Awash in Pink
In the three minutes it may take you to read this article, one woman will be diagnosed with breast cancer. And as Breast Cancer Awareness month marks its 21st year this month, brands like Yoplait, Ford, General Mills and many others are backing the cause.
The goals are simple: raise funds, build community support (and sales) through brand loyalty, ignite word-of-mouth marketing and tie the brand to a cause that consumers care about.
“It is a form of corporate citizenship, and it also helps us reach consumers we do business with to show our support for breast cancer while showing messaging around Ford,” says Whitney Drake, a spokesperson for Ford Motor Co.
Ford has supported the Susan G. Komen Breast Cancer Foundation (SKBCF) for 12 years, this year aligning itself with ABC’s Grey’s Anatomy for an initiative called Warriors in Pink.
The automaker developed a collection of Warriors in Pink themed t-shirts, men’s thermal wear, accessories and temporary tattoos for kids that cast members show off in new print ads. The ads direct consumers to Fordcares.com where they can buy the items as well as enter a sweeps through Dec. 31. The winner gets a 2007 Ford Fusion, a trip to the set of Grey’s Anatomy and a Warriors apparel package that includes gear autographed by the cast. Ads run this fall in multiple magazines, including titles from Condé Nast, Martha Stewart Omnimedia and Time, Inc. publications. The Fordcares.com Web site declares: “In every woman there is a believer, a fighter, a survivor…a Warrior in Pink.” Ford donates 100% of the proceeds from the sales to SKBCF. “We feel passionately about breast cancer awareness and education and about finding a cure,” Drake says.
Last year, Ford tapped the cast of NBC’s ER for a similar promotion, selling pink scarves that rang up $1.6 million in donations for SKBCF.
Meanwhile, in grocery stores nationwide, Arnold Whole Grain wheat breads and Thomas’ English Muffins have overlaid their packaging with pink ribbons. Consumers visit Thomasenglishmuffins.com/hope to participate in the Fields of Hope program where they register a pink leaf to be placed on the Pink Tribute Tree in the name of a breast cancer survivor, someone who’s currently battling the disease or someone who has lost the battle.
“We think it’s a great way to build a strong community of support through our brands,” says Sachiko Shiohara, associate marketing manager at parent company George Weston Bakeries, Greenwich, CT. “We’re hoping that our Web program, and this Pink Tribute Tree, will be something that’s passed on among our consumers through word-of-mouth as well. Almost everyone knows someone that’s been touched by the disease in some way.” George Weston Bakeries will donate $100,000 to SKBCF as part of the campaign. In-store displays, P-O-P, and e-mail support.
A study conducted recently among college students found that 24% bought a product because it was considered “socially conscious.” Thirty-three percent of students (who have $182 billion in spending power) favored brands that gave back to the community, were environmentally safe or were connected to a cause, according to the College Explorer Study of 1,793 college students by Alloy Media + Marketing, NY.
Yoplait ranked No. 4 on a list of the top socially responsible brands identified by students in the study. Yoplait is in the ninth year of its Save Lids to Save Lives program where customers mail in pink lids from its yogurt cartons during October. For each lid, Yoplait’s parent company, General Mills, donates 10 cents to SKBCF up to a total $1.5 million. TV spots, shelf tags (via NewsAmerica), P-O-P, FSI and online ads support. To up awareness of the campaign to college students, General Mills tapped national sorority ZTA to collect pink Yoplait lids on 150-plus college campuses. And a partnership with Golf for Women magazine puts collection bins at hundreds of Rally for a Cure golf events. Additionally, any employee can donate lids at work by having their employer sign up for a collection kit at SavePinkLids.com. Four agencies collaborate on the campaign: Saatchi & Saatchi and Publicis Dialog, both New York; PowerPact, Midlothian, VA; and Cone Public Relations, Boston.
Dovetailing with Yoplait’s Save Lids to Save Lives program, General Mills will salute 25 breast-cancer survivors in its Yoplait Champions program, part of Yoplait’s ongoing support of breast cancer research. Mills, The Susan G. Komen Breast Cancer Foundation and Self Magazine last month opened the nomination process (Sept. 18-Nov. 6) for Yoplait Champions, who get a $1,000 donation in their name to the charity of their choice and a profile in the May 2007 issue of Self.
Playtex is hedging its bets on a little star power from Elisabeth Hasselbeck, co-host of ABC’s The View. As spokesperson (who counts her mother, aunt and both grandmothers as breast cancer survivors), Hasselbeck promotes the Playtex Living Gloves program through a slew of TV appearances. During October, Playtex is packaging breast cancer awareness brochures with pink gloves in stores nationwide. A Playtex Cares mobile unit travels to hundreds of retailers offering free hand massages in a spa-like setting, information on breast cancer and beauty tips for hand care. At PlaytexGlovesCares.com, Hasselbeck promotes the cause along with a 75 cents off coupon that can be redeemed toward the pink gloves. As part of the process to print the coupon from the Web site, Playtex asks questions like: “Does this support of breast cancer awareness change your opinion of Playtex Living Gloves?” and “Are you more likely to support a brand that is affiliated with a charitable organization through your purchase of its products than a brand with no such affiliation?”
All proceeds from an online auction that Westport, CT-based Playtex hosts through Oct. 31 and that features vacations, beauty packages and cruise getaways benefits the National Breast Cancer Foundation (NBCF). MKTG Partners, NY, handles the initiative.
“Cause marketing is associating with something [consumers] care about and we’ve found that this issue resonated well with women and youth,” says Paula Balder, founding partner, MKTG Partners. “It’s hard to find a woman not touched by a friend, mother or grandmother with breast cancer.”
On the education front, Fuji Photo Film USA has partnered with Linens-N-Things to encourage women to have mammograms as part of a Mammograms for a Million Moms campaign. Women make their pledges on Imagesofhealth.com to have the test done. A sweepstakes through Dec. 31 dangles a trip for two to LaCosta Spa in Carlsbad, CA, or Canyon Ranch spa in Tuscon, AZ. The Valhalla, NY-based company will award 50 first-place prizes of $50 Linens-N-Things gift cards. Flyers at 500 Linens-N-Things stores in 47 states support. In addition, two pink Fuji Film cameras will hit retailers such as Best Buy and Circuit City this month. Fuji Photo Film will contribute $250,000 to NBCF as part of the initiative. Catalyst Marketing, Fairfield, CT, handles.
These campaigns have become more transparent, clarifying how much and to whom donations are made, says Cindy Schneible, VP-resource development at SKBCF in Dallas.
More consumers are tracking the statistics: every 13 minutes a woman falls victim to the deadly disease and by year’s end, an estimated 40,970 women will have perished, according to the American Cancer Society. Schneible, says brands’ promotional activities are significant on several fronts.
“They do generate revenue, but beyond that, they provide us with a way to disseminate information and engage consumers in the fight against breast cancer,” she says.
