Oct 10, 2011 at 01:25 PM
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Four Things Every Retailer Should Know About Cause Marketing From Komen's CMO

At last week's Center for Retailing Studies Retailing Summit 2011, Katrina McGhee, chief marketing officer at the Komen Foundation, gave a keynote presentation entitled Cause Marketing: What Every Retailer Should Know. McGhee should know what retailers should know. As executive vice president and chief marketing officer, she is responsible for Komen’s global marketing, communications, events, multicultural marketing, new business strategies and cause marketing programs, along with oversight of more than 200 corporate partnerships, more than 140 Susan G. Komen Race for the Cure Series events, and more than $350 million in annual revenue.


Here's a few of the cause marketing principles she laid out in her presentation to retailers.

  • - Make sure that the cause you're adopting is deeply relevant to your brand and consumers.

  • - Don't spread yourself too thin with too many causes.

  • - Don't just capture the 'flavor of the day.'

  • - Make a long term commitment ... she says “it’s about the third year that cause marketing programs actually hit their stride.”


    For more on McGhee's presentation, check out the Fort Worth Star-Telegram blog.