Hamish Pringle, Marjorie Thompson
ISBN: 0-471-49944-7
Paper
306 pages
January 2001

CRM can be defined as the activity by which a company with an image, product or service to market builds a relationship or partnership with a cause or a number of causes for mutual benefit. It should enhance corporate reputation, raise brand awareness, increase customer loyalty, build/increase sales, create press coverage. In an environment of intense competition the consumer requirements of companies and their brands are going beyond the practical issues or product performance and the more emotional aspects of brand personality and image. People are asking questions about the role of commercial organizations in society and are looking for demonstrations of good corporate citizenship. These developments have profound implications for our thinking about brands and branding. In order to remain competitive, marketers will have to find ways of adding new sorts of values to their brands to satisfy the emerging consumer demand for higher order image attributes. Whilst some companies and brands already have a strong belief system which fulfills this need, many do not and, for the majority of them, a Cause Related Marketing (CRM) programme represents the quickest and most cost-effective way to acquire the necessary credo to enhance their brand position. This book explains the concept of CRM and its place within the context of thinking on branding, and demonstrates how a marketeer can harness its power for a product, service or corporate brand.