Cause marketing comes of age

Back in the day, we called it public service advertising.

Young creatives cut their teeth on the stuff. Shock, awe, exaggeration, fear and hyperbole, whatever it took to make the point. Public service advertising used to be a very straightforward thing. You picked an organization or cause you believed in, or believed you had a good idea for, and then let rip.

Trouble is, these ads typically had little impact. Behaviour didn’t change. Attitudes didn’t change. People didn’t change.

Fortunately, times have changed. The cause now, has been adopted by the brand. The big idea is now the big ideal.

And while it’s easy to view this usurpation with the eyes of a cynic, I’m going to try and do the difficult thing and defend this change. Maybe even encourage it.

What good is a cause that’s been commercialised?

Is it still worth respecting? Is it still worth believing in? Is it still worth fighting for?

Yes, yes and ‘you have to be kidding me’.

Voting was never cool until Tata Tea adopted it. One cellular service provider is championing the cause of tigers; another shows us how to save trees by reducing our dependence on paper. Both issues have become part of daily conversation.

And this change isn’t just happening in India. Around the world, more young people started educating themselves on the issue of global warming after Diesel Jeans highlighted it in an ad campaign, than at any time before.

Which brings us to an important question. Why are causes supported more when they get big brand backing compared to when they go the way alone? The obvious answer is that brands channel more money into their advertising than NGOs and the likes can afford to. However, big budgets can’t be the only reason.

What else? The work is better. More appealing. More memorable. More relevant. Brands that take on the issues often, end up doing work that is better than the average.

Fair enough, but there’s at least one other thing. The young people this kind of advertising typically catches on with. They’re the ones spreading something they like, through social and digital media, as well as word of mouth.

They’re the ones who actually send an SMS in support of a cause, galvanise their friends into volunteer groups, and get the buzz going. The two change agents in the Tata Tea work are young. Diesel Jeans caters to a young and trendy audience.

Going forward, it isn’t hard to imagine more brands joining this particular bandwagon. And why not?

If brands can pick up the issues, put them front and centre, and provide the platforms to genuinely effect change, this can only be a good thing.

Heaven knows we have enough issues.

(The author is Executive Creative Director, Dentsu Creative Impact)