Defining a common purpose
Traditionally, consumers demanded fair prices, good quality, and good service from brands in order to go back for more. Today, the demands are so much more. Consumers want to know what you’ve done for employees, communities, the earth, and the underprivileged and needy, not just what you’ve done for investors, stakeholders, and executive compensation. In fact, as we cover in Chapter 2, more than 80 percent of consumers (Cone Communications CSR study) state that their purchasing decisions and brand loyalty are based on what a brand has done and is doing to improve the world. A large majority, close to 90 percent, of global consumers are willing and likely to switch brands to one that’s doing good in the world if price and quality are comparable.
More than 80 percent of consumers say that a brand’s actions and positive impact on the world influence what they buy or where they shop and also which products they choose to recommend to others. As consumers continue to say, the most influential source for their purchasing decisions is actually other consumers, friends, and peers, and a brand’s altruistic behavior becomes exponentially more critical.
So what does this mean to you, the marketer? And for small businesses, regional, or large global enterprises?
❯❯ You need to stand for something.
❯❯ You need to commit some of your resources to doing good in the world just like you commit resources and budget to your advertising efforts and media spend.
❯❯ Doing good is not just a good thing to do; it’s a competitive advantage that makes your brand worth shopping, referring, and being loyal to.
This movement to align with good brands has become so powerful that it has actually sparked an era of anti‐consumerism. A leading consumer activist group called Adbusters has grown consistently since the late 1980s and actively engages in what it calls “culture jamming,” which describes its movement to interrupt consumer experiences and expose underlying and not‐so‐positive truths about large corporations while jamming their profits from sales. It has exposed advertising it believes communicates unrealistic and misleading promises from companies that engage in child labor or other unethical practices, and it organizes movements that send messages to big corporations. Its best‐known movement is Occupy Wall Street, which successfully jammed New York’s Wall Street district in 2011 and sparked similar protests against big banks worldwide.
Although this statement may be an extreme expression of an extreme consumerism group, it reflects the level of distrust and angst toward big brands that other research from Neilsen, Edelman, and Cone Communications has reported in reports on trust, consumer social media, and so on.
As you go about reading this book and developing your own positioning strategies, messaging, and marketing and engagement programs, keep in mind the power of transparency, truth in all communications, integrity of your deeds and alliances, and the values you stand by and spread. You don’t want to be featured on Adbusters’ website or in its widely circulated magazine.
We’ve seen a lot of consumer action toward brands because of their positions on social issues. Remember what happened to Target’s stock value when it announced customers could self‐identify their gender to decide which bathroom they wanted to use? And all the boycotts of Chick‐fil‐A when the CEO’s comments opposed same‐sex marriage?
You need to consider your company’s positions and how you’ll communicate them if the need ever arises, because in a market driven by consumer expectations and demands that transcend products and prices to social issues, you need to understand how your actions and words can trump even the best and most carefully crafted marketing plan. We’re not suggesting that you change your values for financial gain but rather that you consider how you communicate about and respond to social issues. There is power in taking a stand for what you value and believe. As a brand, you need to plan for both positive and negative feedback.
❯❯ What you stand for
❯❯ How you’ll act responsibly for society and the environment
❯❯ What causes you’ll support and how you’ll engage your customers accordingly
❯❯ How you’ll build relationships with customers based on common values and causes
❯❯ How you’ll communicate with transparency to build trust equity for your brand
Building relationships with customers
Your biggest competitive advantage is not how clever or fun your social and traditional marketing campaigns are, and, as you’ll read throughout this book, it’s not your price. It’s your ability to build relationships with customers on trust, value, and relevance.
Your marketing plan is thus not just about building a sustainable and profitable business through the right sales channels, distributors, social engagement, and advertising strategies; it’s about building a community.
Brands that have done this well and which are referenced in detail in this book include TOMS, Wildfang, and Patagonia. Check them out online after reading their stories in later chapters and stay on top of what they’re doing to build strong emotional bonds with customers who have like values and purpose.
Communities need to make sense for the products you sell. If you sell clothing, creating a community effort around helping people in underprivileged situations to get professional clothing for job interviews and jobs is likely to be meaningful to your base. Building a community around carbon emissions or climate change, not so much.
Ask yourself the following questions to help guide your actions that present your values as you build a community of like‐minded people:
❯❯ How can we make our brand about consumers’ needs, not our business’s?
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