Is this appropriate marketing?
This morning I received a notice that a New York event show to be held this fall is making a donation to the Red Cross of 25 percent of the cost of a two-day Show Floor pass for planners and vendors to “show our support for our colleagues in New Orleans.”
While I laud the effort, something about using this info in a marketing piece bothers me—I’d rather they just made the announcement at the show, or afterward. Am I just being overly sensitive here?
Related Topics: Meetings After Katrina, Marketing, Uncategorized
September 8th, 2005 at 1:48 pm
Sue,
I think there’s a difference between a “buy from me and I’ll contribute X% to the Red Cross” pitch and a “we’re giving X% of this year’s proceeds to the Red Cross” pitch. Sounds subtle, but it’s not.
In the case of this event, it’s pretty likely the people who will attend would’ve attended anyway. The event itself is not competing directly with other similar events in the same time period and region, so the consumer isn’t making a choice based on one organization’s contribution level vs. another’s.
It’s also unlikely someone will attend this event just because the show is giving 25% to charity. However, there is a strong likelihood that many attendees haven’t given anything yet, and this would be their way of contributing (whether they like it or not is another story). So the tactic is a net positive for the charity beneficiary with not much benefit for the organizer other than positive PR and goodwill from employees.
In the case of a more direct “buy from me and we’ll contribute” scenario, the marketer is aiming at disposable income that is not yet earmarked for any purpose. Thus the marketer is intentionally using the charity link to boost sales. Unfortunately we’ve seen a lot of this type of marketing hit the streets this week. If it were a case where the manufacturer were giving ALL profits to the cause, that would be different and commendable. But that’s not the case with the offers I’ve seen.
So there is a difference and I think that unless the show organizer jacked up the price of admission to account for this, then what they’re doing is indeed, commendable.
September 8th, 2005 at 4:10 pm
So, I am being overly sensitive! Thanks for clarifying, Rich.
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