Essay on Samantha King's Book on Breast Cancer: Dream Cause-Marketing for Orgs & Foundations

Introduction

Samantha King analyses breast cancer in her book as a "dream cause-marketing" for organizations and cancer foundations (King 2006). Through her book, she argues that corporations have become less focused on changing the status quo and rooted more on fundraising, occasions for fitness, and profit-oriented empowerments. The book also explores that the rise of philanthropy that is targeted at breast cancer has moved from health and civil issue to a marketing goldmine. She uses the evidence-based approach to discuss the ethical questions that arise. Both opportunities and challenges for the nonprofit organization have been created by the growth in the course-related campaigns of marketing and large-scale sponsored fundraising events. The book traces how breast cancer has suffered transformation in public, from a stigmatized illness that was best dealt with privately to a forgotten epidemic that calls for public debate and political movements enriching experience in which women with breast cancer are termed as patients but survivors. An increase in available funding has dramatically led to the rise in the number of nonprofits. King adds in her book that, most of these organizations struggle with the same ethical concerns such as how their affiliations are affected by the positions they take, how the public will convey the message or how the outsiders will manage the agenda. If people really knew what was happening in these campaigns, they would be disappointed. This paper presents a synthesis of key issues raised and lessons learned from an integrated review of the book Pink Ribbons (2006) by Samantha King.

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Five Key Issues Raised by The Book

Drawing from Pink Ribbons, several controversies are arising due to the new possibilities implemented by the continuous advancement in medicine. Bioethics is quite broad as it incorporates many disciplines such as medicine sociology philosophy and law. The evolution of methods used in medical performance has significantly led to the emergence of competition in Healthcare marketing. Advertising and marketing is one way that the health care sector is using to develop and maintain relationships with the target audience, which in this case, is women.

The first concern that results from course marketing is the situation in which the medical activities and events are turned into pure commercial events for Profits. According to King, advertising and promotions were deemed as below the dignity of the Medical profession and that the only way a health center could gain new patients was through a recommendation from another satisfied patient. However, in the modern world, Corporations have been given the freedom to promote their businesses as long as they are participants in the campaign and advocacy events. Additionally, King Adds that women die from breast cancer, which is considered an epidemic that they do not even know the cause. This is a key concern since the participation of many corporations in the advocacy is only for gains and even worse can cause more health complications.

Course-marketing is a form that is unique to a capitalistic market system that is majorly concerned with private production and profit-making. King adds that America's sincere heart for philanthropy has turned into a bank for businesses. Women who have breast cancer often find treatment in isolation and privacy; therefore, encouraging many private firms and corporations to sell their products to them as a vulnerable target population. Sadly, women are reduced to buying products such as head guns and even gasoline in the name of raising money for breast cancer.

Target group advantage. Taking advantage of a vulnerable target group such as women is another concern in cause-marketing and advertising. This concern presents in the fact that breast cancer is an epidemic with no specific cause. This reason makes women an easier target for marketers whose main aim is to market their products. It is much easier to market a product to a target population whose primary concern is to find the cure for the epidemic and believe that the funds are used for research. Corporations only focus on marketing products to a specific demographic, which in this case are women who have breast cancer and their counterparts who care and have lost loved ones from the disease.

Additionally, the political campaign that results in the breast cancer semipostal stamp that was sold at a much higher price than the postal value. King says that the semi-pistol cell has raised millions of dollars for research, but what's the ordinary person fails to find out is if the money is successfully used in the study for the cure. The present state of activism majorly focuses on early detection rather than providing the cure that the cancer patients are seriously pushing for. During the donation periods, many products are turned pink as a way of raising awareness for breast cancer, but unfortunately, most of these cause-marketing advocacies mislead women who are the primary consumers and promote products that cause harm. Most of the public relations practitioners break professional and ethical laws when they plan their campaign events since their primary focus is the profits.

King posits that the other concern is that the significant increase in corporate and events support for breast cancer leads to the overriding link of this cancer with a white middle class nurturing woman who is a stay-at-home mother. By this, she means that women from other minority groups who lack funds and are in greater need of care benefits less from these events. "Race for Cure" by the Komen foundation Is an example of corporate partnership that directly affects consumer consciousness; King calls this "The politics of civic fitness" which is a successful way of getting people to participate. King says that there is no need for an organization to participate in an event when the products they produce are made of chemicals that causes cancer itself. She emphasizes that in the topics of post-race speeches, neither environmental causes of disease or inequalities is mentioned. The Fabric of cancer establishment has institutionalized the survivor the patient and the activist expert.

Lessons Learned

Cause marketing communication must be ethically consistent with reality. King explores that the promises are given by the corporations easily influence patients with severe suffering and anger. As a global marketing strategy, it is essential to research the relationship between the product and the charity. Partnerships are essential in achieving the goals of reducing cancer. One crucial way to achieve a strong collaboration with other charity organizations is through active communication activities that will increase feelings and cohesion among patients and other stakeholders. Philanthropy is a global marketing strategy that can significantly be achieved through strategic global communication and cohesion among groups.

Cause marketing has significantly grown in the modern world because the profit is mainly based on the reason that the partnerships are both seen as a way of increasing short-term sales and as a strategy of increasing the long-term benefits. Increasing breast cancer awareness through Pink Ribbons has significantly led to an increase in business, specifically the ones that target women as a demographic group. According to King, currently many nonprofit organizations that participate in the Pink Ribbons, mainly focus on profit gains and not welfare, and therefore, setting boundaries in cause-marketing partnerships by the charity Foundation is a way of achieving full awareness of what is advocated for at the same time offering an avenue of increased profit for the partners.

By applying the theories of ethics, the nonprofit corporations must understand that the benefit is a mutual one, and therefore, it is essential that they consider who they partner with. According to utilitarianism, the quality of decisions and actions made in marketing is evaluated by considering the consequences of implementing the strategy (Hursthouse, 2013). In regards to the Pink Ribbons, philanthropic corporations who participate in events with the aim of a profit apply the utilitarian theory since they assess the likely costs and benefits of each partner. Accordingly, in cause-marketing strategy, nonprofit organizations create decisions and participate in actions that are likely to produce the most significant benefit for all concerned individuals. However, from the pink Ribbons documentary, deontology theory of ethics would be best applied to achieve the greater good. Deontology in marketing strategy focuses does not focus on the decisions and actions but rather on the underlying principles of an ethical decision (Hursthouse, 2013). Breast cancer patients hang onto the hope of a better cure, and thus the major aim of a nonprofit stakeholder should be for the well-being of the patient as a universal good rather than increasing their profits with further harm. One crucial way of achieving ethical course marketing would be to depoliticize and communicate to people that the money they are raising majorly used the research for a cure.

Another lesson that can be applied to global strategic communication is through integrity. Nonprofit organizations should, at all times, play a role of making sure that there is integrity in their cause-related marketing partnership. For instance, The Komen foundation requires at least a 10% contribution to the retail price of a product from a charity partner. This is a strategic communication method for achieving integrity. There must be effective communications of the chemical used to manufacture the products that are offered by the nonprofit organizations. Also, charity. Foundation must make sure that the product that is being endorsed displays their website and helpline information where consumers can obtain more information regarding their cancer.

Marketing communication is best achieved through the right choice of the target audience for a cause-marketing strategy. The demographic that is directly affected by breast cancer orphan influences the popularity of cause marketing. Breast cancer is common in women aged 40 years or older who are mostly considered as wives, mothers, or grandmothers signifying members of a family. This predicts why cause marketing operations target this group as a way of marketing their products for more financial gain and global awareness. Marketers do not just look for important charities but also find courses that may appeal to their target groups as a strategy for communication.

Conclusion

In conclusion, Pink Ribbons by Samantha King delineates that corporations have become less focused on changing the status quo and rooted more on fundraising, occasions for fitness, and profit-oriented empowerments. Pink Ribbons is one of the most significantly recognized symbols in the United States. King says that this Foundation continues to inspire markets consumers and corporations to partner in an ethical relationship, whose main aim is to spread awareness of breast cancer, support screening, and fight for the disease. Money raised by nonprofit corporations is not accounted for in these events; therefore, according to Samantha King, there is no coordination of efforts that results in healthcare services and agendas characterized by large market gaps. Cause-marketing has increased through Pink movement, and so has it been beneficial for some women as now many have become public about their disease and share their experience with cancer.

References

Hursthouse, R., & Crisp, R. (2013). Normative virtue ethics. Ethics, 645.Retriev from: https://www.dascolihum.com/uploads/CH_44_Hursthouse_Right_Action.pdf

King, S. (2006). Pink Ribbons, Inc: Breast cancer and the politic...