When he was senior VP/Director of Corporate Affairs for
OppenheimerFunds in the early 1990s, Rob Densen sensed a huge void
in the financial marketplace concerning women and investing. With
an endorsement from then-CEO Jon Fossel and then-president Bridget
Macaskill, Densen in 1992 spearheaded what is now considered a
groundbreaking program on women and investing that, in the ensuing
decade, dramatically changed the conversation on Wall Street
regarding female investors. And, oh yes, the program played a big
part in increasing OppenheimerFund's market share of mutual-fund
sales, particularly among women.
An update in 2002 of the 1992 survey found that 77% of women
said they were more knowledgeable about investing than they were
five years previous and that, as investors, women are more
goal-oriented and take fewer financial gambles than men. A parallel
program that Densen created examined the attitude and behaviors of
Gen X women as they related to savings and investments.
One of the key findings of the study was that most single women
said that they would acquire 30 pairs of shoes before accumulating
$30,000 in retirement savings. The study was quickly dubbed the
"Carrie Bradshaw Syndrome," named after the "Sex and the City" lead
character's penchant for Manolo Blahnik shoes. The results of the
study were sent to producers of the HBO program, who then developed
story lines around women, shoes and money. Coincidence?
Unlikely.
"In every piece of research Rob does he pushes a button that
gets released again and again and again and that's how companies
get their messages out," says Jean Chatzky, editor at large at
Money and financial editor for NBC's "Today Show," who has written
extensively about the women and investing study. "What Rob has
found a way to do is to further the underlying mission of a
business while enabling the business to accomplish something that's
good for the world."
Now, Densen wants to do for cause marketing what he's
accomplished for women and investing: steer it in a profitable, new
direction and show the marketplace there is a better, more
cost-effective way for companies to do well by doing good.
In early 2003 he launched Tiller LLC, with the goal of boosting
clients' reputations as well as their bottom lines and, in the
process, transforming the way businesses view their advocacy
marketing and charitable giving efforts. So far, Merrill Lynch
Investment Managers, one of the world's largest investment managers
with more than $450 billion under management, and retail giant
Sears Roebuck & Co. have hired Tiller. Neither company could
discuss the details of the relationships, but Densen shared his
general approach to an area of communications that is at a
crossroads. (See sidebar, p. 4).
You can't argue with his timing. In the wake of a string of
corporate scandals - with all the dirty laundry to be aired in
several upcoming executive trials -- there is a growing feeling
throughout the country that corporate America could stand to be a
bit more altruistic.
But Densen knows the language CEOs speak. So he's fused a new
approach to cause marketing that combines charitable gift giving,
advocacy marketing, research and public relations. While his
mission may seem pollyannaish to some, Densen's business plan is
firmly rooted in the bottom line. "He's got a huge heart but is
coming at it from a business point of view," Chatzky says. "If it's
between the business and a charitable endeavor, the business comes
first."
Densen says companies need to more clearly define the term
"cause marketing," which can mean everything and nothing. Part of
the problem is vocabulary. "CSR sounds so heavy and onerous and is
so unrelated to the business. It can mean anything from corporate
governance to manufacturing policies to the environment to
workforce diversity," Densen says, adding: "It's not about check
writing or policy generation but active, long-term advocacy on
behalf of your customers. The problem is most CSR programs are
sitting on the bench and I'd have them batting clean up."
In order to provide solid returns any "cause commerce" program
needs three components: business alignment, intellectual integrity
and a multi-year perspective. But with managers focused on one
business quarter to the next, investing in "cause commerce" for the
long-term may seem soft to a hard-nosed CEO.
"I feel like Moses and I may not make it to the promised land
but I hope somebody does," Densen says. "People 'get it'
conversationally. The question is can they execute and create a
high-concept plan that is going to take some time" to show business
results.
Densen's pitch is to show companies that by viewing advocacy
marketing as a long-term obligation to society and opportunity to
the business--as opposed to a short-term media vehicle that will
soon vaporize -- consumer goodwill will eventually materialize and,
when that happens, the media will surely follow.
Richard Thau, president of New York-based Presentation Testing
Inc., which uses dial technology to test and improve the
effectiveness of business presentations, and has worked with
Densen, says: "Rob has a way of disabusing companies of the notion
that just because they are underwriting a CSR of some sort that the
world will pay attention. Instead, he will come up with a plan that
advances a corporation's trust with society."
PR can play a big part in cause commerce programs. But in order
to gel throughout the company the effort is most effective when it
originates with a business unit. "PR can facilitate this
conversation but [the plan] ideally starts with a business unit,"
Densen adds.
Densen's business plan is gaining applause from senior
communications execs. "Rob helps corporations understand the best
possible fit for the company and community needs and that's
different from straight cause marketing," says Frances Emerson,
senior VP/corporate communications for MassMutual Financial Group,
which owns OppenheimerFunds. "He gets to know his clients, their
values and their markets and then tries to find the nexus between
legitimate causes and what the company can do to advance the
cause."
Emerson says there's two ways PR execs can play a crucial role
in "cause commerce." One is to help the company connect all the
dots of the plan and second to position the company to invest in
programs that will reflect well on the organization's core
business. She adds that what often happens in traditional cause
marketing plans is that companies start to throw bad money after
good. By contrast, Densen's "programs will provide focus," she
says.
Ivy McLemore, first VP/Corporate Communications for AIM
Investments, one of the 10 largest mutual fund companies in the
country, says prior to the program Densen created at
OppenheimerFunds, women were not pursued by investment companies.
"Rob has a very good way at determining what companies can do to
demonstrate value in corporate advocacy as opposed to proclaiming
integrity in some clever ad campaign."
Densen has a tough road ahead of him, however, in changing
corporate mindsets. "He's going to have to tell [clients] that you
don't want to be clever, but sincere and need to go beyond
symbolism to make the connections between growing your business and
having a strong advocacy program." McLemore says. "He's on an
island now and has to build the bridges back to the mainland."
Indeed, Densen has to brace himself for battling the status quo
in cause marketing. "He wants to challenge clients to commit to
causes and not just give them lip service," says Bill Heyman,
President-CEO of Heyman Associates, an executive search firm in PR
and communications, who has known Densen for years. "Rob is willing
to take a chance and say to the company, 'OK, this is going to cost
you money now and you won't get an immediate return but ultimately
it will pay off for the company.' Something that is almost too easy
to dismiss makes you pay more attention to it."
Several sources refer to Densen as a "visionary" but add the
caveat that he's got to be careful not to get too far ahead of
business managers, who tend to move with all the speed of dripping
molasses when it comes to effecting real change. "The problem with
visionaries is if they get too far ahead the troops get lost,"
McLemore says. "He needs to convince CEOs that this is not only
where they need to be but have to be and this is how we're
marching."
Contacts: Jean Chatzky, [email protected]
; Rob Densen, 212.727.1626, [email protected] ;
Frances Emerson, 413.744.3679; [email protected] ; Bill
Heyman, 212.784.2713, [email protected]
; Ivy McLemore, 713.214.1904, [email protected]
; Rich Thau, 212.760.4358, [email protected]