CNERG: A playbook for marketing professionals to implement a multi-stakeholder CRM campaign in India
Iram Ahmed, MBA, School of Business
In 2021, India mandated corporate social responsibility (CSR) through the Companies Act of 2013, requiring corporations above a certain size to allocate at least 2 per cent of their annual net profits to CSR activities. These activities often intersected with cause-related marketing (CRM) or social marketing, serving as avenues for ethical consumption. Previous research predominantly focused on ethical consumption from a Global North perspective, often leading to ineffective CRM strategies when applied in the south due to significant regional disparities. Despite global interconnectedness, CRM campaigns manifested differently across regions, influenced by local contexts and market saturation levels. Recognizing this disparity, there was a pressing need for research centered on ethical consumption in the Global South to elucidate the local factors shaping this phenomenon.
The completed research project addressed this gap by providing marketing professionals with a playbook for strategically implementing a multi-stakeholder CRM model in India. Through digital content analysis, the project explored CRM networks in Asia/India, analyzed popular CRM campaigns among the top N100 companies in India, and identified emergent themes and tactics. The resulting playbook outlined the most effective themes, practices, methods, and tactics specific to India, offering insights into the factors contributing to CRM success locally and providing valuable guidance for marketers navigating the Indian market landscape. The primary outcome was the creation of a playbook tailored for marketing professionals seeking to implement multi-stakeholder CRM campaigns in India. This playbook provided a comprehensive collection of practices, methods, and tactics that significantly influenced the success of CRM campaigns in India, facilitating more effective and impactful marketing strategies in the region.