The article in the url below adopts a pro-business argument regarding the power of social brands. While legislation and government regulation have the power to change laws, the article argues that corporate brands have the power to change attitudes and behavior:
“This is why brands’ cultural power, as well as their economic power, is potentially such a huge component of their social value. Using their brands to bring about social change is one of the most effective ways in which corporations can quickly move beyond corporate responsibility to demonstrate real leadership.”
This influence is particularly powerful in tackling complex social issues that cannot be legislated away:
“In 2004 Unilever began using Dove’s powerful position as a trusted, widely used brand to tackle the issue of self-esteem among women. The campaign arose from market research that showed that 90% of women were unhappy with the way they looked. Dove used powerful advertising campaigns to challenge narrow perceptions of beauty, and railed against the way the media and conventional advertising portrayed women.”
One measure of how effective the campaign has been in reaching its target audience is sales:
“Sales of Dove products increased by about 600% in the first two months, with an overall sales increase across the entire brand of 20% in the year after the campaign began.”
Unfortunately, the article equates an increase in sales with the success of the campaign, without providing any empirical evidence that the social issue it was designed to tackle, self-esteem among women, improved. It is certainly true that:
“A marketing campaign that packs a strong social punch is a powerful tool. But a brand that can take a new or existing product or innovation and build a campaign around the social or environmental benefits of this product can go further still.”
What is harder to measure, however, is the extent to which brand value correlates with social value.
Take care
David
Bill Werther & David Chandler
Strategic Corporate Social Responsibility
© Sage Publications, 2006
Brands focus: Social marketing – The power of suggestion Brave brands should exceed consumer expectations by using their power to pursue social causes, says Giles Gibbons Giles Gibbons
Ethical Corporation Magazine
April 22, 2009
http://www.ethicalcorp.com/content.asp?contentid=6437
