How Can Brand Marketing Be a Force For Good?

How Can Brand Marketing Be a Force For Good?

At a time when we are bombarded with what feels like ever increasing negative news from all angles, we are all in dire need of some good.?

Brand marketing can be a very powerful tool to spread positive messages and promote radical change, and we don’t mean this in a virtue-signalling, greenwashing kind of way. Genuine, caring campaigns that actually do what they say they do really can make a difference to the world, and at the same time, give brands that all important trust factor.

We’re doing our best to make this a priority for our agency; our partnership with the Conscious Advertising Network helps to make the industry a more positive place, including championing diversity, eradicating hate speech and rooting out fake news.??

Stats show that Gen Z really cares about brands being ethical and genuine: 77% of Gen Z have taken action for a cause they believe in, and another 23% have boycotted a brand they disagreed with. 88% of consumers believe companies have the power to influence societal change and should be addressing issues presently facing us, a very large percentage of the population. So, which causes can brands get behind, and have a real influence on?

Combating Climate Change

The climate crisis is something that affects us all, and with the concentration of carbon dioxide in our atmosphere being the highest it has been in human history in 2023, it is something that is in desperate need of attention. The good news is, brands can get involved, and are doing so.

Clothing company Lucy and Yak have helped to fight fast fashion by making almost 100% of their garments either organic or recycled, and by using entirely recycled or biodegradable mailing bags. Food company Hello Fresh have sustainability as a core value of their brand, committing to lowering food waste, offsetting all their direct CO2 emissions, and sourcing all their fresh produce from suppliers around the UK, meaning the miles travelled are low.?

At Digital Natives, we’ve partnered with Ecologi as part of our objective to become a climate-positive workforce, planting trees (we’ve currently planted 2,200!) to help offset each employee’s carbon footprint.?

What can your brand do?

• Ensure your product is being produced and packaged sustainably?
• Offset emissions using platforms such as Ecologi
• Centre your campaigns around sustainability where possible to spread awareness (but make sure it matches up to what you’re doing internally)
• Connect with your customers about what their sustainability requirements and wishes are

Promoting Equality

With campaigns on TV, social media, billboards and magazines, brands follow us everywhere, and have a major influence on how we perceive ourselves and the world. Brands therefore have an important responsibility in including minorities in their adverts and raising awareness of issues of inequality. Despite modern workforces becoming more diverse than those previous, chronic gender gaps still persist in health, education, pay, economic participation and representation. Most minority ethnic groups earned less on average than White British people in 2019, and more than a third of LGBT staff (35%) hide that they are LGBT at work for fear of discrimination.?

Skincare brand Olay released a campaign that challenges judgments that women are “too ambitious”, “too emotional”, “or “too anything”, and instead states they should live “fearless to face anything.” Gillette's campaign replaced their slogan “the best a man can get” with “the best a man can be” in a video that calls for better male role models and spreads a message of kindness and tolerance. Rihanna’s makeup and fashion brand Savage x Fenty challenges stereotypes in women's beauty by using models with a range of different body shapes, genders and ethnic backgrounds.

What can your brand do??

• Make sure campaigns include diverse models
• Be bold with the messaging in campaigns – champion diversity and challenge perceptions?
• Ensure your company is a welcoming, supportive place to be, and address any issues such as pay gaps with great urgency

Charitable Causes

We’ve seen how brands can raise awareness of important issues facing the world, but how about those that encourage customers to give tangible help to those in need through giving back? Many brands have created a loyal fan base through proving their commitment to supporting charities, and their influence can have a great impact on the charities’ reach. Instead of directly donating to causes, it has been found that shoppers under 40 prefer to give back through where they shop, so the interest is certainly there.?

TOMS advocated donating shoes to people in need through its popular “Buy one, Give one” campaign that provided millions of shoes. Doddle allowed consumers to click and collect their online shopping from a Cancer Research UK store and make a donation at the same time. Arcadis, a global design agency and consultancy firm, are also raising awareness around mental health issues. Over the next two years, Arcadis plan on raising over ￡160,000 as well as organising training in a range of mental health topics.

What can your brand do?? ? ??

• Consider partnering with a charitable cause to give back to your community
• Find ways, if possible, of getting customers to donate or recycle your products that they no longer use
• See if there is a way of actively engaging with the charities you collaborate with, for example, through organising events or training sessions?????????

The future of brand marketing is certainly heading more and more towards a space where everyone is welcome, important issues are discussed and charities are given a platform. Make sure your brand doesn’t fall behind the curve and gets involved, it’ll do you some good – but more importantly – it’ll do the world a lot of good.???