Digital Media News

If you saw a rack of refreshing beverages on a street corner with a sign that said,‘drop $1 in the box for a drink’, would you pay? This is the sort of moral conundrum posed by‘social experiment’ marketing, in which brands carry out experiments in a social environment to investigate how people react to certain situations.

Social experiments provide an ideal framework for guerrilla advertising, as they are cheap to stage, require little in terms of resources and have the potential to reach a huge number of consumers, by nature of being digital and shareable. Often used by not-for-profit organizations to highlight a cause (Cause Related Marketing), this can be an extremely powerful way to communicate a message.

Ever heard of Cause Related Marketing (CRM)? It’s a is bit of a trendy name, but how much do you know about it? The short and sweet version is that CRM refers to the formation of a commercial partnership between a company and a charity in order to market an image, product or service, for mutual benefit.

Background

The term was first used by American Express in 1983, as they launched a $6 million advertising campaign to raise funds for a Statue of Liberty restoration project.

The company contributed a penny from each charge on American Express cards, a penny from each purchase of traveler's checks, $1 from each new card issued and $1 from every holiday sold at an American Express store, (worth $500 or more).

Highlighting Your Mission With Social Experiments

Cause Related Marketing: Giving Value To Your Values