What is Branded Advocacy And Why Does It Matter? (Part 2)
Social Impact Marketing in Times of Crisis & Instability
In Part 1 of this series, we described how relying on standard marketing strategies in times of crisis can backfire with brands accused of pandering to the public. As a contrast to the traditional approach of Advocacy Marketing, we introduced Branded Advocacy as an alternative principle to follow.
The key difference between the two is this:
Branded advocacy does not allow companies to fall back on shallow gestures.
It demands, instead, that companies take clear ethical stances and stick to them, even if it comes at the cost of profits. And though brands might be tempted to get behind whatever cause is gaining traction at the time, we’ve pointed out why that would be ill-advised. A company can all too easily expose itself to backlash for performative activism, coming off as tone-deaf to the public’s concern.
In other words, in these hypervigilant times, most bandwagoners are bound to crash.
In short, here’s the takeaway:
If you're a brand that doesn’t have a clear ethical stance, don’t get involved.
Keep quiet.
But this lesson, of course, leaves us with several burning questions:
Once an ethos is defined, how should brands and companies respond to growing demands that they take sides and involve themselves in social and political affairs?
What should brands do when asked to contribute to social justice, environmental awareness or other progressive causes?
Better yet, how can brands actually contribute to the causes they publicly claim to support?
Or, for simplicity’s sake:
How do brands actually “do” Branded Advocacy?
The answer lies in a principle so basic it is often overlooked or forgotten; the same principle that underlies all successful business.
The answer is Awareness, being highly conscious of what’s going on around you, your community and the world at large.
It is the kernel of a “correct” response to the expectations of the public.
It is also a brand’s biggest hurdle when coming up with an appropriate response to the fast-paced demands of today’s economy.
Matters are only made more difficult when marketing managers and their executives are blind to the history of these events, to why they ever happened in the first place, to what makes them particularly pertinent at this moment in time, and of how they should be addressed as a result.
Without knowing the answers to these questions, it is unlikely that any kind of brand messaging is going to be hitting the mark — at best, marketing material will simply fall flat and wind up being ineffective.
At worst, it will spark outrage, riling the public’s ire.
Many brands have suffered self-inflicted wounds trying to navigate this difficult terrain with badly thought-out communication strategies.
One company that is notable for its strict adherence to an ethical compass and has awareness ingrained in its broader corporate mission is Ben & Jerry’s. The ice cream company is well-regarded for sticking to a narrow set of clearly-defined principles and for having a not-so-narrow set of enjoyable flavors.
Here is a 2018 quote from their then CEO, Mathew McCarthy, making exactly the same point, tactfully, that a company’s ethic is not a thing of fancy, it is an obligation:
“The idea there’s a choice to be made between being proactive, being activists as a business, and not is a bit of a false narrative. So I think acknowledging that you are part of a community and being part of social change that you want to see ... in the world that you serve is part of business.”
Since Ben & Jerry’s was founded in 1978, the ice cream company has remained remarkably consistent with the sentiments captured in this quote. Today, it hosts a platform dedicated to backing different causes ranging from social justice campaigns to sustainability initiatives and refugee relief programs.
Though the company’s founders never thought their ice cream brand would become a pinnacle of mission-driven firms, Ben & Jerry’s is still trail-blazing ethical branding. Key to Ben & Jerry’s success is its vigilance. With its every move, its every ad and its every hire, the company makes sure its values are aligned: from executive, to employee, to customer.
When we throw around words like “company” and “brand” and assign them an ethic, we are not only describing principles that guide those at the top of organizations but also those at the bottom. The lesson? It’s up to the company to ensure its core values are upheld by each and every person it associates itself with.
In the case of Ben & Jerry’s, the brand’s efforts over the years of translating its beliefs into Direct Action has equipped it with a toolkit allowing it to not only communicate openly, but also to back up its communication in ways that prioritize social impact. The company’s ability to have these difficult conversations about inequality and unfairness across multiple arenas of society can be attributed to the high level of Awareness the organization has cultivated over the years.
In addition to being able to speak plainly about specific troubles ailing society — as is exemplified by the company’s public stance against police brutality, most recently in the case of George Floyd — Ben & Jerry’s grows a loyal following, though that comes at the cost of other potential customers.
Forbes recently quoted Rob Mickalack, Ben & Jerry’s Global Director of Social Mission, explaining the ice cream company’s view on this tradeoff:
“We respect that some people will have a set of values that are meaningful and important to them, and we may lose some customers,” he says, “But what we've also learned is that those who share those values are more deeply loyal. We did some internal research that suggested that those people are actually two and a half times more loyal than just regular customers — that’s of great value. They understand that we stand for something and we’re authentic about it.”
If this is sounding like a larger discussion about the pros and cons of upholding moral values and taking actions to sustain them, it should. In truth, talk of a brand’s Vision, Mission and Core Values has often been too far removed from these discussions — it stands to reason that a brand can’t expect to do good if it does not get clear on what doing good actually involves.
Once a company clarifies what it takes to be “Good”, it arms itself with a new communicative tool that can change the way it does business forever: A Moral Compass.
This is a transformative tool because it helps companies frame the notions of “right” and “wrong” in an objective light, basically a Truth.
There is no middle-ground for a company that does this:
There are actions that can be taken and actions that cannot.
Getting your “ do’s ” and “ don’ts ” in order clears your schedule — there’s nothing to plan and everything to do.
In summary, Awareness is about more than just knowing what values we hold. It is about recognizing when our values are violated and acknowledging when we fail to live up to them. And also striving to rectify the situation and humbly admitting that we might have to borrow others’ perspectives to do so.
But, more than anything, Awareness is about accepting the fact that sticking up for our values comes at a cost.
In Part 3, we will take a closer look of the stakes at play where companies have used approaches incorporating Branded Advocacy. We will review successes and failures, pointing to best-practices and common pitfalls alike.
Stay tuned.
Photos Courtesy of Unsplash: Alireza Esmaeeli, Houcine Ncib, Joeyy Lee, Brendan Church, and Jon Tyson.