Crying wolf over charitable links

Marketing Week seems to be crying wolf about cause-related marketing (MW last week).

The voice of the customer was curiously absent from the story about the wicked corporate wolf who dons sheep’s clothing to lure innocent charities into liasons dangereuses.

The facts, then: Tetley’s partnership with the British Heart Foundation (BHF) is the stuff of fairytale – customers were thanked, on packs, for the &£200,000 they contributed towards hands-on care from BHF nurses. (Think about that next time one of your family needs cardiac nursing).

Research has shown Tetley that 78 per cent of customers understand that it is raining money for BHF.

As marketers, we all want intimate conversations with our customers – and this partnership gave us direct access to the breakfast tables of one in three households.

This particular “sheep” can count. This sheep knows that partnerships like this are powerful, good value for money and a first-class way of distributing potentially life-saving information about the UK’s number one killer.

BHF welcomes debate about cause-related marketing – as it welcomes approaches from marketers who believe in happy endings.

Betty McBride

Director of marketing and communications

British Heart Foundation

London, W1