What Integrity Should Mean To A Marketer Today

As we continue to deploy the power of 5G Ultra Wideband around the country, I've been reflecting on how the radical transformation that 5G brings to our digital and physical worlds creates a tremendous responsibility for marketers. The data implications of this new landscape make it critical that security and trust are accompanied by a third tenet: integrity.

5G is transforming our lives with access to connectivity and content like never before, fueling innovation and possibility. But amidst our excitement, it's imperative that we don't lose sight of the importance of integrity. Integrity means both “having strong moral principles” and “the state of being whole, undivided.” I love the relationship between the two as it relates to our responsibility to customers today. Acting with integrity means respecting the human experience and what we value as non-negotiables, while also being steadfast in the way we execute.

Now more than ever, brands represent people and what it means to be part of the human experience. We make decisions as marketers everyday to support the stories that make us human. So we must also ensure that we’re acting in our collective best interest. A McKinsey survey of customer relationships between marketing and privacy showed that around two-thirds of customers would be happy to share their data, or would consider sharing data, if they got something of value in return. Our goal is to always deliver meaningful customer experiences and 360 engagements that are personalized and protected, but also valuable. This helps us nurture our customers’ relationship with our brand, fostering loyalty and trust, by prioritizing their experience and putting them at the center of all we do. We also put a priority on transparency, communicating how we use customers’ data, and giving them a measure of control over how it's analyzed.?

And one of the most important ways that Verizon demonstrates integrity is by connecting our purpose to meaningful action. This will look different for every brand. At Verizon we are committed to Responsible Business, and part of that centers around increasing diversity across the entire marketing ecosystem, from investment to representation. We created an actionable, measurable plan to achieve this goal – and then made it publicly available as a playbook to others.?

At Verizon, our action plan includes four key commitments:?

1. Increase diversity across the supply chain, with measurable benchmarks for investment levels with diverse partners in experiential, video, print and more.?
2. Continue to build a diverse work environment, and retain diverse talent, by expanding our successful adfellows program for entry level marketers as well as creating programs for retention/advancement of mid-level talent.?
3. Fight racism, bias, and stereotypes in all advertising, content and media. Leverage tools like the Verizon Diversity Inclusion Equality Measure that tracks representation of race, gender, ethnicity and identity, in addition to industry initiatives like the Gender Equality Measure, ANA’s #SeeHer, and our agencies’ Inclusive Work Panels to pressure test creative and ensure equitable representation.??
4. Implement and adhere to responsible content policies. Informed by our participation with the World Federation of Advertisers’ Global Alliance for Responsible Media, Verizon reworked our policies to strengthen prohibitions against harassment, hate speech, privacy, and misinformation, and committed to transparency around how our DEI values will influence marketing partnerships moving forward. You can learn more here.?

As 5G adoption picks up pace across the country and marketers continue to leverage these technological advances, we must also continue to prioritize security and trust, and act with integrity. Our relationships with our customers depend on it.?