Cause marketing can also help to create or change public policy.  In short, when properly employed, cause marketing informs about, and creates action on behalf of a cause.

     Advertising which does that is also widely classified as "Social Marketing." However the term seemed too general for a practical text on making ads for causes, which is what this book was meant to be.  The theoretical side of Social Marketing has been dealt with in a number of texts.  But Doctor Howard Shaffer, Director, Division on Addictions at Harvard Medical School told me: "We have enough learned tomes and intellectual papers from people like me. What we most need now is a how-to guide. What we need is a 'Cook Book!' " So a "Cook Book" this shall be!
     "Cause-related  Marketing" is a label that has been defined by Kotler and Andreasen in their book "Strategic Marketing for Non-Profit Organizations" as "any effort by a corporation to increase its own sales by contributing to the objectives of one or more nonprofit organizations." We will touch on that sub-segment in Chapter eight.
     
     This is a text written primarily for advertising professionals and students of advertising and communications. Public agency and private foundation administrators should also find it helpful to the performance of their roles as "clients" of the work of those professionals. It will be a guide for anyone who is charged with using the tools of marketing to impact public policy or private behavior.
     Because it will not advocate a radical departure from many of the basic tenets of advertising, it can be a good fundamental text for any student of the craft.  Advertising is advertising, and most of the fundamental principals of strategy, art direction and copywriting, and research apply to this category as well. However, what makes the difference in most public service advertising is the complex psychological makeup of the target "consumer" for these messages.
     To change deeply held public attitudes, one needs a thorough understanding of the belief systems and motivations of the targets of that effort. And this requires sophisticated research, plus some very finely honed strategic and creative skills.
     For example, most good product selling lines or slogans are fairly simple and straightforward. They generally present factual evidence of a product's superiority in language that is hopefully mind-opening and memorable. But product selling lines usually don't come with deep psychological underpinnings. Cause advertising almost always does. Often it targets people who are addicted to drugs, alcohol, tobacco, or gambling.  These targets of cause campaigns are frequently in denial about their problems, and therefore ostensibly uninterested in your message. When cause campaign themes or slogans fail, it is more than likely because they contain no psychological or emotional "hook." The goal of most commercial advertising is simply that of changing purchasing patterns. The cause marketing campaign seeks to change strongly ingrained behavior or firmly held beliefs.

Is it Art?
     Is it a little pompous to call this pursuit an "art?" I don't think so.  It
goes to a core difference between this type of advertising and product or service messages, a difference I will touch on in some detail in this book. That difference is why I believe even experienced practitioners of
advertising can benefit from the principles outlined in this book.
     An experienced art director-writer team can routinely produce an effective packaged goods campaign. If they are good, the work may be artful, but rarely is it art.
     True art is something that moves people in important emotional and personal ways; that stays with them, and possibly affects their lives. Every year, the advertising award shows select a few product or service campaigns or ads that are truly works of art, and they are appropriately enshrined.
     But because the consequences are so far-reaching, it is very important that every piece of cause marketing be as crafted as carefully as a serious work of art! Because its objective is always to move people emotionally and affect their lives.
     In addition to the strictly "pro bono" efforts, many "for-fee" cause
campaigns are funded these days by increased taxes mandated by voter initiatives or by settlement monies from groups such as the tobacco industry. The result has usually been more professionally- produced work that runs in prime time paid media , as opposed to the typical Public Service Announcement (PSA) that often gets stuck in between the infomercials at 4:00AM. This, as we shall see later, is probably the wave of the future.
     During a long career at various advertising agencies I have done some public service campaigns that were strictly pro bono, and some that were handled like any commercial account, earning the agency an appropriate fee. While the scope and complexity of that work has varied according to the size of the budget, the principles behind it are exactly the same.
     Throughout those thirty-five years in advertising, I always eagerly sought cause marketing assignments. Even when working on standard agency packaged goods accounts, I sometimes found myself dealing with public issues on behalf of corporate clients, such as the daunting task of having to write "recovery" campaigns after the two Tylenol poisoning incidents.  These were not product benefit spots; they had the tough objective of sustaining positive public attitudes about a product that had suddenly become a murder weapon, thus they required that extra level of sophistication essential to most cause campaigns.
     Recently, I have devoted virtually all of my time to advising cause
marketing efforts. And it was during this period that I started to organize
the precepts that will form the core of this book.  I served as Advertising
Consultant to the Massachusetts Department of Public Health for their 12 million-dollar tax-funded anti-smoking campaign, and have also helped to develop campaigns for the Massachusetts Council on Compulsive Gambling, and the Massachusetts Department of Environmental Protection, among others.
     Because of my total immersion in the Massachusetts Tobacco Control campaign, and knowledge of all aspects of its planning and execution, I have chosen to employ a large number of examples and illustrations from that effort. However, I do believe that they have relevance to campaigns in support of many other kinds of causes. A detailed case study of that campaign may be found in Chapter Ten.

"Let's Do Some Ads"
     The number of cause marketing campaigns is ever increasing. In fact, because of the dominant role of the media in all our lives, sooner or later, almost every public interest group will say: "Let's do some ads!"
     Some of the resulting work is still produced quickly and cheaply by
unsophisticated PR people or small creative services, with its quality and effectiveness often diminished due to funding limitations and the lack of experience of its creators.
     These are generally the exception today, however, as noted above, to well-funded campaigns like the Massachusetts Tobacco Control Program or the efforts of the Partnership for a Drug Free America.
     However, even for-fee efforts from major agencies can fail, often due to the fact that merely applying the principles that successfully sell packaged goods or consumer services. As a result, we are flooded daily with a glut of well-intentioned cause ads, many of which fall far short of their worthy but complex objectives. In fact, much of that work may actually be counter-productive, nourishing cynicism among the very populations it is attempting to reach, and fortifying barriers against the next media effort by anyone who dares to suggest a modification of their behavior.
     For example, certainly Nancy Reagan was sincere about her anti-drug efforts aimed at the young. But her expansion of the "Just say no!" campaign (originally targeted to pre-teens) to all potential drug users was so simplistic and unconcerned about the psychological forces that contribute to teenage drug experimentation that we must assume that most of those older kids merely laughed at it. As a very hip young man commented on MTV one night,  "It's a little like telling a manic depressive to 'cheer up!' "
      Then, as if no one had learned anything in 10 years, Bob Dole, while raising the issue of increased drug use among the young in his 1996 Presidential campaign, proudly unveiled the slogan "Just Don't Do It!"  That simplistic line also committed the offense of clumsily mimicking a carefully crafted youth campaign for Nike Athletic Shoes ("Just Do It!").
      Lest this seem an overly harsh judgment of my former colleagues at the large agencies, let me state that I have made many of the same mistakes myself. My first major national public service campaign, the well-funded anti-drug abuse effort for the National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH), was a flawed effort.
     I was at that time an experienced Creative Vice President at a top ten agency, and I was very proud of what we did. We won over 20 prestigious industry awards with that effort, including a Gold Lion at the Cannes festival. There is no question but that this highly visible campaign had a positive effect on my career as an advertising executive, yet, looking back at it today, I shudder at some of the mistakes we made.
     For example, we graphically depicted drug use in some grim inner-city billboards. They were strikingly shot, and the headline: "Slavery 1969" was strong. But the image of a needle in the arm could have been a "turn-on" to a heroin user, and those posters should never have been produced.
     We also preached against marijuana use with the same intensity and with the same language and theme lines with which we railed against heroin. The result was that it looked as if we were lacking in any knowledge of our subject. Clearly the severity of the effects and the potential dangers of each are quite different. So when we took the same hard line on the effects of marijuana use as we did on heroin, we lost credibility with our youthful audience. It was all "drugs" and it was all equally destructive. I had actually tried to have the anti-pot spots eliminated from our campaign. But I was told that since it was an official government campaign, we couldn't avoid it.
     When the U.S. State Department called me some years later and asked me to travel with National Institute of Drug Abuse Director Robert DuPont to participate in an international conference on using the media to combat drug abuse, I accepted only on the basis that they allow me to air our mistakes. Surprisingly, they agreed, and I did an elaborate "mea culpa" in what was hopefully, a constructive presentation.
     Among other things I told them was that if you have, say, ten million
dollars to spend in the media on drug abuse, then perhaps you should
reallocate nine million of those dollars to creating counseling and
treatment programs, and use the balance in the media to advertise the
availability of those services. To try and significantly stem the spread of
drug addiction in thirty seconds on TV or in a half page ad is very difficult. Not impossible, but difficult.
     Sadly, today, more than 20 year later, many of the same mistakes continue to be repeated by respected advertising professionals. And if a public service campaign loses credibility with its target, it may lose everything.  Those of us who have learned these lessons the hard way must take the responsibility of disseminating that learning, and hopefully avoid repeating those mistakes.

How to do it right.
     The following pages summarize lessons learned from years of personal experience. During that time I estimate that I have been involved in the creation of over 1000 broadcast commercials, and an equal number of print, outdoor, and promotional pieces. I sometimes think that whatever could possibly happen during the production of advertising has happened to me at one time or other. I hope a retelling of some of the things I learned while living through those crises can help you navigate similar ones. And more to the point, I believe the lessons learned from the number of cause campaigns with which I have been involved can help you steer clear of the many pitfalls inherent in this very specialized kind of advertising.
     This book analyzes many examples of advertising in the cause marketing category that I consider effective, plus some that have fallen short.
     Part I lays out the steps required to land and then develop a successful cause campaign.
    The first chapter deals with some crucial considerations that must be
addressed before any work can be created. I will discuss standard procedures used by cause committees in selecting an advertising agency for this type of account, and what factors you should consider in creating a winning agency "pitch."
     Chapter Two covers the importance of campaign planning and strategy, starting with such intertwined elements as budget and media. And moving on to the crucial step of assembling the building blocks of a strong simple strategy, including the often-overlooked but crucial areas of tone and style.
     To help you further understand the addicted target, probably your most difficult challenge, Chapter Three explores the psychology of that special population.
     Chapter Four is an overview of the nuts and bolts of the creative process, including the client presentation, with special attention paid to those factors that separate cause campaigns and cause clients from their for-profit cousins. The significance of logos and campaign themes to cause campaigns will be discussed. And the special place of campaign icons in cause marketing will also be covered, as we pay homage to Smokey and McGruff and Iron Eyes Cody.
     Chapter Five discusses television production for a cause campaign, with some thoughts about such matters as casting, (including when to resist the urge to hire a celebrity spokesperson,) and how to achieve first-rate broadcast production on a low public service budget.
     Chapter Six covers the special factors that go into making effective cause radio, print and outdoor advertising and how these differ from the creation of broadcast advertising.
     Copy research is arguably more important to a cause effort than to any other type of marketing. How much better to predict if your campaign will work in concept stage than to find out it didn't after the fact. Chapter Seven contains information about qualitative research: concept testing, focus groups, and mall intercepts and summarizes two case studies from the realm of issue advertising that were entirely driven by some fairly innovative research. Copy evaluation plays an especially significant role in cause marketing, since the simple tools of sales figures and growth or decline of market share, surefire indicators of the effectiveness of a commercial product campaign are missing. Yet, proof of effectiveness is crucial to the placement and funding of most cause campaigns. Chapter Seven will include a discussion of quantitative research and tracking, as it applies to a cause effort. Also covered will be techniques of effectively reaching special populations such as minority communities.
     Chapter Eight covers the importance of preparing an efficient media plan, including the pros and cons of going the PSA route vs. buying a paid media schedule, and contains a look at the new opportunities in on-line media.
     Part 2 is a critical review of some of the most visible cause marketing efforts, with an analysis of how attention to, or a disregard for the principles explored in Part I may have contributed to successes or missteps in these campaigns.
     The role of the Advertising Council in implementing and helping to place PSAs will be discussed in Chapter Nine, plus some ways to get your message out when you have virtually no budget.
     Chapter Nine is an analysis of the extensive work of that "Cause Colossus," the Partnership for a Drug Free America, America's best-funded and most visible cause campaign.  And Chapter Ten will be a detailed case study of the Massachusetts Tobacco Control Program.
     Chapter Eleven is a "top ten" list of effective cause advertising, and
Chapter Twelve will a summary with some final thoughts.
      The book touches briefly on the areas of PR and promotions, corporate sponsorship, direct mail and fund raising. While these are all potentially important to any cause effort, they usually require the expertise of specialists, and those activities are usually sub-contracted out to those specialists by cause agencies.
     For the benefit of administrators of cause marketing and students and
others outside the advertising profession, a bit of "Advertising 101" will
be included.  I will lay out what I believe a good client needs to know to
judge the effectiveness of the plan and the brief, the strategy, and the
finished work. Even if your cause organization has the funding to hire a
large full-service agency, judging that work will be easier if those
principles are understood.

First, Do no Harm
     I believe it is crucial that everyone involved with cause marketing take these principles seriously, and carefully examine every communication they place before the public. Failure to do so may result in something much worse than just falling short of your objective. Daily, we see well-financed and beautifully produced public service advertising from experienced full-service agencies that may actually be counter-productive.
     A recent cause commercial produced by a mainstream agency, and titled "The Burbs" showed a nicely dressed white pre-teen skateboarding through a neat suburban cul de sac.
     "Statistics show that 40% of all kids who smoke marijuana are inner city youth. Guess who the other 60% are? " says the voice-over. The kid winds up with some peers, and they start passing around a joint and toking expertly on it. Of course, the strategy was to shock middle class suburban parents into action. These could be their kids; they'd better wake up and talk to them about drugs. But what about the kids watching over their shoulder? The teens in the spot look like sensible kids having a wonderful time. Marijuana use appears normal. Quite appealing.  But since media buys cannot be targeted precisely enough to eliminate youthful viewers, it's likely that sending the unintended message to the kids -one that essentially normalizes youthful pot smoking- will outweigh the benefit of shocking the parents.
     It is amazing how often "the product" (that passed-around "joint", drug paraphernalia, lit cigarettes, gambling activities) is portrayed in ads directed to abusers or compulsive users. Old habits die hard, and one of the major things the producer of any selling ad designs is the product "beauty shot." But putting the addictive substance or activity in the face of the user is just about the last thing you should do. You are very likely to evoke the memory of the "rush" that accompanies that use, and trigger the one response you wish to avoid.
     Harvard Medical School's Howard Shaffer, Ph.D, C.A.S., a well-known addiction specialist and psychotherapist told me how he discovered that a recovering cocaine user under his care was contemplating a return to the drug after seeing an anti-cocaine commercial showing a line of "coke" being inhaled through a straw. The powder had been a laid out across a photograph of a happy family gathering. The principal message of the strategy was obvious: "Cocaine use can destroy a family."
     But the much stronger subliminal message received by the addict was: "if that guy was willing to jeopardize his beautiful family just to snort that stuff, then that 'high' has got to be amazing." And then he began to
remember how amazing it was for him. He was turned on by the visual, ignored the verbal anti-drug message, and was stimulated to go out to buy some coke!
Dr. Shaffer reports that a therapy session successfully quelled the
interest.
     The physician's creed states: "First, do no harm." That's clearly not a bad credo for anyone preparing public service communications as well. If you follow the basic steps in this book you will stand a good chance of serving that principle. And that's important, because some well- intentioned public service campaigns do a lot of harm. However, if you are careful, (and hopefully this book can guide you in avoiding many of the unexpected pitfalls) you will be able to take some solid steps toward "doing some good."
    And when you do it right, and you start to see your campaign working and making an important difference in the lives of the people around you, you will have one of the most exciting and rewarding experiences of your career.

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