The Brand Radar: FatFace, the Marine Conservation Society and purpose-led partnerships

One area of partnership and promotion that seems to be developing rapidly – and becoming more active – is that of partnerships between brands, retailers and charities.

In recent months, I have seen some really good examples of cause-related marketing partnerships in the market. These span a number of sectors, including retail and FMCG. There may be a number of reasons for these sorts of promotions and partnerships to be in vogue at the moment, but one factor is probably the fact that charities have become more efficient at finding partners who want to work with them.

Charities have been building fundraising teams who are targeting prospective partners proactively and often come from similar backgrounds to the companies they are targeting. Brand owners are becoming more receptive to these kinds of partnerships, not least because they create an effective way for them to engage with consumers while helping to shape the perception of their brands in a positive way.

“The choice of charity underpins FatFace’s heritage and outlook, while dovetailing with their design styling.”

A further attraction is no doubt the fact that these campaigns create marketing momentum and build a story. This is true at both consumer and trade levels. They provide a lot of ammunition and collateral for brands to get their voice heard. Another factor is that brands can build long-term partnerships with charities – this helps with forward planning, budgeting and in some cases NPD.

Fashion retailer FatFace is running a campaign at the moment with the Marine Conservation Society. This centres on an apparel range being sold exclusively through the retailer featuring designs developed in collaboration between the partners.

The choice of charity underpins FatFace’s heritage and outlook, while dovetailing with their design styling. The partnership has been showcased in-store and seems to be a very logical partnership. This is a good example where a retailer has chosen a charity that reflects its own values, handwriting and heritage, making the partnership an easy one to navigate. 10% of the sale of items from the range will go to the charity and specifically support their Citizen Science projects.

Charities are very open to partners specifying specific projects that they want to support. This helps in shaping partnerships and making them the best fit they can be. Consumers also get more insight into the charity’s work this way and find it reassuring that funds are flowing to a well-defined purpose.

Partnerships can also give charities access to new ideas and fresh thinking in terms of product formats as well. A really good example of this is the greetings card range developed by Say It With Songs.

This range – which is on sale in retailers such as Sainsbury’s – is sold in support of Nordoff Robbins, a music therapy charity. The cards feature lyrics from well-known songs such as Bobby McFerrin’s ‘Don’t Worry Be Happy’. In this case, these lyrics appear on the front of the card. The card also includes a QR code which allows the purchaser ­– and perhaps more importantly the card recipient – the opportunity to stream the song.

This is a great piece of innovation in the card market but also a really relevant partnership for Nordoff Robbins. Sales of the card raise funds for them, but with the choice of songs made by Say It With songs, there is a direct link to the aims and objectives of the charity in regards to the well-being benefits that music can bring.

Retailers in the grocery channel have also recognised the potential in partnerships like this. Sainsbury’s ran a campaign recently with Comic Relief which saw them donate 50p from the sale of products in their Inspired to Cook range. The campaign was focused on the theme of ‘Nourish the Nation’ and helping Comic Relief tackle food poverty. It was promoted heavily in-store and in a range of media. Press and magazine advertisements used the strapline: ‘Pick Up. Help Out. Dig In.’ Activity also ran across digital channels such as TikTok and there was a pop-up activation at King’s Cross. Targeting time poor commuters, the pop-up was selling meal kits for 50p with the proceeds going to Comic Relief.

As well as a fundraiser, this activity was designed to shine a light on the fact that Sainsbury’s research highlighted that 74% of commuters surveyed planned their evening meal on the commute home. Sainsbury’s Inspired to Cook range is designed to help with this decision making and give consumers more ideas for their home cooking.

Ruth Cranston, Sainsbury’s Director of Corporate Responsibility and Sustainability, commented: “With so many people lacking dinner inspiration, we hope our pop -up adds a bit of flavour to commuters’ mealtimes.” She went on the talk about the wider campaign and the link with Comic Relief, saying: “We are so proud to see the positive impact the Nourish the Nation programme has achieved so far, but we are also aware of the growing demand for accessible community food services up and down the country. The donations from our Inspired to Cook range is just one of the ways we are working to support Comic Relief, while also inspiring our customers to explore new simple, tasty and nutritious meals to add to their weekly repertoire.”

Sainsbury’s kicked off the programme with a £ 1.5m donation to Comic Relief, Fareshare and other food redistribution partners. They also pledged to raise a further £ 1.5m by matching customer donations. This is a great example of a campaign that was integrated into the retailer’s core business with a clear fundraising – while also delivering wider campaign messages and consumer ‘call to action’ messaging.

“Partnerships can give charities access to new ideas and fresh thinking in terms of product formats.”

There has been a lot of focus and coverage on Pride recently as well. Brands and organisations have got involved with Pride in lots of ways, ranging from product ranges ‘inspired by Pride’ with rainbow designs, through to big scale activations such as an Elizabeth Line train being ‘wrapped’ in the Pride Rainbow colours. TfL also decorated a Route 63 bus in Pride colours and other eye-catching initiatives have included Pride road crossings in London.

Pride is a design theme that been picked up across a number of product categories, including greetings cards, partyware and apparel. From a partnership point of view, brands seem to have taken a range of approaches to develop Pride focused campaigns, not least in regard to the charities they have partnered with.

Drinks brand Robinsons partnered with Sparkle, the national transgender charity, and akt, a homelessness charity that works with the LGBTQ+ community. Robinsons donated 15p per pack sold on their Robinsons Creations Lemon and Raspberry and Orange and Mango variants in June. The partnership was conveyed with branded bottle neck collars and retail display units. Robinsons took the decision to partner with two charities and communicated this very clearly, making their brand support during Pride very tangible and with a clearly communicated benefit.

Other brands and manufacturers have taken a similar approach, opting to support a specific charity during Pride. Organisations like Pride London manage specific events on a regional level and partner with a range of brands on a local level as part of their events. It will be interesting to see what approach brands take in future in regard to Pride and how they find ways to link their products to charities – but it has been encouraging to see more brands and retailers supporting Pride.

Brands seem more inclined to develop their support further, with a fundraising element linked to a charity with relevance to Pride, rather than just opportunistically using Pride as a design or marketing theme.

Another interesting campaign currently in the market involves Boots and Unilever. The two have partnered for the third year running to ‘help tackle hygiene poverty’. Unilever have involved a number of their brands in this initiative, including Dove, Tresemme, Radox and Lynx.

The campaign is running in partnership with The Hygiene Bank, a national grassroots movement that works with volunteers on a local basis to collect, sort and distribute donated hygiene products to charities and community groups. Unilever has pledged to donate one product to the Hygiene Bank for every two products bought in Boots from the range during the campaign period. The promotion is highlighted in store and through other media platforms.

Boots have been working with The Hygiene Bank since 2020 and have donation points in 400 stores. The link with Unilever amplifies the campaign further, while also accelerating access to products that the Hygiene Bank needs.

“Hygiene poverty impacts every stage of life in the UK and yet many are unaware of this hidden crisis,” said Lizzy Hall from The Hygiene Bank. She added: “With the demand for our services increasing every day, we know many of those swept into poverty will benefit from the partnership.”

For a company such as Unilever, a partnership like this one gives them a very public way of demonstrating their commitment to a cause and also allows them to build a deeper relationship with their customers. It shows they care and that they are aware of the challenges their consumers face. By involving two major companies like Boots and Unilever, The Hygiene Bank are able to operate at a larger scale and make more of an impact. Given Boots’ involvement in the campaign since 2020, it’s clear that they have a long-term commitment to it and that it’s woven into their operations. Having donation points in store also make it easy and convenient for consumers to support the campaign in a practical way.

Other noteworthy recent example of charities and brands working together include PG Tips becoming the official sponsor of the NHS Big Tea 2023. This is an initiative to support NHS charities and during the campaign, PG Tips will donate 10p per sale of PG Tips Original 240 packs sold in Morrisons.

Publishers are also working with charities to develop books that shine a light on a specific cause or theme whilst benefitting a charity. Children’s publisher Scholastic recently published a book Dear Nurse in partnership with the Royal College of Nursing Foundation. It featured a collection of stories from nurses, midwives and care assistants that explained why they joined the profession and highlighted key moments from their professional lives.

A partnership like this is good from a fundraising point of view, but it also gives the charity a new way of telling their story and getting their message across. Indeed, the book was recently featured in Scholastic’s schools marketing programme Scholastic Schools Live, where schools could join an online discussion about the book. This kind of reach for the RCN Foundation is invaluable; not least as it gives them access to new audiences and also bolsters their resources.

It’s easy to think about these kinds of partnerships in monetary terms, but often the benefits they bring go beyond fundraising. One aspect of this is the ability of partnerships to give charities access to additional expertise, consumer markets and marketing resources.

A final recent example to highlight is from The Big Issue. The Big Issue is a weekly magazine that is sold by homeless people as a means of them earning an income and also providing a link to the community for them. It’s a well-established and successful social enterprise.

A recent issue of the magazine featured a cover created by street artist My Dog Sighs. The issue was focused on art and how art can be a force for good, featuring examples of My Dog Sighs artwork and also other artists work. This shows how charities can engage with the artist and designer community to help deliver their message and indeed generate new content.

Indeed, The Big Issue has also worked with a number of artists to create limited edition t-shirts that are being sold to raise funds for The Big Issue – creating an opportunity for supporters to ‘wear’ their support of The Big Issue cause. Featured artists include Thornton Bergazzi, Pearl Lowe and Sadie Williams.

The Wild in Art Morph art trail that is currently running in London in conjunction with the Whizz-Kidz charity is another very visible example of charities working in fresh and innovative ways, while also galvanising the design community. Likewise, there are examples of retailers using artists such as Anya Hindmarch and Henry Holland to create designs for products such as Bags for Life which are sold to raise funds for charities and be billboards for campaign messages.

The link between artist, design and charities is one that offers more potential for brands and IP owners to collaborate with charities. Indeed, more charities are using licensing as a means of fundraising with organisations like the RHS and RSPB, making great in roads licensing-wise.