|
Speed Dial: 60-Second Marketing Insight Newsletter
Print
� Bookmark
So when it comes to “marketing for good”, are you
stuck?
Do you simply have to blindly hope that your corporate sponsorships aren’t solely
philanthropic- - that in addition to helping others, they might also do something, somehow to increase your
sales, strengthen customer loyalty, and elevate consumers’ perceptions of your
brand?
Or do you have to be “all business”, coldly calculating the ROI from every dime your
company invests in charitable causes?
Steve Paljieg shows us a better alternative, one that creates win-win relationships between
a company and its beneficiaries: the Huggies MomInspired® Grant
Program.
 |
The Huggies MomInspired® initiative gives entrepreneurial moms venture capital, business information,
mentoring opportunities, and a social network that can support their innovation efforts. The
Spike Award-winning program has also created a very
positive buzz for Kimberly-Clark, with over 13 million brand impressions in this year
alone. |
The MomInspired® program is a timely example of how cause-related marketing can be
leveraged to the benefit of all involved. Launched in early 2010, the program has attracted 485 grant
applications, awarded 12 moms $15,000 each in support of their entrepreneurial ventures, and created an
online community for “Inspired Moms” to identify/develop new ideas themselves and for Huggies. So far, it’s
been a win-win partnership for all parties.
 |
To better understand the business philosophy behind the MomInspired® program, I interviewed Steve Paljieg last week. After an
impressive career at Procter & Gamble, Steve joined Kimberly-Clark as a New Business Architect/Sr.
Marketing Director.
Here are some of the highlights from our discussion: |
Marie: Steve, what
insights inspired you & your team to develop this program?
Steve: Huggies® is about parents “enjoying the ride” as
their babies grow & develop. The brand is committed to resolving the issues, big & small, that stand
in the way of that experience. One way we do this is through the outstanding diapering & wiping products that
we provide, but recently- - in part through research done by Babson College- -
we learned some things that showed us we could do even more to help moms “enjoy the
ride.”
Marie: Like what, specifically?
Steve: There are
over 6 million “Mompreneurs” in the U.S. and moms are starting home-based businesses at three times the rate of
other segments. The largest group of mom inventors is mothers with children under the age of five. [There are
also] 7.7 million female-owned businesses in the U.S., which is 30% of all U.S. businesses; yet, female-owned
businesses obtain less than 1% of all venture capital funding. This is just wrong.
Marie: Wow. Those
are some remarkable figures! So, it’s clear you feel passionately about what this opportunity can do for these
women, but what do you hope to achieve from it, for Kimberly-Clark?
Steve: [I’d
like] more and more entrepreneurial moms seeing their business aspirations come true in the US & beyond, and a
vibrant external innovation ecosystem at work- - giving K-C a new potential source of external
innovation.
Marie:
Makes sense. Do you see any other benefits coming from the program?
Steve: Positive equity
development for Huggies® as an enabler of moms, problem-solver, and “innovative” innovator.
Marie: Sure. So as you began
to formulate this idea, was there a big “a-ha” insight that came out of your consumer research?
Steve: All moms are
creative, working to resolve the everyday challenges that stand in the way of fully “enjoying the ride” of
parenting. Some moms have the courage to turn their creative solutions into an innovation that becomes the basis
for a start-up business.
Marie: Your program
really supports that! Steve, I know you read Speed Dial regularly; what advice would you share with anyone else
wanting to do cause-related marketing?
Steve: Marie, this
is not simply “marketing
for good”- - at its heart it is a business relationship, with Kimberly-Clark making an investment to advance the
business aspirations of inventive moms and the progress of those inventive moms [in turn] creating an innovation
ecosystem for K-C.
Marie: I hear what you’re
saying. Your approach really is mutually beneficial. Kimberly-Clark isn’t just writing checks blindly and hoping
for the best.
Steve: The ‘cause’ is
secondary- - very important but secondary- - to creating the win-win relationship between the Inspired Moms and
Kimberly-Clark. More and more wins will allow K-C and the Inspired Moms to make venture capital, business knowledge,
mentoring, and a supportive social network available… to more and
more like minded, inventive moms.
Marie: What a positive
cycle. You’ve certainly laid the foundation for an exceptional program, Steve. I appreciate your willingness to
share your perspective this morning—thanks, and I hope the program continues to build on its momentum from this
year.
 |
For a more detailed look at what Steve & his
team have done to create win-win relationships between Kimberly-Clark and its consumers, visit the
Huggies MomInspired® program website. |
Thanks for joining me this morning- - and I’ll see you next Tuesday!
-Marie
TOP
| 
Already registered? Click here to login.
Already registered? Click here to login.