Few advertising campaigns over the last few weeks have really managed to stick in my head more than British Airways’ (BA) “Don’t Fly” campaign. The message being that during the Olympic Games, we ought to be lending our voices to the crowd of supporters rather than being absent on holiday. This is companies trying to influence the behaviour of consumers with a positive motivation despite it apparently having a negative impact on sales.
However the risk is a very calculated one and one that has been taken by others. Patagonia engaged with consumers on responsible purchasing by encouraging them to choose to buy their products on eBay rather than brand new. The idea supposedly being, that if you absolutely have to buy this product new, this is where you can do it.
Consumers are encouraged to think about the impact of their decisions and this is positively associated with the company, encouraging brand loyalty.
But is this only about changing consumer behaviour to make them more responsible?
The BA campaign has been so successful partly because it was in support of such a massively positive thing as the Olympics – the nation was getting behind something and BA was part of that.
We are yet to see a cause related marketing campaign that achieves this level of engagement. We are waiting though. The opportunity is massive. If BA’s campaign is anything to go by, the important issues are twofold.
- One, getting the cause right
- Two, getting the message right
Cause related marketing has a long way to go in my opinion. But once there’s a goody the benefits will be obvious.