A cause on every carton?

The article discusses issues related to product marketing. According to Jerry Welsh, the top marketing man at American Express Co.'s Travel Related Services business, social responsibility is a good marketing hook. Welsh isn't talking about old-fashioned corporate philanthropy. In its latest cause-related gambit, in fact, American Express has decided to design a cause of its own. In a $6 million campaign launched this fall, the company is encouraging the use of its services by promising contributions to Project Hometown America. Project Hometown America is an organization created by American Express to funnel funds to grassroots projects aimed at a variety of problems--the homeless, teenage alcohol and drug abusers.