With the rapid proliferation of brands in every product category, brands are becoming a commodity. The scope for differentiation has vastly diminished. Marketers are hard pressed to raise their brands above the clutter. One such tool, which helps in creating a distinct position for a brand in the minds of consumers, is "CAUSE RELATED BRANDING".

No doubt all brands have to work for a cause, in the sense that they should provide a discernible solution to consumers, in order to find market acceptance. As an add on, brands can also associate themselves with a social cause that is in harmony with the core objectives and image of the brand so as to provide additional synergy to the marketing efforts.

What does a Brand do after all ?

The common answer is that "it provides solution to a consumer’s problem". When a brand finds an effective solution to a problem, the consumer becomes a customer of the brand and this in turn enhances the brand’s equity. What does a young woman actually buys when she purchases a face cream. She only buys hope, i.e. the hope of good looks! Outwardly the product may have any form, color, texture but at its core it seeks to provide solution to the customer’s problem.

To put things in a perspective a brand cannot survive in the market unless it works for a cause. Therefore "cause related branding" is gaining ground of late, because of its competitive advantage. Cause Related Branding(CRB) may not only position a brand as a solution provider, but also project in the framework of "social marketing", as one which plays a role in the betterment of society.

A Brand is ultimately an image or perception that exists in the minds of the consumers. A brand thrives in the market by virtue of its ability to solve customer’s problems; of course in a cost effective manner. Lets’ take the common example of email clients: Yahoo mail, Google mail, Rediffmail, etc. stand out as a good example of what a brand should be like. They brought a new wave in the field of communication by bringing the concept of electronic mails that brought us the freedom to communicate quickly with anyone anywhere over the internet.

The Psychology behind a brand is that when we know enough about a brand, we assign the brand a "mental file name" and put it on the top of our minds, like on a computer desk top and mentally "click"the file whenever we need to meet our personal requirement.. When more and more people open their files in their minds, the brand value increases. As more and more minds are covered by one brand , its demand goes up and this elevates it as the top leading brand.

Needless to say that companies in general and marketers in particular invest heavily in brand building to raise the brand value. In most product categories, product differentiation is what makes brand managers to take up "cause related branding" in a big way.

The underpinning behind the concept of CRB is that when a brand takes up an important issue or say need of the society, and does something for it, this cause related action adds an appeal to the brand and makes it popular. Let’s discuss this point with the help of an example. Till Yesterday, we all had been accessing our emails on Yahoo, Google, Hotmail, etc but with the coming of new brands like email@mobile that allow you to access your corporate emails on mobile phones, people have started thinking on different lines (Cause Related Branding.)

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