Cause Marketing Spotlight: “Creative For A Cause” Campaign by Fiverr

Fiverr, the world’s larget marketplace for creative and professional services, has teamed up with Ad Age, Creativity, Internet Week, and Code/Interactive (C/I) to host “Creative For A Cause,” an ad design contest to raise awareness about the need for diversity in the tech field. Specifically, the campaign aims to gather proceeds to support the C/I operation, a Bronx-based non-profit that offers computer science education to New York’s underprivileged youth. Of 250 submissions from artists around the world, designer Christian Liu and copywriter Jaume Rodriguez were announced as the winners on May 19, 2015. Their ad will appear in more than 350 New York subway stations beginning this summer, as well as on the web in cooperation with multiple digital publishers. This campaign illustrates cause marketing; Fiverr’s implementation of an integrated solution communicates an informational message rooted in inspiration.

Literature
According to Samur and Wymer, cause marketing communication, or the association of a corporation or brand with a cause or non-profit, can influence consumer perceptions and behavior (1334). Their research specifically investigates the effects of cause advertisements based on three variables: salience, perceived fit, and attributions of partner motives (Samur & Wymer, 1334). Their findings show that informational messages with the salience variable lead to positive outcomes, even if the perceived fit between brand and cause is low (Samur & Wymer, 1348). Finally, consumer perceptions of partner motives have the potential to mediate how they receive the advertisement (Samur & Wymer, 1334).

Did Fiverr kill it? We’ll see…
Using the framework provided by Samur and Wymer, we can assume that Fiverr’s campaign will simultaneously yield benefits for their enterprise, partners, and Code Interactive. The initial stages of the campaign are complete, as Fiverr has successfully gathered submissions through various digital mediums (a snazzy website, social media, partner relationships, blogging, YouTube videos, etc.) and announced the winners of the campaign. Once they have installed the ads in the subways, salience will be fully realized and they can begin collecting consumer perception metrics to measure the efficacy of their initiative.

Speaking on perceived fit, Fiverr has excelled. Their strategy to choose a cause, non-profit partner, and advertising partners that align so perfectly with their business is the biggest strength of this campaign. Fiverr was able to tap into multiple creative communities, attracting the target audience of their customer base, to gather submissions for the contest. Furthermore, they have the opportunity to claim the cause of diversity within the technology space – a message that resonates with a growing market of minorities who are learning applicable skills. Channing Barringer, senior director of public relations at Fiverr, gives us a glimpse into their rationale in an interview about the campaign:

“Diversity in technology is a huge issue, and it’s no secret that we need more people with diverse backgrounds innovating within the technology space. I think we need to think about who are the major consumers of technology, you have a large portion of people who over-index in certain platforms, but people who are not creating the technology behind those platforms. We want to open doors for those people to get into the technology field and innovate, create products that reflect their experience, and I think ultimately great for not only them, but for everyone who consumes technology in anyway, to have the diversity of backgrounds and ideas that go beyond what we have today. I’m really happy that the conversation has been started, and we hope to continue it.”

But what of Code Interactive? Will the advertisements inspire individuals to donate funds to their organization? Even Samur and Wymer admit there is a need for future research that analyzes the influence on the cause post-campaign (1349). Stakeholders can hope that there is enough altruism on the subways of New York to see this campaign bode favorably.

References: 

Creative for a Cause. (n.d.). Retrieved May 22, 2015, from http://www.creativeforacause.com/

Christian Liu & Jaume Rodriguez Get Creative for a Cause: Inspiring The Future of Tomorrow, Today. (2015, May 19). Retrieved May 25, 2015, from http://blog.fiverr.com/christian-liu-jaume-rodriguez-get-creative-cause-inspiring-future-tomorrow-today/

Fiverr, Ad Age, Creativity, Internet Week and Code/Interactive (C/I) Announce “Creative for a Cause,” Powered by Fiverr. (2015, March 25). Yahoo! Retrieved from http://finance.yahoo.com/news/fiverr-ad-age-creativity-internet-130000168.html

Samu, S., & Wymer, W. (2014). Cause marketing communications: consumer inference on attitudes towards brand and cause. European Journal of Marketing 48, pg. 1333-1353.