Grabbing a cause: Jones Apparel Group takes on teachers.

When the marketing team at Jones Apparel Group, Inc., began its search for a cause to support, the research uncovered a shocking reality: the need to address the key challenges facing America's teachers.

According to Stacy Lastrina, senior vice president of creative services for Jones Apparel Group (JAG), "When we asked what issues are important, both employees and consumers lined up behind children and behind education as top priorities."

With research showing a more than 90 percent support for children's causes, that 2.2 million new teachers will be needed by 2010 and that 50 percent of new teachers leave in the first five years, the organization launched in May, 2005, Jones New York In The Classroom (JNYITC).

Speaking at the Cause Marketing Forum, held last month in New York City, Lastrina walked the audience through the first year of the JNYITC initiative, and introduced the plans for the 2006 campaign.

The following is a comparison of the 2005 and 2006 campaigns, both of which comprise five key components--employee, trade, press, retailer, and customers.

Employee Engagement: During the 2005 run, employee kits and JAG Intranet announcements were made to introduce the initiative. Some 23 locations participated in activities to kick off the cause, accumulating 250,000 hours of paid volunteer time for employees. Employees also held their own fundraisers to support the cause.

This year, said Lastrina, JAG established Employee Cause Committees at each location.The creation of two publications, the Employee Cause Committee Handbook and a quarterly cause newsletter, were distributed among employees. And, JAG continued paid volunteer time for those employees who ran fundraising efforts.

Trade Engagement: In its first year, JNYITC utilized National Teacher Appreciation Week to reach out to teachers and to spread word about the initiative. It also utilized Google to drive awareness of National Teacher Day. Similar drives are to run for the 2006 effort.

Press Engagement: During 2005, JNYITC affiliates were seen at the New York Stock Exchange, rining the closing bell. Peter Boneparth, president and CEO of JAG, acted as principle for a day at several schools. Promotion for the initiative was found in national publications, online, and on television.

The second year brought more promotion, including global expansion with Asia curriculum, grants to other nonprofits, and a contest launch in participation with The Home Depot, Hands On Network and KaBOOM!, said Lastrina.

Retailer Engagement: During 2005, JAG worked with its retail partners to launch its in-store cause marketing program, including a limited edition T-shirt featuring artwork by New York City artist Ryan McGinness. The T-shirt sold out in less than one week online. One-hundred percent of the revenues from the T-shirt and a car magnet went to JNYITC. Another corporate sponsor, The Fruit Company, gave 20 percent of its online sales to JNYITC.

Customer/Public Engagement: The 2005 Back to School, Back to Style national classroom and teacher makeover contest was publicized in five major markets, including New York, Washington, D.C., Los Angeles, Chicago and Atlanta. JAG partnered with O, The Oprah Magazine, designer Laurie Smith of the TLC show Trading Spaces, The Home Depot, and its own Jones New York store chain.

The 2006 contest was expanded to include more teacher and school makeovers, more collaborative efforts with last year's corporate partners, The Hands On Network and KaBOOM! A full-page advertisement in the June issue of Real Simple officially launched the contest, with nominations via the JNYITC Web site, www.jnyin theclassroom.org/backtostyle. The grand prize: a playground set.

For both the 2005 and 2006 campaigns, October is shopping week, with 10 percent of all sales from select Jones New York lines supporting JNYITC, up to $500,000. Real teachers are tapped to participate in "Model Teacher" fashion shows and other theme events in-store at retailers Macy's and Carson Pirie Scott. These efforts are supported by a direct mail campaign, magazine PSAs and an online push.

Along with the five components came various other portals to getting word out, said Lastrina. During 2005, actress Brooke Shields donned Jones New York apparel for a PSA. This year, the organization shot another PSA with First Lady Laura Bush along with her favorite teacher, in Texas. "We earned more than 136 million media impressions to date," added Lastrina.