That’s a fitting phrase for the barista to call out at any Starbucks shop nowadays. With Spark Hope, a fund-raising tie-up between UNICEF and Starbucks that’s aimed at building schools and training teachers in far-flung areas, everybody gets to be beneficiaries. Indigent children benefit from the schools; teachers benefit from the training; Starbucks benefits from increased sales and image enhancement, while you benefit from the empowerment to give.
Having a caffeine fix now is not only be gratifying for your palate and senses, but for your conscience as well. Referred to as Customer Relations Marketing by UNICEF, such a partnership with Starbucks lets the consumer get involved in the sales activity.
“When faced with two brands, with one supporting a UNICEF cause, a consumer is likely to choose the brand with a UNICEF logo. By buying that product, the consumer will feel that he can do something for others without burning a hole in his pocket. The brand helps him help in his own little way since it’s a fact that 95 percent of the populace can’t give an outright donation to such causes. Such a project will also leave a good, lasting impression for the company sponsoring the project,” attests French native, Clement Chauvet, fundraising specialist for UNICEF Philippines.
“Spark Hope is now on its fourth year. Though we have just covered 25 percent of our nationwide target, we are very happy that our partnership with Starbucks have spawned a lot of ECCD centers, have provided school supplies and more importantly, have trained teachers, and have helped us in our effort to curtail the alarming rate of drop-outs. We also work closely with DepEd in order to monitor the progress of these schools. Every tie-up project that we have with these big companies is a win-win situation for everybody—for us, for the selected cause, for the company and for the buying public. In each of these cases, we are all beneficiaries!” as Chauvet wittingly puts it.
As proof of UNICEF’s unrelenting dedication to help the Philippines, their NATCOM or National Committees in Western countries, have allotted $19M for immunization, water sanitation, nutrition, supplementation of vitamin A, and anti-polio vaccination.
“We would like to work more with big companies such as SMART, P&G, Unilever, Colgate-Palmolive, Sony Ericsson and the like. I want them to realize that working with us would mean more lives saved and would mean total involvement from their customers. They usually make donations, but nobody knows about their generosity even though they sometimes come out with a press release. A tie-up with us would mean a long-term image enhancement for them. And constant funding for these causes. The Philippine market is very suitable and receptive to such an arrangement.”
An advocate of advocacies that sell, UNICEF also works in partnership with advertising agencies.
“We have existing programs which need to be funded. Sponsoring such a program is highly and mutually beneficial. The ad agency can propose the ad to their clients. Such a project will give agencies an avenue for a potential award-worthy work, and generate a good image for them and their client. Likewise, if the ad wins them an award, it’ll be a terrific motivation and morale booster for their employees.”
Such a rationale has been proven by Droga5’s recent success with their TAP project in New York, in partnership with UNICEF. It won them not just awards, but the hearts of the public as well.
Some causes in need of ad agency support are juvenile delinquency and violence against children.
Another noteworthy project that UNICEF undertook was the 1 Liter for 10 Liter project in France. For every 1 liter bottle of Volvic bought, 10 liters of safe drinking water was provided to more than 16,000 people in Africa.
Clement plans to pair up with one of our bigger bottled brands to launch a similar project here.
Next time you crave for coffee, head off to Starbucks, and perk up someone’s life.
If you need any further information, please contact Clement Chauvet at cchauvet@unicef.org.
