Social equity increases brand equity

In a paper published ten years ago, Steve Hoeffler and Kevin Keller showed that "consumers’ perceptions of a company as a whole and its role in society can significantly affect a brand’s strength and equity." In 2002, tying a company to a social cause could "increase brand awareness, enhance brand image, establish brand credibility, evoke brand feelings, create a sense of brand community, and elicit brand engagement."

Today, we can add "increase word-of-mouth marketing" to the list of possible benefits of cause marketing. As part of a well-crafted marketing plan, cause marketing can increase customers' awareness of the cause, increase engagement with the brand, and even bring new evangelists into the fold.

A current example of this is Coca Cola's Arctic Home campaign. The WWF and Coca-Cola have had an ongoing partnership since 2007 and have co-sponsored several environmental issues. For the Super Bowl, Coca Cola launched a massive campaign that reaches across multiple channels to help save polar bears.

The Super Bowl component of the campaign used television, mobile and social media. During the game, any consumer could "donate" $1 to the campaign simply by sharing the online videos via social media on Facebook and Twitter. You can read more about the Arctic Home Campaign here.