Three Cheerios for effective cause promotion

General Mills generosity

A leading food company, General Mills has currently has 100+ brands in over 100 countries (Cheerios Can Help Reduce Cholesterol 10 Percent in One Month, 2009). General Mills has long been to giving back to the community in which they operate through charitable corporate contributions. One of the organization’s many effective cause-related promotions is Yoplait’s ‘Save Lids to Save Lives’ initiative for breast cancer. The organization recently committed to donating 10 cents to Susan G. Komen for each lid received and each code entered by the end of June (Save Lids to Save Lives, 2012). This type of philanthropy, which is tied to the purchase of a General Mills product, has done wonders to both align the organization with an important cause and increase General Mills product sales. However, it is their classic brand of whole wheat cereal that has been exceptionally successful at promoting a specific cause simply through strategic, persuasive advertising and public relations tactics. 

 

Whole grain goodness

Cheerios has been around since the 1950’s and has become synonymous with helping to lower cholesterol because of the soluble fiber contained in the whole grain ‘O’ shaped cereal. As we’ve learned, corporate cause promotion is the practice of raising awareness about a social cause in an attempt to leverage support. Cheerios is all about preventative health care and its link to heart health in particular has helped increase consumer awareness and support of this growing brand.

Communicating heart health

The cereal box says it all. Cheerios boxes display the American Heart Association’s certification, marked by a “heart healthy” check, which means that the cereal meets their criteria for cholesterol and saturated fat content. Additionally, Cheerios boxes display the heart-shaped bowl of cereal with some sort variation of a statement about how the whole grain oats help to lower cholesterol,which further helps to raise awareness about the cause. 

Through blatant advertising, Cheerios promotes its heart healthy attributes in many of its television commercials, such as this one of an older couple discussing how the cereal lowers cholesterol:

Although Cheerios is not officially an ongoing partner of the American Heart Association, their involvement with its charitable events throughout the years has created a constant implied tie that has become ingrained in the minds of its consumers. For example, Cheerios is one of the national supporters for the American Heart Association’s My Heart. My Life. healthy living initiative. There is a code found on specially marked boxes of Cheerios, and for each code entered, the cereal brand will donate one dollar to the Association from now until January, 2014 (Cheerios supports the American Heart Assocation, 2013).

 

When you land on the corporate website, you can’t help but be bombarded with cholesterol-related information, tips on how to live a healthy lifestyle and detailed information on how their line of cereal helps promote a healthy heart (Cheerios, 2013). Not only that, but the website targets toddlers and how Cheerios is both a healthy and “easy to grasp” finger food while they are developing feeding skills.

A common tactic for any cause marketing campaign is to publish research conducted on the issue and present motivating facts (COMM 4849 Fund Development and Corporate Philanthropy, 2013). A 2008 independent study is published on their website of Canadian pediatricians showed that 4 out of 5 pediatricians recommend Cheerios for their infant or toddler (A nutritious cereal for all ages, Cheerios* cereal is good for adults too, 2010), which further emphasizes the product’s heart healthy ingredients. Again, promoting heart health from an early age; a preventative measure. Further capitalizing on effective public relations tactics, Cheerios promoted the results of a research study via a press release with strategic quotes, such as, “Now when people enjoy the No. 1 cereal in America they can feel confident they are taking a positive step towards getting healthier by helping to lower their cholesterol”(Bloomberg, para. 5).

Cheerios Fuels Success

Many consumers associate this popular breakfast cereal, which tastes somewhat like cardboard in my opinion, to a healthy heart and it is commonly viewed as a healthy way to start your day. Cheerios has done such a successful job at aligning its brand with heart health and low cholesterol that the General Mills franchise has expanded to include 13 different varieties of Cheerios and is still growing. The brand capitalizes on effective public relations tactics by conducting research studies and disseminating press releases of the results. Cause support through advertising, such as the American Heart Association’s My Heart. My Life. healthy living initiative, helps to persuade people to donate money to the cause and eat heart healthy food. In addition, strategic advertising and messaging on Cheerios boxes, its corporate website and through commercials have helped to effectively promote its cause; low cholesterol and healthy hearts.

 

It is evident that Cheerios’s alignment with heart health has made it an increasingly profitable brand for General Mills and has also raised awareness for the cause. The cereal market is saturated and becoming associated with a worthy, health-conscious cause has provided Cheerios with a competitive advantage. Ideally, Cheerios will help to change negative, unhealthy behaviours into positive behaviours through its marketing initiatives by encouraging people to eat low cholesterol foods and become active. This change in behaviour will only further benefit Cheerios because more people will be inclined to purchase Cheerios due to its well-known tie to heart health as well as its support of the American Heart Association.

This cause has been adopted seamlessly into all of Cheerio’s promotional campaigns and charitable initiatives, which makes it hard for other cereal brands to attempt to replicate it. It has not created a financial burden for the brand, nor has it required additional time and resources - it has simply become part of its ongoing branding. All things considered, the benefits of continuing to align Cheerios with low cholesterol and heart health-related causes outweigh any potential hindrances.

Nike, LIVESTRONG and cause-related marketing

 The LIVESTRONG Foundation

The LIVESTRONG Foundation, formerly the Lance Armstrong Foundation, was founded in 1997 by the storied cyclist and foundation's initial namesake (Milestones, para. 1). After he was diagnosed with advanced testicular cancer in 1996, which spread to his abdomen, lungs and brain, he declared himself a survivor instead of a victim, and took action to learn more about the disease (Our Founder, para. 1). Throughout his own personal battle, he realized the distinct lack of resources available to those facing the disease, and created the foundation for the purpose of helping others through and beyond a cancer diagnosis (Our Founder, para. 1).

Those yellow bracelets

In 2004, LIVESTRONG launched the now-iconic yellow LIVESTRONG wristbands as a symbol of support for survivors (Our Founder, para. 4). The bracelet was met with overwhelming popularity, spawned a countless number of copycats and helped skyrocket the foundation's presence, making it a globally recognized brand. Through a partnership with Nike, LIVESTRONG sold and distributed more than 87 million wristbands across the world (Our Founder, para. 4).

Nike and Livestrong

Nike and LIVESTRONG had a happy nine-year corporate partnership. Nike licensed the LIVESTRONG brand and placed it on footwear, clothing and, of course, the LIVESTRONG bracelets (Banjo, para. 2). True to the benefits of a cause-related marketing partnership, both the charity and corporation saw distinct gains as part of the partnership. LIVESTRONG benefitted from the increased exposure, due to the partnership with Nike, alongside the seemingly incredible story behind it's founder. It's no surprise the partnership helped to increase the charity's presence, as Forbes appointed Nike as number one on their list of The World's Most Valuable Sports Brands, valuing the brand at $15,000,000,000.

And while it's uncharacteristic of Nike to support a charity to the same extent it supported LIVESTRONG, it's unsurprising that Nike would turn down such a good opportunity to elevate its own brand. The partnership was a perfect alignment between the two organizations, due to the foundation’s and corporation’s affiliations with then-legendary cyclist Lance Armstrong.

Why it worked

The Nike/LIVESTRONG partnership increased Nike's reach, just by the simple fact that just about every person on earth, either directly or indirectly, has been affected by cancer. The tie to cancer motivated consumers who may not have previously purchased Nike products to purchase, at the very least, a LIVESTRONG bracelet, if not other LIVESTRONG-branded merchandise.

Similarly, LIVESTRONG benefitted from Nike’s reach as the leader among the world’s most valuable sports brands. The foundation’s affiliation to the sports giant helped create global awareness of the foundation, the LIVESTRONG brand and cancer in general. Outside of generating awareness, the partnership with Nike helped the foundation generate $100 million of the roughly $500 million raised by LIVESTRONG since 1997 (The Associated Press, para. 5).

Trouble in paradise

As it turns out, affiliations with cyclist Lance Armstrong turned out to be quite detrimental to the partnership. For years, Armstrong had been accused of using illegal performance-enhancing drugs, however, he denied the accusations and continued being a Nike-backed athlete. In fact, Nike even went as far as to use him as the focus in a Nike commercial against doping in 2001.

Following the publication of a 1,000-page report exposing Armstrong as a serial drug cheat in 2012, however, Nike had no choice but to drop him as an athlete. Nike released the statement: “Due to the seemingly insurmountable evidence that Lance Armstrong participated in doping and misled Nike for more than a decade, it is with great sadness that we have terminated our contract with him. Nike does not condone the use of illegal performance enhancing drugs in any manner,” (Hart, para. 3).

And LIVESTRONG went with Lance into exile. Nike stopped making its LIVESTRONG line of apparel after the 2013 holiday season, but will continue the financial terms of its contract until the deal expires in 2014 (The Associated Press, para. 4).

LIVESTRONG #liveWRONG

After Nike’s significant contributions to LIVESTRONG’s success, it’s difficult not to question the foundation’s future without the backing of the sports giant. Further, considering Armstrong and LIVESTRONG are synonymous with one another, despite Armstrong stepping down as chair of the foundation after the scandal broke, people with a previously strong allegiance to the foundation ditched their yellow wristbands.

Tweets following the cyclist’s resignation reflected the public’s disgust, bearing the hashtag #liveWRONG and displaying photos of torn LIVESTRONG bracelets. So, Armstrong's actions became a detriment to the foundation, even though their focus is completely removed from Armstrong's career as a professional athlete.

Our take

The Nike/LIVESTRONG partnership suffered from more than just the typical drawbacks to be expected with cause-related marketing. The foundation is now facing a new and independent future, all because of its founder’s poor choices. But, where would LIVESTRONG be without him in the first place?

While, within the sports community, Lance’s actions are and were unforgivable, it’s difficult to understand the public backlash toward LIVESTRONG. Outside of his professional deceit, Armstrong started a foundation that has raised $500 million dollars for cancer research. He used his ties to Nike to create a partnership, which raised $100 million of that $500 million. LIVESTRONG leveraged the partnership to create top-of-mind cancer awareness, by putting 87 million wristbands in the public domain. So, while as a professional athlete, he totally blew it, the strides he made toward supporting those with cancer are undeniable.