But it wasn’t launched as a social responsibility initiative. It was launched as business strategy. And it’s proven extremely successful, attracting millions of new customers, influencing greater store sales and establishing Walmart as the third largest pharmacy in the United States with 16 percent market share.

Walmart launched the program because it saw a market opportunity to meet the specific need (inexpensive medication independent of insurance status) for an enormous population (not only the uninsured and Medicare recipients but anyone looking for affordable prescriptions or one-stop shopping).

As Jason Saul writes in his recent book, Social Innovation, Inc., this was a “true business strategy that happened to involve social change as a leverage point.”

Of course social impact shouldn’t only be a freak side effect of a business strategy. Opportunities are born from the challenges around us. As Peter Drucker says, “Every single social and global issue of our day is a business opportunity in disguise.”

Bill Marquard also speaks about reframing social issues as an opportunity for business growth, rather than as a societal obligation. During last year’s Sustainable Brands conference he used Groupe Danone’s partnership with Grameen to illustrate this. To address the issue of malnutrition in Bangladesh, Danone elected a market-based approach over a philanthropic investment, product donation or cause marketing campaign.

The output is a new yogurt product available for around nine cents that fulfills children’s basic nutritional needs. The outcomes of this venture, both social and business, are tremendous. Through it, Danone developed a new market in Bangladesh, created a low-cost product that’s since been introduced to French consumers and strengthened operational efficiencies (the small footprint manufacturing facilities and processes that were developed in Bangladesh are being replicated globally). This market-based solution also yielded a greater and more enduring social impact (a new national industry, more jobs and access to critical nutrients for many Bangladeshis) than if Danone had just gifted money.

Bit by bit, we’re seeing more companies using their core business to address social issues and viewing these issues as potential profit. It’s not unethical. It’s the most generous thing a company can do.

You can hear Jason Saul speak at Sustainable Brands next month. As a presenter, I can offer 20% off conference registration through May 15. To register with the discount, email me at olivia[at]causecapitalism.com.

Three words–easy to understand, easy to share.

This list partially represents the 155 blogs I’ve written this year, but it’s nowhere near complete. Add your triplets in the comments and I’ll be sure to tweet them out.

Stand for something [Tweet]

Make sustainability personal  [Tweet]

Own your mission [Tweet]

Don’t please everyone [Tweet]

Reject your ego [Tweet]

Do not pretend [Tweet]

Inauthenticity will bankrupt [Tweet]

Practice sustainability now [Tweet]

Leverage your strengths [Tweet]

Set big goals… [Tweet]

…But start small [Tweet]

Network before need  [Tweet]

Tap your peers [Tweet]

Fire-up your employees [Tweet]

Recruit internal stakeholders [Tweet]

Launch before perfection [Tweet]

Be obsessively transparent [Tweet]

Form creative partnerships [Tweet]

Build long-term partnerships [Tweet]

Observe what motivates [Tweet]

Make consumers altruistic  [Tweet]

Give consumers details [Tweet]

Recognize all stakeholders  [Tweet]

Beware brand misalignment [Tweet]

Try, fail, try [Tweet]

Become a B-Corp [Tweet]

Internalize your sustainability [Tweet]

Voice your passion [Tweet]

Measure it all [Tweet]

Focus on outcomes [Tweet]

Keep deliverables doable [Tweet]

Evaluate mid-program [Tweet]

Adjust to improve [Tweet]

Report impact constantly  [Tweet]

Support cause long-term [Tweet]

Let mission guide [Tweet]

Don’t mark-up prices [Tweet]

Funding isn’t necessary [Tweet]

Understand funding types [Tweet]

Waste less waste [Tweet]

Safeguard your mission [Tweet]

Prepare for succession [Tweet]

Hat tip to Dharmesh Shah for the addictive exercise of condensing advice into three words. Don’t forget to add your own in the comments–what practice or mindset have you put to use that might help others?

This piece was originally written for and published on Reach Students.

If 94% of Millennials condone cause marketing why do only 53% report buying a product that benefits a cause in the past year?  The first finding is compelling, the second certainly is not, particularly given that in many stores you’d have to struggle not to buy cause-related products. So what explains this gap and what can your company do to close it?

The gap exists because cause marketing is predominately used by companies as a short-cut to boost product sales and consumer good-will. So we typically see cause marketing campaigns developed in a stand-alone manner, rather than as one element in support of a company’s larger social mission. Instead, companies should look to influence their selected cause or issue through deep-rooted commitments and multiple points of engagement.

“Cause-related marketing, as we know it, is dead. It’s not about slapping a ribbon on a product any longer.…Americans seek deeper involvement in social issues and expect brands and companies to provide various means of engagement,” says Carol Cone,  managing director of Brand and Corporate Citizenship at Edelman.

Genius brands like TOMS Shoes, Nike and RockCorps Orange and Boost Mobile have closed this gap by building programs around their long-term commitment to an issue and giving consumers the opportunity to participate through volunteering, advocacy and education. Many of these companies’ initiatives aren’t even tied to product purchases. They understand that creating deeper and longer-term relationship with consumers is much more valuable–in terms of products sales and brand perception, visibility, sustainability and  social impact–than an immediate cause-marketing success.

Here are 7 strategies you can use to close the gap:

1. Define your mission.
   Before you think about how to create a smashing campaign, choose a cause that means something to your brand or consumers. Then be specific about who you want to benefit and what you ultimately aim to achieve, both in affecting social or environmental change and in impacting your company.
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2. Invest in the cause longterm.
   A long-term commitment to a cause or organization helps define what your company stands for, enables a greater social impact and makes it easier for you to measure this impact. The whole idea of engaging consumers in your social mission is to take them on a journey of awareness and participation, through which they begin to associate your brand with real impact, action and commitment to good. Switching up the issues you care about confuses your message, weakens your impact and leaves consumers rolling their eyes at another ill-fated attempt to influence what they buy by way of their heartstrings.
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3. Lead with impact, not branding or splash.
   A quick way to turn off consumers and taint your brand is to use customers as a pawn in a high-on-glitz-but-low-on-impact campaign in the name of doing good. RockCorps‘ partnerships with Orange and Boost Mobile, in the United Kingdom and United States, respectively, focus on community involvement and volunteerism rather than cell phone ownership and use.  ”You can’t buy a ticket, you have to earn it,” is RockCorps’ tagline and mission. These RockCorps partnerships organize A-list concerts with a unique ticket policy: tickets can’t be bought, only earned by volunteering for several hours at a community event organized by RockCorps. This model shifts the focus to giving back to your community, rather than who can and can’t afford which phone or a ticket to hear Busta Rhymes.
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4. Be specific.
   Sixty-one percent of consumers take the time to learn the details of a corporate-nonprofit partnership before deciding whether to support it. The more specific your commitment is, the stronger the appeal. A commitment of one donated vaccine for every t-shirt purchased is stronger than a commitment of 10% of sales (how much is that?), and 10% of sales is stronger than “a portion of the proceeds.”Here’s one suggestion from a 16-year old American woman, “On the label, [there should be] a little paragraph about why the product is helping the environment and how it is made differently. That is something a new, limited-time organic Target brand did and it was very neat to know what special process went into making the clothes,” (quote taken from Alcatel Teen Lab).
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5. Connect customers to the cause.
   While 81% of consumers still want to support your company’s cause through transactional purchases they also want opportunities to volunteer for the featured cause (72%) and to provide feedback on the product or campaign (75%), per Cone Inc.’s 2010 Cause Evaluation Study. TOMS Shoes is known for its transaction-focused buy-one-give-one model.  But the company has also done an excellent job of providing customers opportunities to act, for example, through Style Your Sole shoe painting parties and annual “One Day Without Shoes” events that mobilize thousands of students to go barefoot for the day.

   Nike has partnered with Ashoka’s Changemakers to run several online competitions that challenge young social entrepreneurs to develop ways to leverage sport for positive social change. The initiative is completely independent of product purchases. By separating its commitment to sports for social change from its products, Nike is using its brand to motivate change and empower athletes and entrepreneurs. In the longterm, this visibility and consumer association could translate into product sales, but product sales are only one potential outcome–the other being social impact.
   .

6. Don’t exploit the cause or your consumers.
   Your cause is indicative of the impact you want to have. Don’t play fast and cheap with it, which means no pictures of abandoned dogs and ravaged children. Instead, find ways to communicate the urgency of their needs with dignity. The same is true for your consumers. When reporting on the brilliant success of your campaign, stay connected to the impact you’ve had and the ultimate change you’re determined to make, not how your campaign spiked product sales or utilized a new technology.
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7. Report on impact.
   Seventy-five percent of consumers want to hear more about the impact of corporate-nonprofit partnerships. How much money was raised and who did it help? How many people were served? How were they specifically affected?  The desire for feedback means you’ve successfully involved the customer in the cause. They feel personally connected to it and are interested to know how what they stood behind made a difference to someone. As a company, this is the best part because you’ve created a unique opportunity for an individual, or a million individuals, to make an impact.

My reaction to the pay-for-bag-system has also evolved in step with consumer and business attitudes. I remember being charged for bags five years ago at Ikea (this time in California, after another move) and feeling indignant. How could the store charge me, a customer, for a bag to carry what I had just paid them for? Of course, later I settled into the routine of bringing reusable bags to the store with me when it wasn’t needed. And it became a point of pride, a small, visible signal to myself that I was being responsible. The stores neither encouraged my actions nor rewarded them.

But now that’s changing.  Trader Joe’s charges 5 cents per bag and credits you 5 cents for every bag you bring. As my better-late-than-never-sustainability-practicing husband pointed out, “That’s a 10-cent cost for every paper bag you use.”  CVS sells Greenbagtags to attach to any reusable bag for 99 cents and rewards you with a $1 credit every fourth time you use your bag. Each tag sold also triggers a 5 cent donation to the World Wildlife Fund.

So why are companies getting in the game?  Is it saving on bags? Customer loyalty (e.g., CVS’ Greenbagtag program)? Public image? Market relevance? Each factor in itself is reason enough because there’s adequate social proof to enforce the practice of reusable bags, which means that customers are less likely to view this restriction as negative. But what about Ikea five years ago? Surely I wasn’t the only customer irked I had to pay for bags.  What was the value of the risk for Ikea?

The value is in what the company stands for: less waste, sustainable sourcing and labor (as well as inexpensive well-designed products).  Last month, Ikea announced that by January it will no longer sell lights that use incandescent bulbs.  That’s also a brazen step sure to bug some consumers.  Five years down the road, however, it will likely seem de riggueur as consumers reap the financial savings of energy-efficient lighting.

In a market that is so consumer driven, it’s exciting to see companies influencing consumer behavior for the better.  And it’s a good business strategy. When Nike makes a product that gets me running more and Ikea improves the way I light my home, I am grateful (and a loyal, evangelizing consumer).

I happened on the idea that business can be a force for social change in January 2008 and launched this blog, Cause Capitalism, to catalogue my discoveries and channel my thoughts.  Today, two years, eight months and 227 posts later, I’m taking an apt moment to reflect on salient points I’ve learned along the way.

‘Why apt?,’ I’ll ask rhetorically.  Because this week I’m leaving Buenos Aires where I’ve spent the past 1o months interviewing entrepreneurs and writing nearly daily on ‘the whole idea of social impact and business.’  I’m moving to Washington, D.C. to work with Ashoka’s Changemakers, and I’m darn thrilled about it.  I’ll be working with companies and foundations to launch competitions that source entrepreneurial solutions to some of the world’s social problems.

To be clear, the following list is not a eulogy.  I’ll continue to develop Cause Capitalism as a resource for socially driven entrepreneurs and companies (with a new site coming soon).  Here are my top-five observations on a macro level (numbers 6 and 7 would be the importance of cross-sector collaboration and long-term investment).

1. Socially proactive companies are not a replacement for nonprofits. This came as slow learning to me.  I used to think, Ah-hah! If businesses can make a profit and positively impact society then there’s no need for nonprofits. I realize now how untrue that is.  There are many issues, sectors and populations that can’t currently (and may never) support for-profit solutions.
2. The business case for sustainability is stronger than it was two and a half years ago. Not only are many resources (and disposal of their by-products) more expensive, consumers and employees expect businesses to be good citizens at a minimum and societal caretakers more often.
3. Particularly in a business setting, what’s measured is valued. Social business isn’t a moral perk, it’s a strategic approach to sustainable profit. It can make you feel great, but that’s only one of sustainability’s outcomes, which all need to be measured and then communicated and improved upon.
4. Transparent authenticity counts most. Yes, transparency and authenticity may be hackneyed words now, but man are they critical (BP is a smashing example of a company that was not honestly committed to sustainability but marketed itself as one that was. It also didn’t act transparently in the wake of the oil spill, hedging facts and shirking full responsibility).  If your company is truly pushing sustainability, there’ll be inevitable failures as you test and try new ideas. We all know the merits of failure, so no Churchill advice on learning from it here; just remember: whether your hiccup is public or private, be open and honest about it.
5. We’re just getting started. It’s been fascinating for me to see the surge in recognition, expectation and practice of socially responsible business. We have more data from consumers and businesses that reinforces the efficacy of sustainability as a business practice and business as part of the social solution.  We have new certifications and structures to support socially innovative businesses, like B Corp and L3C, and a growing pool of businesses are looking for ways to serve basic needs of four billion people at the base of the pyramid.

Know a person or business I should meet or be aware of in D.C.?  Drop me an email! olivia[at]causecapitalism[dot]com.