The previous articles in this series have highlighted issues about the supply chain that are rapidly moving up the business agenda, as corporate social responsibility is taking centre stage. These developments are set in the context of increasingly restless and vociferous consumers who are prepared to show their displeasure with corporate behaviour. Which came first, the consumer outcry or corporate recognition of the importance and business benefits of corporate social responsibility, is hard to tell. There is no denying, however, that together they are having a significant impact.
Stakeholders generally, and consumers particularly, are becoming increasingly empowered. With the IT revolution, the power of knowledge, the power to purchase and the power to protest are available at the touch of a button.
The riots in Seattle, Davos, Prague, Gothenburg and Genoa achieved such enormous scale as they brought together a whole range of activists and protesters, campaigning on a multitude of issues, from globalisation and human rights to supply chain management and third world debt. Whatever the motivation for protesting, these individuals and groups were united by the common underlying theme of wanting, needing, expecting and indeed demanding to be heard and taken into account.
These protests focused the media and consumer spotlights on brands and the companies behind them, with the result that business approaches are very much under public scrutiny.
The riots showed some but not all of the faces of vigilante consumerism. There are many. Some choose to take to the streets, others take to the net; some are 18-25, others are 70 plus. The only constant about vigilante consumers is that they can potentially bring your company or brand down, or help them succeed. This will have a significant impact on business and marketing strategies in the future.
As argued in the previous edition of Community Affairs Briefing, with the threat or reality of boycotts comes the opportunity to create markets for labelled products. They also create opportunities for products and services with socially responsible credentials. With the threat of boycott comes the wake up call for business. Corporate and brand guardians need to build and reinforce their licences to operate and demonstrate their contribution to the health of society. The opportunity and, indeed, the need for revised business strategies are presented, not least in the areas of purchasing and marketing. Those who fail to heed the call will flounder. Brands are not ‘all powerful’ as some have argued but are increasingly ‘all vulnerable’ in these changing circumstances.
The vulnerability of brands has never been more evident than it is today. Brands can take decades to build and only moments to destroy, and the weapons of brand destruction come in many forms. Corporate social responsibility and supply chain issues may not have been on the marketing agenda in the past but must be today.
Consumers will not only vote with their feet and their purse against companies or brands they disapprove of, as Shell, Nestle, Nike, McDonald’s, The Gap and Esso have experienced, but will also actively change their behaviour in favour of companies and brands they approve of. In some cases consumers will indeed become advocates.
Research carried out by Business in the Community provides a compelling insight into consumers’ support for businesses that take their social responsibility seriously and demonstrate it in the public domain. Consumers expect business to be socially responsible, a responsibility which consumers regard as close to that of government and above that of charities and religious institutions. Eighty one percent of consumers agree that, when price and quality are equal, they would switch brands, change retail outlets and have a much better perception of a company that is trying to do something to benefit society1.
The message is clear. Consumers are seriously motivated by socially responsible corporate behaviour when they are aware of it. When this is demonstrated through marketing, consumers are willing to change their buying behaviour and perceptions. These pull factors are increasingly understood by businesses who are starting to think creatively about what they can achieve by putting the power of their marketing and brands behind some key social issues, to make a positive social difference.
Increasingly, enlightened companies like Tesco, Avon, British Gas, Dollond & Aitchison, Lever Fabergé, Walkers, Ford Motor Company, and Yorkshire Tea are getting behind key issues and linking their brands to charities or good causes to develop mutually beneficial partnerships. They are all proponents of cause related marketing, defined by Business in the Community as “a commercial activity by which businesses and charities or causes form a partnership with each other to market an image, product or service for mutual benefit”.
It is easy to see why marketers are exploring and investing in cause related marketing partnerships from both a rational and emotional level. In an environment where price, quality and functionality are increasingly equal and expected, consumers want more. They are no longer willing to be simply sold to; they want to be given reasons to buy. It is essential, therefore, for businesses to create new and additional platforms for dialogue, engagement and sustainable differentiation. Corporates continually search for competitive advantage, differentiating themselves by adding perceived value to products and services. Cause related marketing provides both emotional and rational engagement of the consumer with the company or brand.
Cause related marketing can also make a significant positive impact on society, whether it be through £10 million supporting breast cancer care and research, £100 million worth of computers, books and other equipment in schools, or two million trees planted in the developing world. Cause related marketing provides the means for generating additional funds and resources as well as communicating and reinforcing new and existing messages, whilst also developing awareness and loyalty amongst stakeholder groups. The collaborative opportunity between community affairs and marketing creates even greater potential. Tesco’s recent charity of the year relationship with Macmillan Cancer Relief was leveraged by cause related marketing, through in-store brand support and by including the partnership logo prominently on 7 million of its carrier bags. This equated to over £200,000 worth of funds donated from sales and thousands of pounds of free advertising space and an increase in ‘opportunities to see’ for the charity’s brand.
As well as benefiting the charity or good cause, cause related marketing can build corporate and brand reputation, enhance customer loyalty and stakeholder relationships, generate awareness and differentiation, add value and reinforce corporate values as well as generating footfall, trial and sales.
Evidence of consumer support for cause related marketing has been further demonstrated through the latest Business in the Community report entitled Profitable Partnerships2. Profitable Partnerships demonstrates the relationship between cause related marketing, brand affinity and equity, and actual customer perception, loyalty and buying behaviour. Profitable Partnerships revealed that the vast majority of the population (88%) were aware of cause related marketing. It also confirmed that companies which take part in it are perceived by consumers as being more trustworthy and more innovative, both of which are key drivers of affinity and therefore equity.
Cause related marketing is also driving participation and impacting at the point of purchase. At least two-thirds (67%) of consumers have taken part in a cause related marketing programme and of those, 77% were positively influenced at the point of purchase or decision making by the cause related marketing programme. It is also proven to have long lasting sustainable benefits with 80% of all consumers who have taken part in a cause related marketing programme continuing to feel positive about the company. Consumers are marketing literate and typically cynical, yet 96% of consumers think cause related marketing is good for charities and causes, and support it. Indeed over two thirds of consumers want to see more companies involved in cause related marketing.
In the last five years the corporate landscape has changed significantly. Strategies and behaviours are changing, and will need to continue to adapt to fit into the new order. Consumers have the power to praise, the power to purchase, the power to protest and the power to boycott. This can be seen as either a threat or an opportunity. Bring these stakeholders with you, work with them, engage them in your business and your brand, understand their needs, expectations and concerns and the potential for long term sustainable health and success for the business, the stakeholders and society as a whole will be powerfully enhanced.
1 Business in the Community’s The Ultimate Win Win Win (1999) quantitative consumer research supported by Research International.
2 Profitable Partnerships (2000) : Business in the Community’s quantitative consumer report supported by Research International. Available from Business in the Community (tel 0870 600 2482)
Sue Adkins is director of the Cause Related Marketing Campaign at Business in the Community, which she set up in 1995. Sue is author of the book Cause Related Marketing: Who Cares Wins and speaks internationally on the subject. (sue.adkins@ bitc.org.uk)
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