Harness the power of cause marketing.

• Position: Marketing News - Brief article

As today's consumers become more educated and concerned about the fate of our planet, they are demanding higher levels of responsibility from their brands, according to Len Goodman, director of product management in Sovereign Bank's Global Solutions Group.

Cause-related marketing builds customer loyalty and good will, grabs media attention and impacts our world in a positive way.

"As you design and implement your cause-marketing initiative, remember to treat it as you would any other campaign in terms of identifying audience demographics, defining the scope of marketing reach and media coverage potential," he says. He recommends that you keep in mind these best practices:

* Find a partner that fits your business. The goals should be to align with a synergistic nonprofit cause to create win-win marketing. Start by looking at organizations that have had previous relationships with financial institutions.

* Measure success. Set goals and establish methods of measuring success. Even if this is your first cause-marketing campaign, you need to determine metrics for...