Cause Inspired Marketing

[MarkCrowley]

Cause Inspired Marketing at one time (actually still is often) referred to as Cause Related Marketing is a concept that is really coming into its own. Businesses more and more are "getting it" - that need for social responsibility and when they find a cause that "inspires" them - the rewards are amazing!

My good friends Kent McBride and Jon Biel over at www.mtdn.net (Make The Difference Network) are raising this to an amazing new level - give their site a cruise when you get a few minutes.

For those of you in Denver, (guys, if you would would like to treat your wife to a really cool surprise-pay attention) One of my radio sponsors, Dinner and Dish www.dinneranddish.com has stepped up to host a very special event to benefit the great programs at www.safehouse-denver.org SafeHouse Denver on Saturday, June 10.

Dinner and Dish is a place where you go to assemble meals, take them home, freeze them, and cook 'em on demand. No shopping, no getting everything ready to put together a meal...it's a one-stop process to save hours of time in our time-starved world.

D an D has a special Ambassador program where they have each participant make an extra meal over the 12 normally prepared in a session. That 13th meal is then donated to a particular cause - in this case, SafeHouse Denver.

When I told Ellen Wallace, Exec. Director at SafeHouse what we were planning, she told me that this will feed their entire group in the shelter for two nights (over 60 servings) and when she told me that their "annual food budget" was only $11,000 she let me know that this is a very special gift.

So 10-14 families will benefit from some awesome dinners, get back some of that precious family time that we so often sacrifice, and an important organization in our community will be benefitted in a big way - and oh, by the way, Dinner and Dish will be the beneficiary of some great publicity which will tell other families and organizations about this great concept, which will result in...well you know the rest! As my pal Kent McBride says, "It's a win-win-win-win-win scenario...Cause Inspired Marketing at its very best!

Here's a link to my calendar of events for this fun-filled evening and it's also posted here on the YourBrand Calendar....See ya on June 10th!

[jhubbel]

Great to see you out there always working to add value to the community Mark. If we had about fifty of you this would be an amazing place- or an even more amazing place. Thank you for everything you do for Denver and Colorado. You're the best!
Julia Hubbel

[MarkCrowley]

Thanks Julia for your kind words!

I am so very glad to report that this past weekend's event to benefit SafeHouse Denver well exceeded our expectations. It was so great to see some of my favorite collaborators on site for a great time!

A special thanks to David Sandusky and his lovely bride Julie for joining us and to Rebecca Saltman and Frank as well! A special tip of the hat to Rebecca as she whispered in the ears of The Denver Business Journal and 5280 Magazine and we ended up with some great mentions in both publications.

Ellen Stein-Wallace (Exec. Director of SafeHouse) and her hubby Luther were also on hand.

Ah yes, Cause Inspired Marketing! While certainly the above mentioned stars came out to support this effort, we had a "full house" of supporters - most of whom are listeners/supporters of my weekly radio shows - as well as our, as they referred to him on WKRP in Cincinnati, "Big Guy"-General Manager Brian Taylor and his wife Sue. Everyone prepared the normal dozen entrees plus an extra for Safehouse. So we were able to contribute a dozen entrees feeding 4-6 each. That in and of itself is huge! But here's the "inspired" part.

I spoke for a couple of minutes to welcome everyone and give some background and then introduced Ellen...this is where it gets good. As Ellen spoke about the women and young people at the shelter and what this event meant for them...a wave came over the room and people stepped up and asked Dinner and Dish to add more meals and purchased extras. The result was that the SafeHouse Denver Shelter received enough food from this two-hour gathering for SEVEN complete meals - an entire week's dinners that the ladies won't have to prepare but rather can spend time with the kids and in fellowship with one another.

As if that's not enough...I want to point out that two of the participants in the event were just "regular customers" at D and D and were there for their monthly food prep session - really not having an awareness of the purpose of the benefit or even that it was happening - they told me that they were so inspired by what they saw and what we were doing for SafeHouse that they each purchased two additional entrees to be added. Additionally, they are going to find other great causes to do exactly the same thing for....Cool!

People often ask me about what I get out of doing events like this...This is why I show up and turn the mike on every week...This is where I get my fuel...Like they say in Major League Baseball ad campaigns...I live for this!

And it's through amazing support and collaboration with great folks like my good friends Rebecca, David, and Ellen that it comes off looking like a piece of cake...it's never one person....Thanks to everyone for the great support and turnout...and a special thanks to Louann and her crew at IQlinary by Dinner and Dish www.iqlinary.com Please visit them! Networking at its best!

[BarJon]

It is a good thing when companies make money hand over fist and create foundations to give back to the community they serve or replenish resources they use.
I see the marketing as creating awareness to the cause and that too is a good thing. A company or individual can not make to much money if responsible do good is a value.

Do consumers choose one company over another based on social programs?