When people find out that I own an ad agency, they always ask, “What’s your specialty?” “Are you an automotive agency? A health care marketing firm? Consumer products? B2B?”

My answer often puzzles them.

“We ignite the growth of people, products, companies and causes that dare to make the world a better place.” We help companies dramatically grow their brands and bottom line by focusing on their higher purpose.

A good example is our work with Lowe’s and the Water – Use It Wisely campaign.

The case study is featured in the new text book by renown marketing author, Dr. Philip Kotler, Good Works! Marketing and Corporate Initiatives that Build a Better World…and the Bottom Line.  He, and co-authors Nancy Lee, a social marketer, and David Hessekiel of Cause Marketing Forum, just published this excellent book on how to mix social causes with commerce for stronger bottom lines.

Good Works! provides the actionable advice CMO’s, Chief Sustainability Officers, corporate marketing departments and cause marketing practitioners need to put together purpose-driven marketing programs that work!

The book takes you step-by-step on how to plan, activate and follow through with partnerships and cause marketing campaigns, and it’s littered with exceptional case studies from the likes of TOM’s Shoes, Ben & Jerry’s, Levi’s, Best Buy, Patagonia, and of course, Park&Co.

You’ll learn ways to:

• Persuade consumers to join your company in supporting a good cause
• Support product sales and consumer engagement by linking them to donations
• Encourage and organize employees to donate their time and talents to your cause
• Change the way you do business to achieve a worthwhile social outcome
• Deal with the inevitable cynics and critics.

Good Works! is not about corporate social responsibility. It is a book laden with information for business builders who want to take a more progressive approach – see Conscious Capitalism – to build a brand of meaning. And we’re proud to have our work featured in a second Kotler/Lee social marketing text book. Our first case study appeared in their book, Corporate Social Responsibility, Doing the Most Good for Your Company and Your Cause. 

So the next time I’m asked what we specialize in as an ad agency, I suppose I’ll just say, “Doing good work.” Wait, make that, “Great!”

Do you have a case study on your cause marketing efforts that you’d like to share here? Please do so with a link to your campaign in the comments below.