“We’re Stronger Together”: A Co-Creational Approach to Cause- Related Marketing

Abstract: Avoiding consumer skepticism of corporate social responsibility programs has become an important factor in CSR communication. Literature points towards a need for a more consumer-focused, symmetrical approach to CSR communication, especially in the case of cause-related marketing. The Estee Lauder 2014 Breast Cancer Awareness Campaign uses a co-creational approach to CSR, centered on user-generated content and creating a consumer community. This dissertation investigates the effects of a co-creational CSR approach upon media coverage of the campaign through qualitative content analysis of press materials and media reports. Results show that co-creational themes in the press materials were often reflected in media coverage. Ideas of dialogue, transparency and access were central to the press materials, and used to create the perception of a CSR campaign that is values-driven, authentic and consumer focused. The media documents presented a similar narrative of the campaign. However, aspects of co-creation emphasized in the press documents were not always reflected within the media documents. Ideas of transparency and access were implicitly reflected, though the co-creational aspects of the campaign were not always mentioned in the media documents. Analysis shows that the BCA campaign’s co-creational approach garnered positive media coverage, though not always due to co-creational themes.