Remember my post titled “Corporations Exploiting The Concept Of Socially Responsible Business“?
Here’s the latest article on that topic, from Marketingvox, an online media blog. The article discusses how surprisingly little the entire campaign has raised.
With the goal of fighting AIDS in Africa, the Product RED charity effort from the Global Fund has reportedly raised $11.3 million in contributions in the year that it launched – a surprisingly low figure given the number of brands and exposure it yielded from a multi-channel blitz, and especially in comparison with the $6.6. billion that the Global Fund has committed to 460 programs in 136 countries
I still believe that socially responsible business models can work, but news like this doesn’t shed good light on the practice. It would be great if we could get some more detail into the numbers here.
EDIT: Here’s another widely disseminated article on the RED campaign:
“There is a broadening concern that business is taking on the patina of philanthropy and crowding out philanthropic activity and even substituting for it,” he said. “It benefits the for-profit partners much more than the charitable causes.”
Hey, I’m a new reader to the site, so forgive the delayed comment.
In reference to that RED stat, I believe the 11 million figure is in reference to the amount raised after marketing. Red raised around 100 million (offhand) and spent 88 million in marketing. While this raises a new set of questions, it makes the 11 million figure sound less pitiful.
In addition, naturally there are benefits outside of revenue to the RED project- essentially, it increased cultural awareness of AIDS in AFrica. While that may not have translated to sales, it could help other causes gain more traction.
Still- they are tough figures to look at…