In celebration of Blog Action Day today, I wanted to discuss how companies are marketing to stop poverty. Wikipedia said something interesting about social marketing that I wanted to share:
The primary aim of ’social marketing’ is ’social good’, while in ‘commercial marketing’ the aim is primarily ‘financial’. This does not mean that commercial marketers can not contribute to achievement of social good.
So this shows us two primary reasons companies market to stop poverty:
- Their business is one that seeks to end poverty
- They want the publicity and goodwill that comes with supporting such a cause
Here are some examples.
- The most popular company (which is bound to get a lot of mention today) is Kiva.org. Wendy Piersall is the one who initially introduced me to this site, which gives micro loans to people all over the world looking to start a business. Anyone can lend money, and you get the feeling you’re doing something good.
- This guerilla marketing campaign is kinda cool. It’s called Pillows to Stop Poverty, which was a Belgian campaign designed to create awareness of the number of homeless people in the area.
- Even American Express is getting in on the action. Their Members Project has the tagline “Make a positive impact in the world.” Not surprisingly, Kiva is a finalist.
So whether or not your business is aimed at stopping poverty, what can you do to add a little positive social marketing to your strategy?
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Susan Payton is the Marketing Eggspert, and owner of 
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