A British-Dutch consumer goods company joined a UAE charity to clothe the poor this Ramadan for the third year in a row.
The campaign's objective was somewhat visible in the name: Comfort Creations Share a Touch of Love This Ramadan, which also ties the campaign with Unilever's Comfort Creations brand of fabric conditioners.
This charity trend is known as cause marketing. It involves a for-profit company collaborating with a charity for a worthy cause.
"We are asking people to donate clothes and as a gesture of goodwill we are giving a bottle of our new Comfort Creations product," said Asif Memon, the marketing manager for the homecare range of products from Unilever.
As part of the initiative, Unilever and UAE Red Crescent Authority appealed to shoppers to donate clothes at three malls across Dubai: Mall of the Emirates, Deira City Centre and Mirdiff City Centre. This year, the campaign was extended to Kuwait.
But then, corporate cause sponsorship spending is on the rise and will reach US$1.73 billion (Dh6.35bn) this year in North America alone, a 3.1 per cent growth over last year, says the US corporate sponsorship research firm IEG.
"Studies have shown consumers will support or buy a product or a brand that supports a cause over competing products with similar price points," says William Chipps, a senior editor of the IEG Sponsorship Report.
Unilever UAE, the multinational has been involved in cause marketing beyond the Emirates. In 2010, the company adopted the Sustainable Living Plan, which includes health and hygiene issues as well as nutrition and the environment.
In the United States, it is associated with Run 10 Feed 10 campaign, which aims to tackle hunger in the US. Participants have a goal to run 10km in addition to paying a $40 registration fee.
In the UAE, the Share a Touch of Love campaign has been a big success with more than 45,400 items of clothing donated so far.
"In Kuwait, where we are holding it for the first time, I heard a couple of [mall visitors] actually bought [some] new clothes to donate because they did not have any used clothes with them there for donation," Mr Memon says. "It also resonates with our core brand value for Comfort Creations, which is about mums doing their best for their children and their community."
The cause marketing trend can be traced back to the late 1970s and early 1980s. One of the notable campaigns was in 1983 and involved Jerry Welsh, then an executive vice president for global marketing and communications at American Express.
For every new American Express card application, $1 was put aside to help restore the Statue of Liberty. Later, Mr Welsh said American Express donated $1.7 million for the preservation of the statue.
"Many people point to that partnership as the beginning of cause-related marketing," says Mr Chipps. "[Since then] cause marketing has been growing at a decent clip over the past several decades as companies realise they can 'do good' while also driving product sales."
Mr Memon declines to say how much Unilever is spending on the initiative.
As all charitable activities in Dubai have to be conducted in partnership with the associations or foundations approved by the Department of Islamic Affairs and Charitable Activities under the Dubai Government, Unilever returned to Red Crescent for the third year.
"The used clothes will be distributed to the needy people inside the UAE," says Mohammed Abdullah Al Haj Al Zarouni, the director of UAE Red Crescent.
The retail store chain Marks & Spencer Al Futtaim is involved in a similar campaign where shoppers can donate clothes at booths in Dubai, Abu Dhabi and Al Ain, as well as in Bahrain and Qatar.
It, too, has teamed up with the UAE Red Crescent.
twitter: Follow and share our breaking business news. Follow us
iPad users can read the digital edition of business section as it was printed via our e-reader app. Click here
