Marketing and advertising used to be all about how much you could “get” — getting customers to watch your ad, getting people to buy the product, getting people to remember a catchy advertising jingle. However, in the era of social media, online research and mobile apps, consumers have more information and greater transparency than before and know about the brands and products they buy, it’s not good enough to make marketing solely about “getting.” Instead, smart business owners today have focused their marketing on “giving.”
The new trend in marketing is generosity. Generosity in marketing may take several forms. Most businesses try to create a sense of generosity in their marketing by offering good value in the form of content marketing.
Another form of generosity marketing is related to connecting your business with a favorite cause, like those you'll find with the With Causes Charitable Network, gives your business a sense of mission that serves the community. This type of generous marketing can be also be seen in a variety of examples around the country.
In Detroit, there was recently a news story about James Robertson, who could not afford a car and did not have reliable transportation. He walked to work at his factory job — 21 miles round trip everyday — for 10 years. The story created a public outcry — many people were both shocked and saddened at Robertson’s circumstances, but they were also impressed and heartened by his display of self-reliance, discipline and work ethic. The people raised more than $300,000 for James Robertson through GoFundMe, when a local Ford dealership announced that they were gifting him a new Ford Taurus (witch has a suggested retail price of $35,000) so he would never have to make that long walk to work ever again. Several other businesses — law firms and financial planning firms — then volunteered their services as well to help James manage the money from his online donation windfall.
This is a particularly extreme and high profile example, but this goes to show how companies and communities rally to support a good cause — and how companies can have a major chance to contribute while also promoting their brands in the service of helping people who are less fortunate.
There is an Italian restaurant on the South Side of Des Moines, Iowa, called Chef D’s Rock Power Pizza, where the owner, Chef Derrick Walton (known as “Chef D”) offers a special free pizza dinner for homeless people every Monday night. Derrick Walton has been interviewed in news articles saying that earlier in his life, he was homeless, and he resolved to himself that in the future, if he ever were in a position to help other people in those circumstances, he would help. So now that he runs his own restaurant, every Monday night he closes his restaurant to the public and offers a free pizza dinner to people in need. Chef D was recently featured on the Ellen DeGeneres show, and Ellen gave him $10,000 to help provide additional pizza dinners. This is a great example of how a small business can make generosity central to its mission and its marketing.
There are many great examples all around us of how both businesses and entrepreneurs can use their generous spirits to make a meaningful difference for people (and animals) in need. Generosity is now the newest marketing tool. It is not only the right thing to do, but it is often the most effective way to get customers to learn about, and remember, your business. If you give people a great reason to love you and root for you, they will be more willing to buy from you, so spread the word about what you do — and keep coming back.
How does your business make a difference for those in need? Here are some great causes to check out:
