“Lighting Up Lives”: A Cause-Related Marketing Case to Solve Energy Poverty and Improve Quality of Life in Pakistan

Abstract

Partnerships between businesses and nonprofit organizations in general, and cause-related marketing (CRM) campaigns in particular, have become popular in Pakistan in the last years, especially in the holy month of Ramadan.

In 2015, Pepsi Company Pakistan, in collaboration with Active Citizen Engagement (ACE) Welfare Foundation, a nonprofit organization that develops the “Liter of Light Pakistan” project in this country (committed to provide affordable, sustainable solar light to people with limited or no access to electricity), launched a pioneer CRM campaign in the country, called “Lighting Up Lives.” According to the campaign, PepsiCo would donate Re. 1 to the Liter of Light project for every purchase of a 1.75 L Pepsi bottle. The amount donated was used to provide eco-friendly lighting to underprivileged communities and to control energy poverty. As this CRM campaign became very popular, it was re-launched the following 2 years, also during Ramadan.

The aim of this case study is to analyze this successful CRM initiative, which not only provided eco-friendly solar light to more than 70,000 people and 100 villages in Pakistan but also “lighted up their lives,” significantly by improving their living conditions, making their lives easier and safer, offering them opportunities to open their minds and enjoy activities that they previously could not even dream of, and, ultimately, generating feelings of happiness in these communities.