On my morning dog walk with Kiwi to Starbucks, I noticed an article on their community bulletin board with a photo of Howard Schultz and Bono announcing that Starbucks is joining the Product(RED) effort to combat HIV/AIDS in Africa.  It made clear that this involvement is about commerce not charity which I liked!  I hadn’t heard about this new partnertship yet…so when I got home, I went to the Starbucks website to see what I could find out.

The October 29, 2008 Starbucks press release says, “Starting on November 27, 2008 and continuing through January 2, 2009,  Starbucks will contribute five cents from the sale of any (STARBUCKS)RED EXCLUSIVE beverage* at all company-owned and licensed stores in the United States and Canada to the Global Fund to invest in AIDS programs in Africa.   Once (STARBUCKS)RED EXCLUSIVE Holiday beverages leave stores, the company will offer its customers the opportunity to make (RED) choices in their purchases every day.”

“(RED)’s primary objective is to engage the private sector in raising awareness and funds for the Global Fund, to help eliminate AIDS in Africa. Companies whose products take on the (PRODUCT)RED mark contribute a significant percentage of the sales or portion of the profits from that product to the Global Fund to finance AIDS programs in Africa, with an emphasis on the health of women and children. Current partners are: American Express (U.K. only), Apple, Converse, Gap, Emporio Armani, Hallmark, Dell, Windows and Starbucks.  Since its launch in the Spring of 2006, more than $112 million has been generated by (RED) for the Global Fund. (RED) money is at work in Swaziland, Rwanda, Ghana and Lesotho. For more information, visit www.joinred.com.”

(RED) has been controversial because people wonder about the level of contribution versus the amount spent promoting it.  However, (RED) is a commerce-based way to support a cause which means it needs to make business sense and be win-win.  Frankly, generating $112 million in 2 years for the Global Fund is only great news!!  What other marketing resources the companies spend to promote their (RED) products and their involvement they would be spending anyway.  At least these companies have all stepped up to be part of a movement that is looking for solutions to a serious issue of our times.

OK, I haven’t been able to let (PRODUCT)RED go yet…I burned out before checking Converse’s site earlier this week to look into their (PRODUCT)RED for my post on February 16.  I felt bad about not checking out one of the major sponsors, so have now gone to their website – a very hip site with cool graphics.  Their homepage has a link to their 1HUND(RED) page which then has a link to the four shoes already specially designed for the campaign by various artists – Michael White, Camilla Engman, Tom Liles, and Meghan Berckes, in addition to the other shoes offered by Chuck Taylor.  The site clearly states they give 10% of net wholesale prices to the Global Fund though I could not find a report or summary of the giving for last year from the campaign. 

In their press section, a June 14, 2007 press release announced, “Converse announces today that Common, Grammy award winning hip-hop artist and actor, will be the face of Converse (PRODUCT) RED.  Common will appear in Converse’s first national print campaign to further support Converse’s partnership with (PRODUCT) RED.  The Fall 2007 advertising campaign is entitled “Weapon of Change” featuring irreverent messages and bold illustrations encouraging consumers to be optimistic rebels and become agents of change.  The Converse (PRODUCT) RED Weapon® will be available exclusively through Foot Locker, Inc. and on www.converse.com.”  Later in the release it said, “Depending on the product sold, 5% – 15% of net sales from Converse (PRODUCT) RED shoes will go to the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria (Geneva, Switzerland).  (PRODUCT) RED is an economic initiative created by Bono (U2, singer and activist) and Bobby Shriver (Chairman of DATA – Debt, AIDS, Trade, Africa), designed to deliver a sustainable flow of private sector money to the Global Fund to invest in African AIDS programs with an emphasis on the health of women and children.”

OK…so now I am done with RED for now!!  Onwards!

The (PRODUCT)RED Campaign is certainly causing a lot of buzz.  There was a letter on the Red Campaign in the NY Times 2/15/2008 from Jennifer Howse, President of the March of Dimes.  Her main point was about the transparency of the level of donations given as a result of purchases of RED products from participating companies.  “Red participating companies would be wise to initiate a high-profile announcement of their annual contribution in the aggregate. No one expects companies like Gap, Dell or Armani to disclose proprietary sales data — but more transparency in reporting contributions could help remove doubts. And it could help sustain this interesting and productive approach to corporate social responsibility. ”

I totally agree with her sentiment about this.  As I mentioned in my previous post about Hallmark, they have clearly posted on their website that they contribute 8% of the net wholesale price to the effort.  I went back to their website to do a little detective work to find specific figures for how much they actually donated to (PRODUCT)RED last year.  The Hallmark website has a community involvement page which lists RED as one of its partners.  When clicking on the link, a press release from October 12, 2007 announcing the start of the partnership pulls up.  The release talks about the overall amount of money generated by the campaign but gives no specifics on Hallmark’s contribution as this is the announcement of a new effort by the company.  I hadn’t realized Hallmark has only been part of the campaign for four months.  It does, however, state “Eight percent of net wholesales from all Hallmark (PRODUCT) RED products will go to the Global Fund. For the consumer, this means the purchase of one (PRODUCT) RED Card with Sound (retail price of $4.99) will result in a contribution equivalent to a single-dose treatment used to reduce the risk of transmission of HIV from mother to child during childbirth.”  So, next year Hallmark should have some specific figures to share.

Next I went to the Dell website and found their press release from January 28, 2008.  It states, “With each purchase of a (PRODUCT) RED branded Dell personal computer including Windows Vista Ultimate (PRODUCT) RED, Dell and Microsoft will make a combined contribution of $50 to $80 – depending on the PC purchased – to the Global Fund. Purchase of a Dell (PRODUCT) RED printer generates a $5 Dell contribution. One hundred percent of the funds contributed go to Global Fund-financed grants in Africa.  An $80 contribution generated by the choice of a Dell (PRODUCT) RED all-in-one PC with Windows Vista Ultimate (PRODUCT) RED is equivalent to more than six months of life-saving antiretroviral treatment for an individual living with AIDS in Africa.”  So that is pretty clear.  Again this is a really new partnership so there are no figures yet for how many dollars are flowing to the campaign.

So what about some of the other companies?  I went to the RED site to figure out who else is a partner so I could keep digging.  Motorola became a partner in 2006.  From their Corporate Responsibility page, I linked to a May 7, 2007 press release on their website says, “$30.8 million donated to charities and good causes by Motorola and the Motorola Foundation — In 2006, the company became a contributing partner of (PRODUCT) RED to help fight HIV/AIDS through mobile phone sales, mobilized employees to community service through its first Global Day of Service and inspired the next generation of inventors by funding initiatives that boost science, technology, engineering and math education.” The figures are not RED specific however so I went to their full Corporate Responsibility Report to see if I could find any figures.  I did!  In 2006, they report having contributed $12 million of which $7 million came from RED phone sales plus another $5 million from their foundation.  On Page 8, I found the following.

That is a lot of money considering, “In the US, a $8.50 contribution is made on the sale of the red MOTORAZR V3m phone. In the US, a $2.50 contribution is made on the sale of the red BluetoothT Headset H500.”  Having now at looked at many of the other participating companies’ sites, I would like to applaud Motorola for making their data so clear and easy to find.  They get the prize!!

 The Gap page on the RED website states 50% of the profits from sales of items go to the Global Fund to help eliminate AIDS in Africa.  Gap has its own RED pages, as well.  I went to their Social Responsibility pages and found the link to another RED page.  There is information in A LOT of places – but I am still having trouble finding what I am looking for!!!!  I went to the Social Responsibility Report’s community investment pages and found figures for other initiatives but not RED.  So I gave up.

Armani contributed an average of 40% of gross profit from the sales of RED products to the Global Fund.  I couldn’t find any information about dollars contributed on their site or in their Annual Report but I can’t claim having done an exhaustive search.

American Express RED  gives 1% of your total spend to the Global Fund.  Unfotunately, this card is only available in the UK at this time.  For more info, click here.  Too bad we in the US can’t get one.  The monthly statement tells you how much your personal contribution to REDMoney was from using the card.  I looked around on their American Express RED site and in their Corporate Citizenship Report for details.  Couldn’t find any figures though RED was mentioned on page 22 of the report – they may be there somewhere but I couldn’t find them easily.

The Global Fund website does give pledge dollars but aggregated amounts for PRODUCT RED.  Couldn’t find any company specific data there either. 

OK…so I now TOTALLY agree that it would be a good idea to add a page to the www.joinred.com site that not only tells the aggregated total contribution by all partners but also breaks out the contributions from each individual company partner.  Not many people will go through what I just did to try to figure it out and it IS frustrating to come up empty handed in many cases after all that effort.  Please…make it more transparent starting now!

My sister really has me figured out - she came up with the perfect card for me for Valentine’s Day yesterday.  It is a Hallmark card that just says PAMPE(RED) on the front.  Inside it said, “DO WHATEVER MAKES YOUR HEART HAPPY. INDULGE TODAY!  HAPPY VALENTINE’S DAY.”  The back  asks, “Is it a card or a way to help eliminate AIDS in Africa?  When you choose Hallmark (PRODUCT) RED cards, it’s both.”  It’s a great card and thoughtful because she knows I am fanatical about tracking what companies are doing to to give back.

So for my guilty confession – I did get it together this year to send Valentines to my sister and niece, my parents and my mentee.  However, to make it happen, I did the easiest thing and bought them at Target in one fell swoop.  I do know Target does give back a lot especially for education-related programs so I feel good about buying things there – but the link between my purchase and their give back is a little fuzzy.  If I had gone to a Hallmark store and bought a (Hallmark)RED card and spent the same $2.99 I spent elsewhere, I would know in a different way that a percentage of my purchase price was going to help the (PRODUCT)RED initiative to combat AIDS in Africa.   Their website says “HALLMARK IS A PROUD PARTNER OF (PRODUCT) RED™. 8% of Hallmark (PRODUCT) RED™ net wholesale sales will go to the Global Fund. Learn more.”  OK, so that’s not a huge amount of money from one card but at least they are very transparent about how much it really is, something that many other companies avoid.

Onwards…next holiday I will check the Hallmark cards FIRST!  How about you?

As a birthday gift this week, my sister gave me a red glass heart INSPI(RED) ornament by Hallmark.  Not only is it pretty and a sentimental gift from my only sister, it was even more meaningful because she knows how much I believe in business playing a role in addressing global concerns.  Part of the purchase price of the ornament goes to helping eliminate AIDS in Africa.  The perfect birthday gift for me!!

That birthday gift started me on a roll.  Today I decided to break down and buy an iPod shuffle to help with my annual New Year’s Resolution of going to the gym more often.  In the Apple store, I decided (especially for the same price!) to get the (PRODUCT)RED Special Edition – I was going to buy one anyway, I can find red in my purse, and I know my purchase would be doing a little bit to help the RED effort on AIDS.  After I got home, I realized while I knew RED was associated with Bono, but I did not know enough about the details so I went surfing to http://joinred.com as instructed by the little card that came with my shuffle.   I found out that (RED) was created by Bono and Bobby Shriver, Chairman of DATA “to raise awareness and money for The Global Fund by teaming up with the world’s most iconic brands to produce (PRODUCT)RED branded products. A percentage of each (PRODUCT)RED product sold is given to The Global Fund. The money helps women and children affected by HIV/AIDS in Africa.”  I was especially interested to read that RED is a brand designed to engage business and consumer power in the fight against AIDS in Africa. “(RED) works with the world’s biggest brands to make unique (PRODUCT) RED-branded products and direct up to 50% of their gross profits to the Global Fund to invest in African AIDS programs with a focus on the health of women and children. (RED) is not a charity or “campaign.” It is an economic initiative that aims to deliver a sustainable flow of private sector money to the Global Fund… (PRODUCT) RED launched on March 1, 2006 in the UK and on October 13, 2006 in the US. Current product partners include Converse, Gap, Motorola, Emporio Armani, Apple, Hallmark, and American Express (UK only). “  To date, their partners’ (PRODUCT) RED contributions to the Global Fund have reached over $50 million.  VERY impressive!!

Food for Thought: 

So while they aren’t labelled or discussed this way on the website, (PRODUCT)RED items are considered “for benefit” products.  A “for benefit” product is one which is developed purposefully to generate dollars to support a cause.  A percentage of every sale of the product is allocated to tackle the identified social issue.  For benefit products are a great way to enlist consumer support and buying power to raise dollars.  All good, right?  I know such offerings definitely influence my purchasing decisions as a consumer – I love opportunities to “do double duty” with what I buy.  However, I know from my discussions with some business thought leaders committed to social innovation, there are concerns about some for benefit products generally.  (NOTE: I am not making any accusations about (PRODUCT)RED by mentioning this.)  Sure, for benefit products “do good” by raising dollars but some business folks are concerned about how some of these products were sourced.  Were they produced in ways to minimize potential negative environmental and social impacts?  No huge nasty smokestacks or sweat shops paying slave wages, right?  Because wouldn’t that be sort of an oxymoron – produce products which raise money, perhaps to address some of the conditions exacerbated by the production of the product? Hmmm.. 

Interesting to think about…what are your thoughts on for benefit products?  For now, I personally will keep buying for benefit products as I find them and assume the best.