The Power of Cause Marketing

What is cause marketing? Here’s a personal story:

“Call Sheila!”

The voice came from the back of the agency conference room, in a meeting about a hot air balloon (this only happens in marketing). Turns out, the agency had pitched it to the Rite Aid Foundation for a non-profit event, and they loved the idea. But nobody knew how to get and launch a hot air balloon.

In fairness, that’s a pretty tough task. But I’d worked with this agency before and came to mind as the one person who could get this hypothetical balloon off the ground.

And launch it we did – all to support a wonderful organization called Folds of Honor. They provide scholarships to the children of fallen or injured soldiers so they can keep their lives on track. The Rite Aid Foundation was thrilled with the balloon idea, where the ballon itself (named the Dreamship) would be made with drawing and notes from the children themselves. And I was thrilled to be a part of launching these children’s dreams.

I got the balloon (just a regular day in the MOGXP office!) and we took it all over the country – to festivals and state fairs, to NASCAR races and big cities. Rite Aid committed $6 million over three years to this worthy cause. The Dreamship was a visible symbol of this powerful commitment to the children of our heroes.

Events like this are why I love experiential cause marketing. It touches people’s lives in a real and memorable way, and I get to make it happen. Now that the Dreamship has done its duty, we’re mailing back pieces of the balloon to the children, so they have a piece of that dream forever.

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