The Clean for the Cure - Meaningful?

October is National Breast Cancer Awareness Month, and a ton of brands are lining up to support this worthy cause. My wife is a huge believer in the cause, and has raised thousands of dollars in each of the past two years for The Breast Cancer 3-Day walk. On Wednesday I wrote about an email from Delta that allowed me to donate miles to research organizations while collecting a few for myself. But today I ran across a tie-in that makes me think this marketing support for the cause is going too far.

While reading an article at CBSNews.com today, I saw a banner ad for a special-edition Oreck pink vacuum that offered a $50 donation to the Susan G. Komen for the Cure program. The promotion/product page is titled “One Powerful Cause. One Powerful Vacuum.”  The site includes some copy about the charity, but is focused on product features and performance claims such as “Strong enough to pick up a 16-lb bowling ball.”

I’m sure the hearts of the people at Oreck are in the right place. It is a worthy cause and a novel way to sell vacuums, but it left me doubtful as to the true meaning and marketing results from such a program.

The most basic question is whether or not this promotion is meaningful to the target audience. The banner ad certainly got my attention, but more because it seemed odd than interesting. I’m not sure people in the market for a new vacuum cleaner have charitable tie-ins at the top of their decision matrix. I find the best cause marketing happens when people can do something small that seems to have a real impact. That’s why it works for small purchases in the CPG category, or with quick initiatives like the Delta example. But a $500 vacuum is a big bank account decision that is likely driven by lower levels of Maslow’s hierarchy of needs.

Further, the whole pink vacuum thing really is strange. It looks unsightly to me, and I wonder if people are looking for the weekly cleaning regimen to be a time to remember the campaign to cure breast cancer.

In terms of marketing results, a lot will depend on whether or not consumers find this to be a compelling offer. Again, I think $50 off the price might be closer to what people are looking for in a big-ticket item like a vacuum. Of course, Oreck could experiment with such an offer alongside this promotion and see the results using online conversion measurement. Interestingly, when I reloaded the page that displayed the original banner for this promotion, I got served a different Oreck ad promising $100 off an upright vacuum.

Unfortunately, the cost of designing and manufacturing special pink-and-white vacuums is a significant cost and risk. The last thing the brand needs is a warehouse full of these things. I can tell you from personal experience that managing special inventory like this can be a pain - and when your product is gathering dust in the back, it’s an ongoing reminder of the failure of your promotion.

Whether $50 to a cause or $50 off the price, meaningful marketing is in the eye of both the customer and the marketer. Even large, historically successful efforts like the tie-in to National Breast Cancer Awareness Month need a careful approach that is tailored for individual brands. I fear that Oreck might have reached too far in its hope to “clean for the cure.”

UPDATE: Another really odd tie-in I saw over the weekend, was this Xbox Live ad for a “Go Pink!” version of Madden NFL ‘09.  Is this really going to connect with young guys who play video games?  Check it out: