section Two: Elevator Speech, the Description

Imagine you are telling a stranger your new idea why the cause you
have selected needs a corporate partner. You need to be able to
communicate your basic idea in just one breath, not that easy to do.
Write what you would say. Dont worry about slick phrasing; just get
the idea across in two or three sentences. This needs to be presented
clearly in your marketing plan.

Section Three: Target Audience Description

Who might want your product or service? Dont be afraid to be creative
here. Imagine that you can find any group or type of person, no matter
how specific: left-handed Jewish dentists, working mothers, whoever.
Crazy ideas are sometimes the easiest to develop because the market
is so well defined. Who cares about this cause and why? If you cant
define the group that is most aligned with this cause then you are
sunk. *Important suggestion: get data. If you want to support say
a cause that reduces homelessness in Antigua then you need to tell me
how many people are homeless in that country (market). You need to
put a scope to your cause (problem) otherwise you cannot create a
justification why a major corporation would adopt it as a partnership.
Come up with at least three different audiences that may benefit from
resolving this problem and why. Please clearly mark them Audience
1,Audience 2, and Audience 3.
Section Four: Persuasive Appeal to the Corporation
Now ask yourself, WHY would the corporation you chose want to target
this group? What problem is solved, or what benefit received? Most
importantly, how does it align with their current market and customer
base? Example: If you say you would like Dell Computer to help
reduce illiteracy, does that make sense to combine that company and
that cause? Potential reasons include:
-People must be able to read in order to use a computer
-Dell is already involved in other areas of educational assistance as a
charity
-Michael Dells parents were involved in education so he as background
in education
You need to find the common appeals to both parties that may save
money, improve a process, help relief support staff to work faster, etc.

What is special about each audience? How do their special needs or

desires match the special qualities of your companys primary products
or services?
The value of a marketing plan is that we can TARGET our distinct
audiences with special messages and cause marketing sharpens that
message even further. We as marketers try to craft our appeal and our
marketing piece to meet the special needs of a defined audience. In
this project you need to research both audiences, the cause and their
supporters and the corporation and their market targets.
Section Five: Persuasive Appeal to the Cause
A cause or charity often has a specific focus and identity that they will
not want to compromise simply because they have found a corporate
partner. Share with me why you see a match for the cause in this
paragraph and again please do not simply say it is because the charity
needs money. Hint: Often very senior executives of companies have a
life experience with the topic or issue the cause addresses, an example
could be breast cancer or drunk driving. See if you can find a logical
connection between the company and the cause and provide some
details in this section.

Section Six: Communications Medium

The medium is the form of communication, which will deliver your
message. It could be the internet, a magazine, a newspaper, or a
mailer addressed to a list you buy from a list broker. Between libraries
and the internet, you can find a way to reach any audience. More and
more companies are using social media outlets to target their
audiences as well. It is fast, inexpensive and potentially viral in nature
so a cause/company combination can see exposure to both brand and
cause very quickly.
Write ideas next to each audience/persuasive appeal. Again, let your
imagination go: imagine the perfect means to reach the audience.
Then imagine another way. The object is to come up with several ideas
so you can make a choice.
Section Seven: The Marketing Connections
In this section please take your ideas and share with me where and
how you would apply them to actual products
Products and Services The information in this category could vary

depending on the purpose of the plan, you dont need to list every
product or service they offer, just a clear overview of the business. If
this is a company wide marketing plan then all primary products and
services should be listed briefly giving a good description of what each
of them can provide. If this marketing plan were specific to a product,
then a description in more detail would better suit the marketing plan.
Financial Feasibility This section is optional as it would be nearly
impossible to do for a project like this so please do not stress. If you
are able to find any details as to how the company funds partnerships
such as this then you may choose to include those details. I suggest
you look in a companys Corporate Social Responsibility report or other
outward marketing programs to see if they share any financials around
other programs. It is likely they will not have much if any data so do
not be discouraged. If you cant find this information then please do
not feel compelled to make something up.

Mission/ Vision / Objectives

Not to be confused with the Company Mission, this statement is what
you would like to get out of the marketing program of your partnership.
If this is a marketing program for a single product, then this statement
should state what your company expects out of the product and they
plan to achieve this as a result of the partnership. This is also an
opportunity for you to choose a specific product or service from the
many products or services and tell me why you think that product
aligns especially well with your cause and why rather than trying to
link all products or services to the cause.
If one of the objectives is to make 50,000 people aware of your new
product then this is something that should be included in your
objectives. You can also include company objectives in this section if
they are directly affected by your marketing. For instance, if your goal
is to make one million dollars in sales the first year, then this is an
objective that comes in direct contact with the marketing program.
Think of this as the goal of the plan. If your plan is successful the
following things will happen
Competitive Environment
Here is where you need to outline the competitive environment of your
market. This would include any competitors whether they are in direct
or indirect competition. You may find that all of your companys
competitors already have public partnerships with other causes. If that

is the case then there is an expectation of stakeholders in that industry

to have outreach programs. If there are not many partnerships then
perhaps this could become a competitive advantage. Try to provide a
more in-depth how you plan to effectively market against the
competition. This section should outline direct competitions
weaknesses and how you plan to capitalize on these weaknesses to
grab the market share.
Situation Analysis
There are two effective marketing tools that can be used in a situation
analysis purpose. The SWOT analysis or the BCG Dot Matrix. (Please
refer to textbook for these two items if you are not familiar with the
formats.
For an in-depth analysis include both the SWOT Analysis and the BCG
Dot Matrix in the Situation analysis. These diagrams can compare your
products to your competitors and help you to determine the best
approach for winning your section of the market. I expect you to
create either a SWOT analysis or a BCG matrix for this report.
Target Markets
Closing Suggestions
-

The project should be in the 12-14 page range double spaced.

Please reference your work properly as per the PSU Academic
Integrity guidelines.
Take some risks. At the graduate level there are few black and
white answers so look at this as more of a persuasive argument
than an actual marketing plan. You will be graded by how well
you support your proposed partnership so use data and specifics
where appropriate.
Have fun. This is a hot area of global marketing and is used to
help people feel good about what they are doing in their careers.
Studies show that people will accept up to 16% less in total
compensation when they work for a company they believe in.
This project is about creating a series of new benefits for to
organizations and then seeing how the variety of stakeholders
may respond.

This project will be due the last week of the class (week of May 22nd)