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September 13, 2011
Creating word-of-mouth for a cause, the Innocent Drinks way
How do you get your customers to rally behind a cause? Build in a word-of-mouth factor.
Innocent Drinks, a UK-based smoothie and juice company, donates 10% of their profits to charity. One way they do this is their annual "Big Knit." They ask customers to knit little hats for their bottles that will be displayed for two weeks at large grocery stores in November. For every behatted bottle sold, Innocent will donate 25 cents to a charity that helps the elderly pay their heating bills over the harsh winter. The goal this year: 650,00 hats which would mean £162,500 ($257,000 USD) in donations. The Big Knit was started in 2003 and this year the company hopes to hit the £1 million mark in donations.
Supporters are encouraged to start their own knitting circles to recruit their friends into the effort. Innocent provides all the of materials, including invitations, a hatometer poster to keep track of hats produced, as well as patterns and knitting instructions. You can see the hat creations from last year in this Flickr group. Innocent uses their Facebook page to have fans vote on "Hat of the Week."
And who could resist buying one of bottles that stand out on the store shelf in their warm, fuzzy tobaggans?
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I absolutely love this idea! I have a friend who has a similar business model, and I've sent your blog along to her for food for thought. Keep up the great suggestions and posts; I've already become a subscriber!
This is the most adorable idea for such a worthy cause :)
