Cause Marketing – Movember

Is Social Cause Marketing another marketing fad; or an opportunity to rethink how you connect with your customers?

A Discussion on Marketing Campaigns not designed for profit.

Presented by Group C
Submitted Movember 8, 2012

The Movember Story [pic]

The Movember idea was established by Travis Garone and Luke Slattery of Melbourne Australia while discussing recurring trends and pondering “where the Mo had gone”, and joked of bringing it back. The two mates, inspired by a friend’s mother who was fundraising for breast cancer, decided to grow Mo’s to campaign and raise awareness about men’s health and prostate cancer. They choose to promote within the month of November renaming it Movember. Travis and Luke established rules and guidelines, which are still in place today. These rules are as follows:

1. Once registered for Movember, each Mo Bro must begin the 1st of Movember with a clean shaven face.

2. For the entire month of Movember each Mo Bro must grow and groom a moustache.

3. There is to be no joining of the Mo to your side burns (That is considered a beard)

4. There is to be no joining of the handlebars to your chin (That is considered a goatee)

5. Each Mo Bro must conduct himself like a true gentleman.

The first year, the two mates found 30 guys man enough to grow a Mo and agreed to charge $10 to do so. These men grew their moustaches with such enthusiasm, that they decided to formalize the concept in 2004 and developed the Movember website. After researching male health issues, they decided to raise funds for Prostate Cancer with the first official donation being made to the Prostate Cancer Foundation of Australia (PCFA). That year 450 Mo Bros and Mo Sistas raised AUD $54,000.

Since then Movember is now being participated in 13 countries with 854,288 participants (registered on the website) while raising C$127.7 million globally during the 2011 campaign, an increase of C$48.9 million over the previous year. From those numbers, Canada specifically raised C$42.3 million through 246,427 registered Participants.

Movember has become a worldwide movement working to change the attitude men have about their health. Through their actions, public and private conversation is started about the often ignored topic of men’s health and vast awareness is raised on the topic around the world. Mo Bros effectively become walking, talking, billboards for the 30 days of November raising awareness for men’s health.

Where the Money Goes

Canada alone raised C$41.9 million, of those funds 77.7% was donated to Prostate Cancer Canada, 8.6% was committed to Global Action Plan, 3.3% to Movember’s awareness and education program, 5.9% to administration and fundraising costs, and finally 4.5% retained to cover future campaigns to ensure Movember’s continuity. (See Appendix 3) As of November 5, 2012, there are 16,519 Canadian registrants who have already raised $332,090, and those numbers continue to grow.

Movember’s Global Strategy

Movember is the largest global event dedicated to men’s health and raises awareness and funds to help find a cure for prostate and testicular cancer. Since the beginnings in Melbourne Australia in 2003, Movember has become a global movement inspiring more than 1.9 Million Mo Bros and Mo Sistas to participate with formal campaigns in Australia, New Zealand, the US, Canada, the UK, South Africa, Ireland, Finland, the Netherlands, Spain, Denmark, Norway, Belgium and the Czech Republic.

Big steps have been taken towards changing attitudes and habits relating to men’s health around the world but there is still much to be done to catch up with the women’s health movement. Via the moustache, Movember aims to fulfill its vision of having an everlasting impact on the face of men’s health by continuing to spark conversation and spread awareness of men’s health each year.

What has helped to facilitate the globalization of the Movember movement is their innovative use of social media. It has been one of the most accomplished organisations to ever leverage social media to achieve its strategic goals. Movember has adopted an increasing number of social media channels, not only used for keeping participants engaged but to also get its message out to an infinite number of people, globally. The reach of social media is immense. Here are some of the staggering statistics from the 2011 annual report. • 13M newsletter emails sent

• 110M reach via Twitter and 0.2M of its participants used Twitter
• 0.55M participants used Facebook reaching 1,900M people on Facebook
• 27M overall campaign website visits
• 0.11M Movember App downloads on phones
• 0.67M photos uploaded on Movember website
• 0.31M Movember videos watched during the 2011 campaign

All of the fundraising for Movember is done online and participants can share links to their “Mo Space” via Facebook, Twitter and email to name a few. Movember partnered with Facebook and worked closely with their engineers to allow participants to transfer updates and photos from their “Mo Space” seamlessly. This partnership formed in 2011 and resulted in 29% of the traffic on the Movember website clicking through directly from Facebook. This may have been the most successful campaigns on Facebook in relation to the amount of money transacted.

Movember’s innovation has not gone unnoticed and as a result they are now working with Cancer research organizations around the world to help them leverage social media more effectively.

Movember’s Value Proposition

A value proposition is a promise of value to be delivered and a belief from the customer that value will be experienced. A strong value proposition will go a long way to helping a business succeed in its target market. You may be thinking that a charitable organization does not have a target market or a customer so what are we getting at? The Movember customers are the participant and the donors; their target market is – well – everyone. Movember strives to be inclusive and avoids strong association to any one specific customer segment. This gives it a very broad appeal and is what has helped in exponentially growing participation in a short period of time.

Movember’s unique concept, their use of technology and its brand are what drive its value proposition. The main components of Movember’s value proposition are as follows:

1. Raising money for a good cause.
2. Fun, simple to be a part of and provides a sense of cheekiness 3. Provides the opportunity to grow a moustache and have it be socially acceptable. 4. Sense of belonging to a community or team.

5. Very convenient to participate in.
6. The bulk of funds raised are given to causes.

This value proposition sets itself apart from most charities; particularly in the aspect of fun and uniqueness. Other charities’ campaigns are based on emotion and sometimes fear in order to get donations. They could take a page or two out of the Movember playbook if they wish to generate the same appeal.

Movember’s timing was impeccable with the advent and explosion of social media. Their extensive use of technology and social media is extremely convenient for participants, provides a digital community in which to belong and it vastly reduces the costs that it would normally take to execute this level of fundraising. Advertising costs are significantly lower as well as communication to participants and payment collections. This is why such a high proportion of the funds raised go straight to the causes.

While Movember’s brand is cheeky and fun, it is still very serious about men’s health. The focus on the brand is significant; especially for a charity. The Movember brand must be consistent across all interactions with participants and donors as well as all types of media. Protecting the brand is at the forefront for Movember. It will not partake in partnerships with companies or products that are inconsistent with the brand or with the goal of improving men’s health. A prime example of this is Coca-Cola. Who wouldn’t want to partner with one of the most highly recognized brands in the world? Movember – that’s who. Because of the high sugar content and links to obesity, you will never see a moustache on a can of Coca-Cola. The grass-roots approach in new markets has proven successful for Movember. They don’t seek out celebrities to promote their cause. They don’t have to as these individuals have become participants of their own accord. The inclusiveness of the Movember promotional strategy allows every participant to be viewed as the ambassadors and the stars. With this grassroots approach, Movember tends to make genuine connections in various communities. This warrants a greater sense of engagement and acceptance.

Partnerships also play a role in the Movember value proposition. The organization has developed a strong network of partners and corporate sponsors as well as business partners; each of whom is getting behind the movement and aligning their brand with the cause and are benefitting by connecting with their customers in a meaningful way.

Marketing Health of Men and Women – The Campaign’s Strategic Goals

Movember is a campaign that effectively draws attention to men’s health and the fact that preventative health checks should be made a priority. Movember was designed as a contest which appeals to the traits of the male brain; linear and competitive. The contest begins with the contestant having a clean shaven face and become known as Mo Bros. They have the month of November to grow their moustache while at the same time raising money and awareness for men’s health issues which is the main campaign strategic goal.

With the funds raised from Movember, there are a number of strategic goals: 1) Survivorship which provides information and support for men and their families affected by prostate cancer. 2) Awareness and education to make men aware of the risks of prostate cancer and the importance of early detection. 3) Prostate cancer research to help improve diagnose, testing and treatment. 4) Male mental health awareness which hopes to reduce the stigma, increase awareness, improve treatment and expand the understanding of this issue. 5) Influencing change in men’s health by making men aware of the importance in regular checkups and the overcoming the fears of potential outcomes.

While Movember is geared towards men’s health it is also aimed at leveraging the female influence; girlfriends, wives and mothers. These women are known as Mo Sistas. These Mo Sistas inspire men to get involved, become aware and more proactive in their health care.

Leveraging the language of competition among men, the female influencers, the fun factor and the convenience of a short specific time commitment makes the Movember campaign of marketing health of men and women very great opportunity for effective Cause Marketing.

Cause Marketing- How Brands Get Noticed With Movember

Cause Marketing is marketing that involves the collaboration of a for profit business and a non profit organization, either as direct sponsors, or indirectly by giving donations. The Brand of the for-profit business gains exposure and attracts good vibes by sponsoring events and creates publicity.

Movember’s growing success can be attributed to the fact that the movement has formed into an established foundation and a legitimate brand. Another reason is the number of brands that are getting behind the movement as partners and sponsors or by giving donations. This is the Cause Marketing approach. The brands will sponsor Movember events and create publicity around the movement all the while introducing purpose into their brands. Aligning with a cause that matches the brand’s values and goals is an effective way to attract and keep customers. There are some well known brands that are capitalizing on Movember through the use of social media and events.

Schick is distributing free products on campuses during a cross country tour while simultaneously engaging the most involved demographic in the Movember campaign.

Speedstick is using a series of videos and advertisements featuring misadventures of a clumsy Mo’man.

Brands are capitalizing on Movember with use of Facebook and Twitter instead of billboards and TV spots because of the lower costs. For example Mercedes, an official sponsor, is using Facebook, urging users to “like” it for donations.

Proctor and Gamble’s mascot, Mr. Clean is also involved with Movember. His Facebook picture shows him with a small moustache and with every “like” it grows a little thicker.

There are also mobile apps that will digitally impose nose-neighbours on people’s faces for a small fee. The app lets you try on a selection of 30 moustaches and share the results on social networking sites with proceeds going to Movember.

TOMS Shoes is offering limited edition moustachioed footwear with all proceeds going to directly to the cause.

Brands are realizing that establishing a brand purpose and increasing the popularity of your Facebook page is a win-win tactic. It increases awareness and also inspires others to act. The reward is a strengthening of your brand and increased appeal.

Cause Marketing gives marketers a useful tool beyond the traditional advertising mix to differentiate their brand from the competition. It lands them in the arena of corporate responsibility which can greatly strengthen their brand identity.

Corporate Social Responsibility – It’s All About Marketing

Society, today, is interested in the ethical decisions made by corporations and the impact these decisions have on society. Consumers will take into consideration whether a corporation pollutes the environment, moves production to a foreign country, engages in the use of child labour, or practices equal rights for male and female workers, among other things, before choosing them to do business with.

Corporate social responsibility is a process with the aim to embrace responsibility for the company’s actions and encourage a positive impact through its activities on the environment, employees, customers, and other members of the public. There are many ways a corporation can achieve the image of corporate social responsibility, one of which is philanthropy.

Movember is a perfect opportunity for corporations seeking ways to increase their public image, and possibly sales, through the use of Cause Marketing.

Procter & Gamble is in the best spot to gain publicity through the sponsorship of the Movember movement. Gillette’s products include razor blades, shaving cream, and other personal hygiene products. Gillette has used the veil of corporate social responsibility to create further awareness and testing of their products.

Gillette, in a show of support for the Movember movement, has launched the eMO’gency Styler Tour. The tour will visit 3 major US cities offering complimentary curbside fine tuning and styling services using one of Gillette products. This action not only creates awareness of the Movember campaign and different men’s health issues, it also creates positive publicity and awareness for Gillette.

Because the Movember movement is a charitable foundation they have the advantage of attracting different sponsors and donors by appealing to a corporation’s new found requirement to practice corporate social responsibility.

How Does This Discussion Link to Module 10

Module 10 discusses how advertising objectives are a strategy decision. Clearly defined objectives are required for every advertising campaign. The objectives will help define what type of advertising fits best as well as choosing the best medium and how to deliver the message. The medium should support the objectives and be accessible by the target audience. If you are speaking to a global audience, the medium choices may be limited and reaching your target audience will prove challenging if not clearly thought out and planned.

Not all marketing campaigns are designed for profit. Non-profit organizations must also create effective meaningful marketing campaigns that will resonate with their target market. Because of the Movember campaign, the awareness of prostate cancer and men’s health has grown to historic high levels. Movember clearly defines their campaign objectives and strategies. While they aren’t selling a product they have to inspire a demand for supporting the cause. Their value proposition has helped to accomplish this but that message has to be communicated through a medium. Movember has chosen to use the internet and social media to communicate their message in addition to
facilitating their fundraising. By choosing this medium they have been able to successfully grow and sustain globalization of their movement. There are very few limits to the internet and social media. It is a medium that is available to everyone around the globe. Movember’s message is also extremely conducive to one global copy thrust. This coupled with the use of social media greatly controls the costs of the Movember campaign. Social media is meant for sharing and this can translate into a greater propensity for a brand’s message to be shared. Movember has a major advantage compared to for-profit companies and that is due to the charitable nature of their campaign. There is a high willingness for participants to share resulting in a far reaching message.

Because of this advantage, for-profit businesses have aligned themselves with Movember in an effort to promote their organization’s image, reputation and ideas. These businesses have recognized the importance of institutional advertising and Cause Marketing. The objective of this type of advertising develops goodwill with current and prospective customers. While it may not result in immediate revenue increases; if aligned properly, it will result in long term revenue and profit gains. Companies such as Schick and Speedstick have effectively established a connection between their brand and the Movember brand and both brands are benefitting from the alignment. Movember benefits from the deep pockets of the partner companies and the partners can create meaningful communications that will have a lasting impact on the consumer. In this new era of social responsibility, Cause Marketing has become the norm.

So Remember if you moustache a question…don’t shave it for later! (Discussion Questions)

1) As a marketing manager what relevance do you see in the use of Cause Marketing for a brand?

2) What are three things you would do as a marketing manager to ensure an effective social media campaign?

3) Being socially responsible means an organization shows concern for the people and environment in which it transacts business. As a marketing manager would you pursue a socially responsible agenda from a marketing standpoint to connect with your customers?

4) As the marketing manager for Movember what would you recommend changing in the campaign strategy to obtain even more female engagement?

References

http://ca.movember.com/uploads/files/2012/MO_FoundingFathers_history.pdf http://ca.movember.com/about/mo-milestones/
http://ca.movember.com/uploads/files/2012/Rules_NA.pdf
http://ca.movember.com/mospace/network/BMOC
http://ca.movember.com/about/vision-goals/
Case study on Innovative Use of Social Media – Gradischnig, Lewin, Marinho, Agrawal, Isaac http://www.mpdailyfix.com/marketing-health-of-men-women-and-mustaches/
http://ca.movember.com/about/
http://www.bcama.com/events/events-archives/2009-events/movember-the-global-brand-strategy http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Corporate_social_responsibility http://www.triplepundit.com/2012/11/four-steps-growing-sales-corporate-social-responsibility/ http://www.pphe.com/corporate-responsibility/

http://sparksheet.com/cause-marketing-in-the-digital-age/
http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/westjets-got-more-planned-for-movember-176992991.html http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YdgGX-d0W1U&list=UUubOJL-
OS1UnYpsZVKboAxw&index=1&feature=plpp_video
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-I-ds5NPejI&feature=BFa&list=UUubOJL-OS1UnYpsZVKboAxw http://www.cgi.com/en/corporate-social-responsibility/cgi-movember-campaign http://smartblog.wordpress.com/tag/cause-brand-alignment/

http://www.aol.ie/about/corporate-social-responsibility/
http://www.cnbc.com/id/49696782/Gillette_Wants_You_to_Master_Your_Mo_Enlists_Style_Icon_Andre_3000_Benjamin_Men_Growing_Moustaches_this_Movember_Are_Provided_eMO_gency_Support_and_Toolsto_Help_Them_Embark_on_their_Charitable_Journey http://www.forbes.com/2009/11/20/corporate-social-responsibility-leadership-citizenship-marketing.html http://www.harley-promos.ca/movember/[pic]