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Greta Thunberg, a 17-year-old Swedish climate activist, is leading HUGE cultural change.
Since her solo strike from school where she demonstrated outside the Swedish parliament building in 2018, she has galvanised tens of thousands of students worldwide to hold regular climate strike. In September 2019 millions of people joined her protest.
This year Glasgow will host the United Nations climate change summit – a major opportunity for governments to tackle the climate emergency after a thoroughly disappointing COP 25 – summarised here by Antonio Guterres:
Trust in established systems to address the world’s problems is failing.
The same loss of faith in political systems applies to brands too. In 2019, the Edelman Trust Barometer revealed that 2/3 of respondents don’t trust most of the brands they buy and use.
Brands and those who market them have the opportunity to go beyond the basics of an emotive marketing campaign or plastic installation on the beach. We now need to rethink the entire premise of the industry and adapt and change to new consumer culture.
We need to move away from selling more and more and instead build businesses through the lens of ethical, conscious consumerism.
It makes sense commercially too. Ethical spending – on products such as green energy, Fairtrade, second-hand clothing, and organic and sustainable food – is on the rise in the UK, according to the non-profit co-operative Ethical Consumer.
According to their 2018 Ethical Consumer Markets Report, The UK spent more than £83 billion on ethical goods in 2017 (up 3.2% from the previous year) The growth of this market has been driven by increasing environmental concern, particularly amongst younger people.
Conscious consumerism is clearly no longer a niche market.
Every culture has an “early adoption phase” before it matures and becomes mainstream. Right now there is a clear movement towards values such as civic duty, responsibility and consideration for the future.
Brands need to learn how to thread those values into the products and services they make …
It’s not enough to just consider the environment either, brands will have to take a stance on human rights, social justice and diversity and inclusion.
A recent report by Shelton Group found that 86% of respondents believed companies should not only support social causes but also take a stance on social issues.
Diversity and inclusion is possibly one of big corp’s favourite buzzword but it has to must move from a mere box-ticking exercise to building inclusive workplaces and developing communications that speak to myriad different audiences.
This is where a solid content strategy plays a very important role. Brands have to create meaningful, personalised, and engaging content that not only speaks to their audience’s needs but also resonates with their values. Understanding what customers want—and what’s important to them—is how businesses are best able to make meaningful connections with their customers.
There’s an old adage that if you stand for nothing, you’ll fall for anything.
If you want credit for your brand’s social purpose stand, it’s essential that you make your message stand out, make it easy to remember and to relate back to your brand.
- Hellmann’s® mayonnaise supports the production of cage-free eggs, a key ingredient in its product
- The TOMS® One for One® program matches each pair of shoes bought with the donation of shoes to a child in need
- Stella Artois® has been supporting clean drinking water for people in the developing world since 2015, and asking consumers to “Buy a Lady a Drink” through their chalice purchase promotion
- McDonald’s aims to get 100% of its packaging from renewable, recycled or certified sources by 2025
- Amazon donates 0.5% of the price of eligible purchases to the charitable organisation of your choice
Once consumers know which brands stand for which purpose, they become more favourable toward them.
Brands that conduct “business as usual” will not survive the coming age.
Now, companies have to tell stories that capture the truth about the consumers they serve. As consumers face political, environmental and cultural upheaval, there is an increasing demand for transparency.
Transparency is business-critical.
Transparency in the supply chain, transparency in what corporates are actually doing to fulfil their social responsibilities and how those actions really contribute to the betterment of the world.
It’s clear that there’s a burgeoning business case for sustainability. In a world confronted by social and environmental challenges, brands have to be able to tell an authentic story of corporate social responsibility, sustainability, and environmental friendliness.
Those that don’t are unlikely to attract today’s increasingly conscious—and conspicuous—consumers.
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