Can you feed a child by burning a calorie? Can these two opposite global health concerns come together? But a viral video campaign run only on social media inspired 10 leading brands including Walmart and Coca Cola to pay for the calories burnt by users in Chile while the proceeds went to feed children. The non-charitable organization Burn To Give got 57,000 active users on its Instagram profile while feeding and saving the lives of 1,000 children suffering from severe acute malnutrition in Haiti.
The organization came up with a cause marketing video explaining this concept as their campaign was going viral and used the video to their advantage for getting funds and attention of bigger organizations.
Photo by Jakob Owens on Unsplash
A cause marketing video does inspire action as is evident from some of the most successfully run video campaigns of 2024.
What is ‘Cause marketing video’?
Any type of video that is created for social or charitable causes that benefit non-profit organizations, government welfare departments or charity funds is a cause marketing video. However, even corporate organizations today are using such videos in order to build a strong image of their brand.
What are the benefits of Cause Marketing Video?
A good cause marketing video triggers action. This action may be desired from companies for sponsorships or individual donors or organizations for collaboration. Some benefits of cause marketing videos are –
Building credibility and trust
Just as we saw in the case of the organization Burn To Give, cause marketing videos bring the charitable cause or organization into a limelight. Unlike multi-national companies or hugely funded organizations such as PETA or Green Peace, local agencies involved in social causes are not very well known. Cause marketing videos produced through a TV commercial production companies help bring the organization into notice and build credibility through a strong message.
Establishing awareness about issues
There are many countries in the world where people don’t have free access to knowledge and education. Issues such as sex trafficking, need for women’s hygiene during childbirth, nutrition-related health problems etc may not be as relevant to a certain demographic as they are to others. As a result, often people of one part of the world are not aware of the vital issues in another part of the world. Cause marketing videos help create this kind of awareness about issues that are ailing our society. For instance, while it’s a fact that giraffe as a species is on a verge of extinction, not many governments or NGOs are aware. One way of sensitizing the whole world against the killing of giraffes is through cause marketing videos. In 2017 and 2024, several brands took up the cause of Gun Violence in schools as their underlying theme. MTV launched this video campaign called NationalSchoolWalkOut that beautifully sensitized people around the world about the importance of gun laws.
Channelizing not only funds but also people
A good video production company that puts together a strong video message will trigger action at all levels. Such a video helps in channelizing agencies, investors, companies and people in order to work together for the common cause. A good cause video powerfully presents the issue in question along with ways through which action can be taken. This channelizes money in the right direction while also inspiring people into helping, collaborating or participating. One such example is the PowerlessQueen video campaign where the Chess School of India and The Coach Crew collaborated to organize chess tournaments that involved participation of school students from across schools. It especially encouraged girls to participate. It collected donation of 40,000 hours of education for underprivileged girls and 1.1 million views on the video.
Creating a lasting effect
Often cause marketing videos or charity films are full of emotional messaging, they have a lasting effect. These are videos that are not selling a product or service but are trying to get the attention of people towards a cause. This creates a deeper impact on the minds of people. Such videos last longer on various media platforms and remain in the memories of people. They are able to associate the cause with the NGO or the agency quite easily.
Corporate companies can use cause marketing videos
Cause marketing videos are usually considered good PR. Even corporate companies can use these videos in order to associate their affinity for social issues or causes. Such videos often help them in creating a good image of the company along with engaging viewers. A commendable example is the video created by Mercedez Benz USA titled Greatness Lives Here. It salutes some unsung heroes who have selflessly served their local communities. Due to the campaign, some 65 such unsung heroes were identified while the video views on the company’s Facebook page reached 50,000 per month.
Cause marketing is a credible and a smart way of engaging your relevant customers for a common cause. Non-profit organizations have been using cause marketing quite creatively and most of the viral videos that are longer than 50 seconds have a good social message.
