If you’ve ventured out at all in the last few weeks you can’t help but notice all the pink. And considering the thousands of ways companies have leveraged National Breast Cancer Awareness Month efforts as part of their sponsorship efforts, we’d be crazy not to acknowledge it here on SponsorPark. But this subject deserves even more – most of us have been touched by cancer in some way, whether you’ve been diagnosed yourself, or a loved one has experienced the shock of a diagnosis. I recently watched my own Grandmother pass from cancer, and she had just won the fight with breast cancer a few years back. There’s really nothing merciful about the way cancer wreaks havoc on a body, and rarely does “dignified “ come to mind when you consider the way a person feels physically. But I must say on behalf of my Grandmother that she, and many others like her, chose to fight with an emotional dignity that wins the battle-regardless of the physical outcome in my mind. I offer this personal highlight into my perspective on the disease because I want to ensure our audiences that we’re not discussing the way sponsorship touches the related charities in a cold or unfeeling way. The truth is, sponsorship and donations around this effort are exceptionally noble and touch a serious and real need; which is also why they are so popular. I really don’t know if I can think of any other particular cause that has gained so much traction in the world of sponsorships and donations. It’s incredible, really – the fact that everyone knows what a pink ribbon stands for, and we have a cause that is given, not just a day – but a month to be recognized along with MAJOR brands jumping on board to help; all this underscores the WOW factor of this cause.
So, what are a few of these campaigns that have captured the attention of so many?
Save Lids to Save Lives
As the largest nonprofit effecting the breast cancer awareness and fight, there is a slew of mentionable efforts associated with Susan G. Komen. The brilliant campaign of “save lids to save lives” in their partnership with Yoplait is perhaps one of the best sponsorship efforts I’ve ever seen. Brilliant! The call to action is simple and clear, the consumer feels that their choice to get involved is impactful and relevant, and Yoplait is truly a hero – their brand isn’t just posing as a good guy, they really are impacting their target audience in a distinct way by providing MILLIONS of dollars each of the 10 years they have implemented this campaign. And now they’re adding social media into the mix. If you’ve ever wanted to see a smart social media activation effort within the sponsorship community, this is it. Currently, Kroger and Yoplait are encouraging Facebook members to “like” a particular page: www.Facebook.com/sharingcourage, and for each new fan of the page, Yoplait donates an entire dollar – up to $150,000, which will be donated to Susan G. Komen. And in the meantime, they’ll gain access to their target audience through social media. Great leveraging.
Buckets for the Cure
This one’s a little more controversial. If you simple google KFC and breast cancer, you’ll find a tremendous count of varying opinions on the subject of this partnership. Is it appropriate? Is it not? It definitely requires an explanation. Some individuals labeled them as “pinkwashing” meaning that the brand took advantage of affiliating with such a cause when their own true efforts do not really align with the values of the charity. Debatable. When it comes down to it, it’s hard to smack the hand of a brand when people CHOOSE to eat their food, and as a result, a pretty fantastic charity is supported. If they’re going to promote their food anyway, why not do it to help breast cancer awareness? I realize this isn’t even close to scratching the surface of the why’s and why not’s of a campaign, but you have to admit, the campaing worked. Their promise was to donate a minimum of $1 million, and their goal was to reach $8 million – the largest single donation ever donated to Susan G. Komen.
To be honest, there’s really not enough space to list out the many sponsorship efforts around breast cancer awareness month and the various charities that do so much work to research a cure. I’d love it if you listed some of your favorite campaigns, or maybe some of the campaigns that draw controversy. Give us your thoughts; I know there’s passion out there on this subject.