While growing social and environmental awareness has led to a rise in cause-related campaigns in recent years, COVID-19 has brought it front and center.

A growing tide
As the pandemic swept the globe earlier this year, companies rapidly shifted production and distribution to protective gear and in many cases tied it to a cause. For example, retailer Banana Republic yesterday announced a fall campaign (“Will Work For A Better Republic”) involving relationships with non-profits Delivering Good and Rock the Vote. The Delivering Good portion involves $20 million worth of clothing donated to people in need. Several recent licensing-related efforts have tied themselves to mental health issues.

Of course, many brand owners and manufacturers responded to the COVID-19 outbreak by tying their efforts to donating either goods or sale proceeds to non-profits or first responders. Trevco, which started MaskClub.com with the promise to donate a medical grade mask for each one it sold, is now shifting gears, aligning with Baby2Baby, which supplies clothing to 0-12-year-old children living in poverty. It also plans to tie water conservation and ocean-related causes to sales of licensed drinkware, says CEO Trevor George. Trevco expects to have donated 500,000 face masks by late September, double the amount donated thus far,  George said.

Consumer Bonds
Yet  programs like these cement a relationship with consumers even as they address immediate needs. It’s a positioning that particularly appeals to millennials and their younger counterparts – as long as it’s authentic.

Seventy-one percent of millennials said they would pay more for a product if they knew proceeds would go to charity, according to a 5WPR 2020 Consumer Culture Report. And a Porter Novelli survey finds that 89% of consumers wanted brands to shift to producing products that help people with pandemic-related challenges, while 70% believe COVID-19 will force companies in the long-term to act more responsibly.

Sincerity is key
The ties forged with consumers during the pandemic can easily be broken if the campaign sounds hollow or insincere. In the current environment, brands have an even greater challenge than boosting sales. With global health issues a priority, brands must also position themselves as lifelines.

For example, giftware company Mark Feldstein & Associates signed a one-year agreement in May with the Centers for Disease Control’s (CDC) Emergency Relief Foundation for COVID-19 to donate 5% of sales of its three-inch, key-shaped Hy-Genie hand tool that can be used to open doors and operate ATMs without touching a surface. Feldstein has sold more than 100,000 units of the Hy-Genie product since launching through QVC and CVS in July. Under the agreement, Feldstein can include the CDC name in marketing materials and on packaging, but can’t promote the product as being endorsed by the organization, says Marketing Manager Howard Feldstein. Separate from the CDC agreement, Feldstein  is selling a Hy-Genie hand sanitizer wand that kills germs using Ultraviolet-C light.

“We are a fourth quarter company, and this filled a gap when we had so many orders cancelled in the spring,” says Feldstein. “But we also wanted to give back to the community and this seemed to address both issues.”

In other words, cause and commerce need to work together.