Is your organization implementing irresponsible marketing techniques all in the name of maximizing shareholder value and grabbing market share?

Corporate Social Irresponsibility through inapt advertising and marketing is enhancing brand attention however is fast damaging the brand strength for many organizations in the long term. Investors aside, time and time again, the cost of success for organizations is being borne by the community or the immediate consumers of the business .Many organizations are free to disclose their expenses and profits for the period under review but very few have the confidence to report on their impacts to the environment and community whether positive or negative. This leaves either the marketing & communications department to take to social media to acknowledge only their social responsibility in a calm, cool and collect manner or fight fires in a state or reactivity and panic. 

Marketing is the art of creating genuine value for the customer and it is NOT finding clever ways of disposing of the commodities they produce at a profit.

Sustainability is a business approach to creating long-term value by taking into consideration how a given organization operates in the environmental, social and economic environment .Responsible marketing or Sustainable Marketing involves accountability to the stakeholders of the business such that advertising and sales do not have a negative impact on the society , environment and economic stakeholders. The common examples of irresponsible marketing are falsification of information i.e functionality or true value of a product or service through inaccurate dietary facts and labels disclosure of ingredients. It may also be misrepresentation of the conditions of businesses that require certification and approval from the government or relevant authorities such as FDA approvals or ISO certifications. Marketing irresponsibly can simply be an attempt to either boost sales or pushing a product into a new market however it ceases to be an attempt if the sales revenue actually increases and market shares upsurge. What about the legally registered entities with legitimate certification and respective approvals to operate? Are they not also participating in unethical forms of marketing?

In an article published by The Herald earlier last year, it was brought to the Harare City Council’s attention that the illegal placement of oversized billboards on private properties by unregistered companies is unlawful. The Director of Works Engineer Zvenyika Chawatama said that “The by-law declares any structure that is oversize, which has become a danger to any person or property as illegal. These by-laws apply within the City of Harare area and any local government administration, control and management which are conferred in the Harare City Council.” Without the approval from the private landowners or the City of Harare , marketing and advertising agencies are practicing irresponsible marketing. Despite the Ad-agency broadcasting/marketing on behalf of their client, it is the client’s brand (in the ad) that becomes damaged at the expense of the irresponsibility of the agency. This is indicative that the marketing teams from Ad-Agencies have not considered the risks associated with the placement of their marketing material. The material becomes an endangerment to the safety and lives of the community that they are actually marketing to. This then becomes a form of Social Irresponsibility and becomes a criminal offense.

In the midst of irresponsible marketing this year is Alliance Media. Just last week it was working on removing the structure it built above a water line along Borrowdale to which the pipe burst under the weight of the billboard structure they had put up. Residents of Hatcliffe, Philadelphia, Borrowdale West and Greystone Park were unable to access water because of the burst pipe.  Who was irresponsible here? The City of Harare for approving the billboard in the first place and going on social media to point fingers at the Ad Agency? Or the contractor used by Alliance Media? Surely upon digging and mounting of the billboard they must have found these pipes and calculated weight – pressure ratios. Either way in an effort to make a profit through Advertising and Marketing, investments went down the drain (Pun-Intended), brand reputation shaken (probably not lost) and social responsibility compromised.

"Sometimes the people and the planet have to come before the profit when it comes to the science and art of exploring, creating, and delivering value to satisfy the needs of a target market..."

The reverse is also true, sometimes the Customer is damaging the brand of their preferred Supplier. Seed companies allocate banners and placards to farmers to place in front of their certified and hybrid seeds. Which is a brilliant marketing technique because the client does the marketing for your business with a very minimal impact on the total marketing and advertising budget until the clients(the farmers) start planting the prestigious, ISO certified and bumper harvest capable seed in prohibited zones such as road sides, hill slopes, wetlands, along stream banks, dumpsites, near electricity poles, water and sewer infrastructure in and around the capital. As the crops mature, they begin to obscure road signs, create blind spots around tight bends of roads for motorists or obstruct pathways for pedestrians. The wetlands that are retaining moisture for the farmer’s crops are also required to serve the purpose of renewing ground water supply, controlling fires, filtering water of excessive nutrients for the community at large. Who is responsible for environmental and communal degradation? Are we giving back to the community or taking away a piece of the community that future generations will never know about?

"...the cost of success for organizations is being borne by the community..."

As if that is not irresponsible enough, seeds also require ISO certified, high grade and internationally approved fertilizer. In the mix of irresponsible marketing now are the fertilizer companies who openly admit that they are ISO14001 certified which enables them to conserve resources, waste management and overall compliance levels ,receiving over 500 000 tonnes worth of demand and requiring over $100 000 million in foreign currency to meet that demand in a single cropping season. The use of chemicals for pest control or fertilizer worsens the situation as these chemicals end up contaminating water sources and endangering aquatic life particularly where farmers/residents are practicing stream bank cultivation (Smit et al., 2001). These chemicals go on to promote proliferation of flora which out-compete aquatic fauna for oxygen resulting in death of aquatic life. Farmers/Citizens are either unaware of the impacts of their actions or regard environmental degradation and other risks as secondary to meeting their food requirements. In this regard, Consumer education by brands MUST be part of the Marketing budget. Information can be a part of Social responsibility actions ahead of cropping seasons.  Seed and fertilizer companies seem to be increasing brand attention year after year at the expense of their own brand strength.

Sometimes brand damage can be a self-imposed. A good game of self sabotage and a ticking time bomb for self implosion.  When there is no internal co-ordination between departments, there will be no consistency between service delivery and marketing information.  A good example of this is of telecommunication service providers in Zimbabwe. The marketing team preaches about being the fastest, connecting to the widest audience and being the best at what they do compared to their counterparts in the same industry. Meanwhile, the technical team does installations that ruin infrastructure like roads and pavements. The marketing team goes on to boast about their CSR efforts of helping communities however on the ground (pun intended) subscribing to their services comes with damages to the environment.

Sustainability is the responsibility of the business, and an even bigger duty for all the departments within that organization to coordinate their efforts in such a way that brings positive impacts to the environment , society and economy. Sometimes the people and the planet have to come before the profit when it comes to the science and art of exploring, creating, and delivering value to satisfy the needs of a target market .

Rutendo Golda is holder BSC. Degree in Marketing from Africa University, A certified digital marketer from Marketers Association of Zimbabwe , An avid marketer with work experience in Sustainability in Zimbabwe