3 Reasons Giving Back Should Be a Part of Your Brand

Branding is multi-faceted. It’s everything from a customer’s first digital interaction with your company to your packaging when their product arrives, to the on boarding email they get when they sign up for your services. It’s your identity, your ethos, and your essence, which is visual, auditory, and experiential. How you define and execute your brand can attract your ideal customer to you and can be one of the most effective marketing tools you have in your arsenal. Which is why, what you care about matters so much. While brands like TOMS or Warby Parker have built in a buy-one-give-one model, there are several ways you can give back with your business. You can simply choose to support a specific cause on a regular basis or pay your staff to volunteer for an afternoon. Your company can participate in fundraising for a 5k run or even share their social content on your platforms. Giving back isn’t just a great way to contribute to your community, it’s also good for solidifying your brand. While, there are tons of good reasons you should build a culture of giving back into your brand, here are our top three.

Giving Back Differentiates Your Brand

One of the best signs of a good brand is how memorable it is, how recognizable. With so many brands, companies, and products, it’s so easy to get lost in the shuffle no matter how cool your logo is. But if your brand is sharing about how they are bringing puppies into the office once a month for staff to play with and how the business gives a portion of their profits to the local shelter where those puppies can be adopted, you’ve done some good in the world and given customers another reason to pay attention. When you give back it lets customers and potential customers have more insight into who you are as a business, what you care about, and why you exist. 

Being Purpose-Driven Company Can Attract New Customers

A 2018 Cone/Porter Novelli Purpose Study found that 78% of Americans believe companies must do more than just make money; they must positively impact society as well and 66% would switch from a product they typically buy, to a new product from a Purpose-driven company. It’s becoming more and more common for consumers to care about the business practices of the companies they support. Consumer opinion is shifting toward a belief that businesses have a responsibility to their communities and people are willing to patronize the ones that take that responsibility seriously.

Cause-based Marketing Can Secure Your Brand Reputation and Offer Great Publicity

When you partner with local non-profit organizations to create campaigns or support their efforts by sponsoring an event, you’re showing your audience that you’re invested in more than your bottom line and can capitalize on great publicity. You can also achieve similar results when you connect to a cause and show your audience that you care about moving the social needle forward. For example, when  L Brands chief marketing officer said Victoria’s Secret doesn’t and shouldn’t cast “transsexuals” (he presumably meant transgender women) and plus-size models in the televised fashion show because it’s “a fantasy” and “no one” has “an interest” in watching plus-size models and understandably people were hurt and outraged. San Francisco based bra startup ThirdLove’s co-founder and co-CEO, Heidi Zak, initially responded on Instagram, but she had much more to say — and took out a full-page ad in The New York Times to say it. They became a force and voice for body positivity and women’s empowerment. They recently raised an additional $55 million in investment revenue to expand their product offerings.

Not that any of these should be your primary reason for speaking up and giving back, but they’re definitely nice perks.