More than a year into the COVID-19 pandemic and many businesses have closed down, leaving millions jobless. In the Philippines, with over 99% of businesses being micro-, small, and medium-sized enterprises (MSMEs), entrepreneurs have been hit especially hard. Many owners have tried to stay afloat to help their employees but the economic downturn has been too much for so many MSMEs. In spite of these, MSMEs recently came together for a greater cause – to help vulnerable communities, including themselves.
As part of their initiative to support MSMEs, global development and advocacy organization World Vision and regional integrated communications agency ComCo Southeast Asia held the Cause Marketing for Good Virtual Conference to give MSMEs the chance to do good for themselves and for others. Different experts from renowned brands and agencies around the country joined the event and shared information, experiences, and learnings about cause-related marketing or CRM to help equip MSMEs on how to champion social issues through their marketing efforts.
World Vision and ComCo Southeast Asia’s Cause Marketing for Good campaign aims to support and teach MSMEs how to make their businesses relevant through effective and sustainable cause-related marketing campaigns that can rally support from the public.
The online conference included sessions on defining CRM and developing and implementing a CRM campaign by Angela Totanes, marketing manager of Robinsons Supermarket; CRM’s impact on brand image, sales, and consumer behavior by David Viray, head of branding and creatives at AirAsia; the results of their study “Cause Marketing & Driving Digital Uplift” by Miko David, president and co-founder of David and Golyat; and how to use e-commerce to forward your cause by Yshana Wong, Lazada Philippines’ strategic partnerships senior associate. There was also a panel on how to create effective CRM campaigns featuring experts and practitioners of the field such as Ferdinand Bondoy, regional integration and chief executive director, partner, and co-founder of ComCo Southeast Asia for public relations, and Third Domingo, founder, and CEO of IdeasXMachina for creatives.
“Doing cause-oriented projects is not a nice to have anymore. It is a must, especially at these challenging times. It is each one’s responsibility to help rebuild the society, as business will only flourish if the economy is in place,” shared Ferdinand Bondoy. “Now more than ever, cause-related marketing is becoming an important tool because it not only lets businesses nurture deeper relationships with their consumers, but it also allows them to bring more attention to social causes, doing some good in the process. It’s a good time for businesses to start integrating social causes into their plans and help make a significant change to our country and our world when it’s needed the most.”
During the conference, an upcoming competition among MSMEs that joined the virtual conference was announced. The Igniting Social Good Project involves participants creating an original cause marketing campaign that supports people and communities that have been affected by the pandemic. The chosen enterprise will win ComCo Southeast Asia’s ignite package – an integrated communications services package for MSMEs for the chance to make their winning cause marketing campaign come to life.
To know more about World Vision and ComCo Southeast Asia’s partnership, visit www.worldvision.org.ph or follow World Vision’s official social media pages /worldvisionph on Facebook, @worldvisionphl on Instagram, and @worldvisionph on Twitter. For more information on World Vision Philippines and its other initiatives, call the World Vision hotline number at 8372-77-77 or Ms. Wichelle Cruz, Private Sector Partnerships Manager, at 0917-511-6640.