http://causecapitalism.com/the-teapot-story-giving-money-away-draws-customers-boosts-sales/ *Good* for profit Mon, 07 May 2012 09:11:44 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.3.2 http://causecapitalism.com/the-teapot-story-giving-money-away-draws-customers-boosts-sales/#comment-298 admin Tue, 18 Aug 2009 17:23:29 +0000 http://causecapitalism.com/?p=470#comment-298 Rob, you bring up a critical point. I wanted to use this story as a simple vignette to demonstrate consumer behavior for cause-related products. Of course, it's often not as simple as just donating X% to charity (although this act still has merit). I hammer the importance of authenticity and being genuine when speaking with entrepreneurs or companies about how to implement a social mission. (In this post, I choose to present a simple anecdote at the expense of talking about the guidelines.) I think it's a long-term failure--as you suggest--if a company doesn't integrate its social mission with its business mission and passions. Thank you for contributing to this discussion. Rob, you bring up a critical point. I wanted to use this story as a simple vignette to demonstrate consumer behavior for cause-related products. Of course, it’s often not as simple as just donating X% to charity (although this act still has merit). I hammer the importance of authenticity and being genuine when speaking with entrepreneurs or companies about how to implement a social mission. (In this post, I choose to present a simple anecdote at the expense of talking about the guidelines.) I think it’s a long-term failure–as you suggest–if a company doesn’t integrate its social mission with its business mission and passions. Thank you for contributing to this discussion.

]]> http://causecapitalism.com/the-teapot-story-giving-money-away-draws-customers-boosts-sales/#comment-297 Rob Caldwell Mon, 17 Aug 2009 15:12:54 +0000 http://causecapitalism.com/?p=470#comment-297 I like that "Lucy" was able to increase sales by 30% after she started to be more socially responsible. I like this because it was good for her business. I wonder, though, if doing this just for an increase in sales (as it seems...maybe there is more to the story, I don't know) will hurt her in the long run? I think it could hurt her if customers find out that she may be donating just for the sake of saying she's doing so without really being involved or genuine. (Again, I'm not sure if this is really the case, but let's assume so.) Does this mean that donating some of her profits is a bad thing? No. But, I do think that being genuine and passionate about the "extra" things that a person does is more important than an arbitrary percentage. Have you ever compared the two? I like that “Lucy” was able to increase sales by 30% after she started to be more socially responsible. I like this because it was good for her business. I wonder, though, if doing this just for an increase in sales (as it seems…maybe there is more to the story, I don’t know) will hurt her in the long run? I think it could hurt her if customers find out that she may be donating just for the sake of saying she’s doing so without really being involved or genuine. (Again, I’m not sure if this is really the case, but let’s assume so.) Does this mean that donating some of her profits is a bad thing? No. But, I do think that being genuine and passionate about the “extra” things that a person does is more important than an arbitrary percentage.
Have you ever compared the two?

]]> http://causecapitalism.com/the-teapot-story-giving-money-away-draws-customers-boosts-sales/#comment-294 admin Sat, 15 Aug 2009 01:17:44 +0000 http://causecapitalism.com/?p=470#comment-294 My too because it's so digestible and sticky. Great anecdote to pull out when arguing social mission with companies. Thanks of the comment. My too because it’s so digestible and sticky. Great anecdote to pull out when arguing social mission with companies. Thanks of the comment.

]]> http://causecapitalism.com/the-teapot-story-giving-money-away-draws-customers-boosts-sales/#comment-293 Andrew Warner Sat, 15 Aug 2009 01:15:05 +0000 http://causecapitalism.com/?p=470#comment-293 I like data like this. I like data like this.

]]> http://causecapitalism.com/the-teapot-story-giving-money-away-draws-customers-boosts-sales/#comment-292 admin Sat, 15 Aug 2009 00:22:08 +0000 http://causecapitalism.com/?p=470#comment-292 Mosses, thanks for your comment and congrats for building a social element into your business! Happy to help with any questions. Mosses, thanks for your comment and congrats for building a social element into your business! Happy to help with any questions.

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