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September 17, 2007
Round Up with JC Penney
Posted by Kevin D. Hendricks | Filed under: Cause Marketing
Last Thursday I found myself at the mall shopping for clothes for my daughter who seems to outgrow clothes between trying them on and getting home. We were buying a new coat at JC Penney and the clerk asked if I'd like to round up my purchase to the nearest dollar and donate the extra amount to the the JC Penney Afterschool Fund. Turns out it's the Afterschool Round Up program JC Penney has been offering during the back to school shopping season and it ended on Saturday.
Tired and distracted from an evening shopping with a toddler, I mumbled something incoherent which the salesclerk took for a yes, and before I knew it I had donated a whole penny to a cause marketing campaign. I love the idea because it's so simple and easy, but I'm not a fan of their execution for two reasons.
1) Limited Time
The program ran for only a month which hardly seems worthwhile. It's a great opportunity for the JC Penney Afterschool Fund to raise money, but it's not a great boost for the longterm benefit of JC Penney. It's over in a month and who remembers? Who even shops at JC Penney more than once a month (or once a year)? The program was hardly talked about at all (I could only find the press release when searching Google, not a single blog entry or newspaper article).
Compare that to going all out and running the program year round. People start to remember that JC Penney makes a major commitment by giving this opportunity to donate. It starts to become something JC Penney is known for and you're building some solid benefit for your brand. It transforms the campaign from a simple trend (giving is in) to a longterm statement about your organization (consider Target's longterm commitment to supporting education).
2) No Name Charity
The other problem is the benefiting charity: the JC Penney Afterschool Fund. I'm sure they do great work and it's a great cause--but who's ever heard of it? When I mumbled in response to the salesclerk I meant to say no--I didn't know what she was talking about. 'Afterschool Fund' meant nothing to me and it was only as I was walking away that I realized what was going on.
Granted I was a bit distracted and slow that evening, but one of the big benefits of partnering with a known charity is name recognition. People are more willing to give when they've heard of the organization. Pairing with a United Way or a Salvation Army would probably result in more customers choosing to round up, more distracted shoppers like me recognizing the charity and being willing to give.
Obviously JC Penney is supporting their own charity and isn't likely to consider this bit of advice, but it does underscore the importance of recognition. If you don't have it, you've got to find some way to overcome that problem.
Overall JC Penney had a cool little program going. But I think they could have done a lot more with it.
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