• by David Hessekiel  @DaveCause, January 13, 2014

TELUS, the second largest telecom company in Canada, attributes its solid brand differentiation and customer loyalty in large part to strategic cause-marketing initiatives. 

Fortunately, this Cause Marketing Halo Award-winning company is not only generous in terms of community support, but also in sharing their lessons learned with others endeavoring to do well by doing good. 

TELUS Vice President of Community Affairs Jill Schnarr recently provided a glimpse behind their strategy and successes during a Cause Marketing Masters Webinar. They are:

1. Integrate your giving into your business strategy

2. Give what you’re good at.

3. Enable your employees and retirees to give to the causes they are passionate about. 

4. Engage your customers in the effort.

5. Use social media to create a movement for your cause and company.

6. Set targets linked to the success of your business.

One TELUS program that pays big community and business dividends is the “TVs for Good” initiative. Now in its fifth year, the campaign donates $100 to a local charity for each customer that switches to TELUS. 

According to Schnarr, this campaign is by far TELUS' most successful cause marketing campaign. Sales in communities where “TVs for Good” is activated regularly outperform other comparable markets.  

TELUS also boasts the highest share of social media engagement in their competitive space. How did TELUS achieve this leadership? 

In 2010, they gained 470,000 new Facebook fans in one month during their hugely popular TELUS Go Pink cause-marketing effort that tied a $25 donation to the purchase of an exclusive pink BlackBerry. Clearly, the telecom company has worked hard to continue to engage and grow their fan base but it was a cause effort that first attracted wide-spread attention.