The UK division of the Anglo-Dutch food group Unilever plans to donate 10% of sales of thirty of its products sold in Sainsbury’s supermarkets, including household names such as PG Tips, Pot Noodle, Birds Eye and Magnum, over a period of ten weeks.
The scheme will be administered through the Nectar system, whereby customers with the loyalty cards will have to register on the Sports Relief website, or by phone. By purchasing Unilever products up to July 18, customers can raise money for Sport Relief.
Targets Although the companies have not set any specific targets for the fund-raising campaign, Unilever says it hopes to raise substantial funds for the charity, a joint venture between the BBC and Comic Relief. But the campaign differs from traditional cause-related marketing (CRM) in that it is entirely uncapped.
“You Buy U Give has enormous potential. We’re saying we want to raise as much money as possible,” says Thomas Lingard, corporate responsibility manager at Unilever UK. Unilever has guaranteed a minimum donation of £200,000 to the project. “It’s the first time we’ve done anything on this scale so it’s difficult to say what the take-up will be,” he tells Briefing in an interview. Unilever does not release data on sales through specific retailers.
Out of the ordinary The campaign marks a departure from the more traditional corporate giving programmes, Lingard explains. “Because the focus of many companies is switching to core corporate responsibility issues, the traditional community investment programmes are perhaps beginning to be seen as a little less interesting.”
The campaign does not come without risks, Lingard notes. “There’s a sense that actually doing bold community investment initiatives can be dangerous because you immediately get slammed for trying to cover up a lack of activity on the core issues.”
Unilever was criticised recently, along with the rest of the food manufacturing and retailing sector, for not doing enough to reduce the risk of obesity and salt intake for consumers. The study by City University did, however, single out the company as being the top performer on these issues.
Unilever has an impeccable record on corporate responsibility, Lingard says, noting: “we take corporate responsibility very seriously. Unilever has a really long CR heritage going back to as long as the company has existed.”
Corporate recognition You Buy U Give marks a significant shift in Unilever’s branding policy, Lingard says. It will be the first time the food manufacturer has placed its corporate branding on the front of shelves. “Unilever made the decision to be much more transparent around the products that it makes. For a long time Unilever has not necessarily been recognised for its brands,” Lingard says. “This has been driven by a real sense that we do feel proud of our products and that we are a responsible company. We want our brands to benefit from that equity.”
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