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4 Benefits of Aligning Your Brand with Socially Responsible Companies

May 14, 2019 by


How La Cocina Created the Right Opportunity for Brands

Sponsoring socially responsible companies allows brands to appeal to issues target customers care about and meet customers where they are. With the proliferation of technology and social media, you might be wondering how to build brand awareness in a world where the consumer’s attention is stretched so thin.

For example, La Cocina is a San Francisco-based nonprofit helping immigrant women and women of color start food businesses in their communities. La Cocina is currently looking for sponsors for a groundbreaking new project: they’re opening the Municipal Marketplace, the first female-led food hall in the US, later this year in the heart of the Tenderloin.

So whether you work with La Cocina or another socially responsible company, consider the potential benefits of aligning your brand with a social good organization. Here’s why:

Improves public image and brand loyalty

These days, consumers care about supporting businesses that give back and help the world. These consumers are more likely to stand by your company for years to come when they see their own values reflected in your brand.

Social impact is important to consumers of any age, but millennials especially say social responsibility is important to them when they shop. A 2015 study showed 70% of millennials would pay more for a product with a social or environmental benefit (vs. 66% U.S. average).

Choosing organizations that do work that aligns with your company’s mission is especially powerful.

La Cocina was founded in 2005 with the mission to “cultivate low-income food entrepreneurs as they formalize and grow their businesses.” Not only would brands in the food industry resonate with La Cocina’s work, but also brands that believe in the power of small business, brands that want to empower women or immigrant communities and more. The La Cocina mission resonates with many different types of brands, which is why they have already secured 85% of their funding goal for the Municipal Marketplace.

Increases media coverage

Without a doubt, aligning yourself with socially responsible companies is great for your brand’s public relations. Their wins are your wins. And the more impact the organization you sponsor has in the community, the more newsworthy your sponsorship becomes.

La Cocina is making a real impact for women in the food industry. You can see from their 2017 Annual Report, women hold only 21% of head chef roles in the United States and make up a mere 33% of restaurant owners; meanwhile, 91% of La Cocina businesses are female-owned.

Furthermore, according to La Cocina, the Municipal Marketplace will “provide affordable meals to local residents who face a combined lack of access to fresh produce and live in [low-cost housing] without cooking equipment, as well as create 30-40 jobs estimated at $1.3MM in total wages in a neighborhood with one of the city's highest unemployment rates.”

Boosts employee engagement

A lesser-discussed benefit of aligning your brand with socially responsible companies is a boost in employee engagement, morale and productivity. A recent study showed employees want to work for a company with social impact.

Knowing the company is doing good in the world makes your employees feel good about the work they’re doing, and happier employees are more productive employees. They can also become brand advocates if they love the company and their job.

Simply put, if you show you do good in the world, you’ll attract good people.

You’re changing the world

Finally, sponsoring socially responsible companies is about more than just the bottom line. Ultimately, your company is contributing to a cause changing the world for the better.

La Cocina’s Municipal Marketplace, slated to open in Fall 2019, will create a uniquely inclusive, safe, healthy, equitable and welcoming space for families, tenants and workers. It will be a safe and accessible space for residents and stand as an innovative model for anti-gentrification, conscious development and private and public partnerships.

Imagine investing in that: consumers will see your brand’s name on signs, buildings, social media and more at the same time they are engaging with socially responsible companies making the world a better place for us all.

To learn more about sponsoring socially responsible companies and how you can support La Cocina’s Municipal Marketplace, contact us for more information.


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Kristi Yim, Resonate Agency’s fearless founder, brings years of experience and boundless enthusiasm to her experiential marketing agency and clients. On this blog, she’ll chat about connecting properties, brands and audiences; best practices in experiential marketing and sponsorships; industry happenings and musings on marketing excellence. Follow along!

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