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Does advocating for social issues through advertising

work for brands, or can it make them controversial


and damage their image?

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2. ADVOCATING ADVERTISING.

2.1 THE BOOM OF PURPOSE-


DRIVEN BRANDS - 8
INDEX 4.2 ARE BRANDS THE NEW
BEARER’S OF HOPE? - 28

1. (Introduction): FROM THE


EDITOR - 6

4.1 RALLYING BEHIND A CAUSE VS


2.2 IS IT EFFECTIVE? - 10 STANDING FOR A PURPOSE - 26

2.3 DOES IT ACTUALLY MAKE 4. DO BRANDS HAVE SOCIAL


A DIFFERENCE? - 12 RESPONSIBILITY? - 22

3. ADVOCATING ADVERTISING. 6. (Conclusion): DOES THE


END JUSTIFY THE MEANS?
3.1 THE NEW TARGET - 16 - 36

3.2 THE INTERNET AGE: IN WITH THE 5.1 THE FUTURE OF ADVERTISING
NEWS, OUT WITH THE OLD - 18 - 34

3.3 LET’S GET POLITICAL - 20 5. BRAND NEW BRANDS - 30

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1. INTRODUCTION

FROM THE EDITOR.

W
Welcome to the first edition of ADMoral, a new magazine that will question the morals of the advertising world

by analysing the new techniques that brands are incorporating in their campaigns. In this issue, we are going
There’s no doubt that, with so many brands in the is expected while that may have worked for them in the
to focus on ‘advocating advertising’ and attempt to answer the question: Does advocating for social issues market, it has become extremely difficult for a brand past, times have changed, and consequently; what is
to capture the consumer’s attention through their expected of brands from consumers has changed as
through advertising work for brands or can it make them controversial and damage their image? well. For this reason, it seems like activism has become
advertising. People are constantly being bombarded
with the same classic adverts, that some have started branding’s new golden rule. But it doesn’t always work.
We will unpack all of the factors that come into play to make or break a campaign, to explain
We have seen brands like Pepsi attempting to use brand
alienating them. Colin Mitchell, McDonald’s’ Global
activism in their “Live for Now” campaign and instead
why some of these type of campaigns have failed and some have been a su success. Vice President states that brands have never been
receiving backlash for it, when it initially aimed to make
more fragile, because consumers are extremely
people come together. And, on the other end, we have
well-informed and far more likely to investigate the also seen brands being praised for doing something
real value of the products they invest their money very similar, like Heineken with their campaign “Worlds
in, rather than rely on logos and advertisements. Apart”. So, when and why does tackling a social issue
Reason why lately, you see more and more brands in advertising work for a brand? Brand activism can
trying different methods to differentiate themselves be controversial because some people may praise
from the rest. With some brands opting for supporting brands for standing for a purpose, others may argue
a social cause, speaking up about politics or that when brands claim to be ‘doing good’ are actually
becoming more environmentally friendly. This has just trying to show themselves in a good light. In this
changed the advertising world because, for years, edition we aim to show all the variables that are in
activist advertising to show you that not everything
brands staying silent on political and social issues
is black and white, right or wrong and brands aren’t
had been the norm, they had avoided starting any
either heroes or villains, there’s more to the story.
type of conversation that may stir controversy.

We hope you enjoy this first issue of ADMoral


However, while that may have worked for them in the and please, let us know what other advertising
past, times have changed, and consequently; what topics you’d like to see covered in the next issue.

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1. ADVOCATING ADVERTISING

UNITED COLORS OF BENETTON

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1.1 THE HISTORY OF PURPOSE-DRIVEN ADVERTISING

People used to watch adverts to get information


about products, they used to sit through com- In the post-industrial age, marketing was
mercial breaks, but most importantly, they used faced with new challenges, like the environ-
to trust brands. But as the years pass that trust mental movement in the 1880s through the
has been tested. It was discovered that ciga- 1990s. Retailers started using different tac-
rettes were killing people, that the car industry tics and techniques to make their audience
put more emphasis on imagery than safety and aware of their new environmentally responsi-
that child labour was used to make the shoes ble manufacturing methods, resulting in the
we wore. Brands needed to find a new way of to green marketing trend being born. Alongside
regain that trust from their consumers and have the environmental movement, another chal-
their attention again. They found that one of the lenge society was facing was racism. In 1984
most effective to do so was to be being socially United Colours of Benetton partnered up with
responsible, showing consumers that they the famous photographer Olivero Toscani and
cared about the things their they cared about. decided to tackle this issue with their ‘All Are
Thus, ever since then, brands have tried their United’ campaign. The adverts featured happy
hardest to appeal to their audience, so they can and diverse groups of people wearing the retail-
build an emotional relationship with them. er’s colourful clothing. Although the campaign
was very controversial at the time and angered
a lot of people, it didn’t stop them. Through the
The beginnings of this movement, known years Benetton and Toscani continued creating
today as CSR or corporate social responsibil- ‘shockvertising’ campaigns tackling different
ity, could be traced back to the 18th Century, issues that were affecting society; from AIDS, to
during the industrialising age. The negative homophobia to poverty. One of their most con-
effects of the industrial revolutions and eco- troversial campaigns was ‘UNHATE’ launched
nomic transformations like urbanization, child in 2011, which consisted on posters of world
labour, public health, etc. changed society. As leaders kissing with the purpose of empowering
a consequence, there were repercussions on the concept of ‘love’ and getting people to stop
the advertising industry too. Cadbury saw this hating on each other. Alessandro Benetton, the
problem and was one of the first companies son of the Co-founder of the brand; Luciano
to act upon it, and consequently, one of the Benetton, stated that the campaign aimed to
first to start the corporate social responsibility “give widespread visibility to an ideal notion of
movement. In order to alleviate the result of tolerance and invite the citizens of every coun-
more cramped living conditions and eradicate try to reflect on how hatred arises particularly
child labour, George Cadbury, the son of John from fear of ‘the other’ and of what is unfamiliar
Cadbury, founder of the now multinational con- to us.”
fectionery company, had the idea of creating
Bournville, one of the first model villages just for
workers in 1879. Joseph Rowntree, the founder Without a doubt, the world has changed a lot
of Rowntree’s, the confectionery brand, also since the 80s, But, a sense-of-mission market-
created a village for his workers to live comfort- ing still appears to be a factor key in marketing
ably; New Earswick in York. Villages like this still to this day. In fact, some believe it has
were a precursor of the British suburb, they become branding’s new golden rule.
brought the space and safety of country back
to those whose incomes depended on factories.

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1.2 HOW EFFECTIVE IS IT?
In today’s modern world, there are more brands in the Nike’s latest ‘Just Do It’ campaign that featured Colin
market than ever and advertisements everywhere you Kaepernick, the American political activist and profes-
look. So, differentiation and building an emotional rela- sional American football quarterback. It most certainly
tionship with its consumers have become every brand’s wasn’t a problem for Nike that the campaign lead to
main objectives. One of the most popular ways amongst some people to burn their trainers because that wasn’t
brands to do so is by finding a brand mission or purpose. the target market they were trying to speak to.
Joe Pulizzi, Author and Founder of the Orange Effect
Foundation, believes that the number one reason that
companies are active on trying to be socially aware is Even though people have different opinions on
because it’s good for business. “This is about doing good, whether it works or not, there are some facts to back
but it’s also about doing well, companies that do good up that some types of social mission marketing actually
and are more profitable and appealing.” He said in his work. Bruce R Hopkins stated in his book ‘Nonprofit
podcast ‘Content Inc. with Joe Pulizzi’. But not everyone Governance’ that the activist marketing movement
shares this opinion; for instance, Mel Edwards, Chief represents a marketing potential of 500 billion dol-
Executive at Wunderman believes that all too often, lars. Which has proved to be true for companies like
advertisers are blinded by wanting to be seen doing Unilever, who saw great changes when they introduced
‘good’ that they don’t think about what’s actually best new sustainability measures to their company, which
for the brand. She expressed “in many instances, effi- saved them approximately 700 million dollars accord-
cacy is only tagged on at the end of campaign planning, ing to their annual report, or Walmart, when they saved
whereas advertising’s role is first and foremost to sell 3.4 million dollars, by simply reducing the size of its
more product by effecting behavioural change - whether packaging. Similarly, in 2010, Pepsi chose to invest
that be by promoting societal change, good or not.” their marketing budget by giving it away with their
‘Pepsi Refresh Project’. They announced they were
giving away the 20 million dollars to neighbourhood
The problem with brand activism, like with many other projects proposed by consumers that got the most
marketing tactics, is that the outcome can’t always be votes on social media. The project got 8 million views
measured to tell for certain if the campaign has been on their website and Facebook and received 80 million
successful, because it doesn’t always show in num- votes; even more votes than Barak Obama received
bers. However, in some cases, the brand’s goal isn’t in his presidential campaign. However, CSR doesn’t
just to increase sales, but to be seen as socially aware always work as brands presumed, and even after hav-
and build a relationship of trust with their customers. ing worked for Pepsi in the past, their ‘Live for Now’
Sometimes the brand’s aim was indeed to create con- campaign received extreme backlash. People accused
troversy and the people that are judging the campaign it of being ‘tone-deaf’ and trying to exploit the ‘Black
weren’t the target audience. Like it was the case with Lives Matter’ movement.

Brand activism in advertising doesn’t always work for brands how they expected it to. So, how can a brand incorporate
cause marketing to their strategy assuring while that they won’t fail in the process? Linda Baff, Executive Director for
Global Brand Marketing at GE believes there are four steps brands should follow to succeed at it:

1) “Make it personal” – the cause has to be directly relevant to the brand and personal to their audience, it
has to be something that people can relate to and rally around.

2) “Be consistent” – don’t make it a one-timer, be consistent with it and commit to the cause.
3) “Get social” – make it engaging and get people together, talking, sharing.
4) “Be comitted” – supporters need to see that the brand is making a difference, like they were promised.
Don’t show numbers, show how it has really impacted the cause.
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1.3DOES IT ACTUALLY MAKE A
DIFFERENCE?
Oliver Lester, Account Director at Unilever believes subcontracted, so it wasn’t their problem.” But later on,
that the very vast majority of brands have genuine the pressure from the public forced them to commit to
positive intentions when it comes to purpose-driven the environmental pact and improve the working condi-
campaigns. “All brands I have worked on I can hon- tions of the people that worked in their factories.
estly say do have genuine intentions.” He stated, “If
advertising can be used as a force for good and make
a positive impact on the world, I think that is a great Some people argue that it doesn’t really matter what
thing.” But, a question a lot of people ask themselves the brand’s real intention is, if at the end of the day,
when they see a new campaign tackling a social issue they are ‘doing good’. But are they really doing good?
is: it this actually making a difference and making the While it may not always be the case, a lot of companies
world a better place? Unfortunately, this question can’t have been found out to be misleading their audiences
be answered with a simple ‘yes’ or ‘no’ because there’s with ‘greenwashing’; by promoting the perception that
more to it than that. When a brand positions them- their products, aims or policies are environmentally
selves as tolerant or environmentally-friendly it doesn’t friendly when they aren’t. Even though it may not be
always mean they are actually making a change in the intention these brands initially had, some of their
the world, but in some cases, advertising campaigns consumers have perceived this as them trying to mis-
have changed the way people behave immensely. lead them. H&M has been one of the brands accused
of ‘greenwashing’ their brand with their sustainability
campaigns that claim that they are trying to reduce their
One of the first CSR strategies to be used in advertis- environmental footprint. The Swedish brand undeniably
ing that created evident changes on society, was green spends time and money on environmental programs
marketing, which was born thanks to the boom of envi- and has made some very real impact on the world,
ronmentalism. The publication of the book ‘Silent Spring’ which is much more than many other companies have
by Rachel Carson in 1962 opened people’s eyes and done. But their ‘Bring It’ campaign, launched in 2017,
helped them become more aware of the environmental caused some controversy. The campaign encouraged
issues that governments were failing to solve. Carson’s costumers to bring any unwanted garments and tex-
book described the effects of pollution, like the Torrey tiles, from any brand and in any condition, to any H&M
Canyon oil spill, the Cuyahoga River Fire in Cleveland. store so that they could recycle them. It seemed like
The book sprung an environmental movement in the a thoughtful initiative at first, but later it was found out
United States and forced both the government and that only 1% of the collected clothing can be used as
companies to acknowledge their responsibility and recycled fibers.
to become more environmentally friendly. This was
the case for Nike, when in 1997, researcher and co-
Founder of Good Guide, Dara O’Rouke, travelled to There’s no doubt that brands have the power to make
Vietnam as a part of a UN study to investigate the fac- the world a better place, but opinions are split on if
tories Nike’s shoes were manufactured. After witnessing they actually should. Chairman and Executive Creative
the state the factories were in, he declared “I found Director, Mark Roalfe argues that great advertising is
that two thirds of the women had respiratory diseases, about effecting social change. But, he points out that
there were violations of overtime and wages and sexual it’s important to remember, that at its most raw level,
harassment. When we confronted Nike about it, they advertising is largely about encouraging people to buy
claimed that they didn’t own the factories, as they were or consume more of a commercial product.

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2. NEXT-GEN ADVERTISING

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2.1 A NEW TARGET
choose to avoid adverts whenever they can,
skipping adverts whenever they can use the
skip button on platforms like YouTube, and
through the 90s, through the emergence even willingly paying a Netflix monthly member-
of the printing press and the golden age ship so they don’t have to sit through adverts
of cheesy family-oriented TV commercials, when they want to watch a film. All of this has
to today, where adverts are being replaced made it harder for brands to get their attention.
by new ways of building emotional relation-
ships with consumers through gaining their
trust. People’s are still being bombarded Thus, in order to regain that attention and
with traditional advertisements when they rebuild the lost trust from their target audience,
watch TV, but this is not as effective as brands have had to differentiate themselves
it used to be for brands. So, what was it from others by identifying their new target mar-
that changed the advertising landscape keting and trying to understand their mindset,
so drastically? As times changed, brand’s in order to better communicate and market
target audiences have changed with them, what they are trying to sell them. Some have
and most brands now have their focus opted for a more minimalist approach, since
on appealing to the younger generations. Millennials are believed to have a ‘less is more’
mentality. Younger consumers tend to prefer
experiences over products, as it seems like
But, what makes Millennials different from now more and more are looking to let go of
older generations? The ‘Cohort Effect’ material objects and simplify their lifestyles.
describes the impact that being born and
raised in an era has on people. “By shar-
ing these temporal and spatial elements, Another shift in the advertising world has been
the members of one group of people have the rise of emotional selling points rather than
similar experiences which make that set tangible ones. Rather than just trying to sell
of people unique in respect to any other their products or make their brand known, com-
group” John W. Santrock explains in his panies are now more focused on connecting
book ‘Child Development’. As opposed to with their audience through creating aware-
older generations, this generation is also ness, because the Millennial and Generation
believed to be the most sceptical when it Z generations expect more from brands and
comes to advertising. Millennials are not will consume products from brands that they
only better informed about products and feel identified to. “We’re definitely seeing a
services, but also about the brands that trend with consumers being more passion-
produce them. Modern consumers will most ate about giving back and helping others,”
likely research a company and the product said Quaker’s Chief Marketing Officer, Kirsten
that they are interested in, before acquiring Lynch. The company has found that consumers
it. Because now it’s as easy as searching are more involved in philanthropic causes than
on Google “which phone should I buy?” and they were just a year ago. In fact, according to
you will be met with about 4,120,000,000 the 2018 ‘Cone/Porter Novelli Purpose Study’
results in 0.76 seconds. So, it’s harder for which examined how consumers behaved
brands to gain their consumers trust just towards different types of marketing tactics
through their advertising, and they have that brands used, found that 79% of the people
to prove that they’re authentic to their cos- that participated said they are more loyal to pur-
tumers differently. Millennials have also pose-driven brands than traditional brands, and
been raised in the ‘ad-blocker age’; they 73% were more willing to even defend them.

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2.2 THE INTERNET AGE:
In With The News, Out with the Old
Nearly every area of business has been affected by social media’s rise, but perhaps none has been impacted more
than the advertising industry. This is because internet has had a great impact on society and shaped the new gen-
eration. In this age of social media, everyone and everything is researchable on the internet, which has changed the
way people communicate. Subsequently, also changing the way brands communicate with their new and changed
target audience, resulting in the internet becoming the chosen medium for most brands to advertise on. Even though
when social media first arrived on the picture, marketers were reluctant to use it to advertise their products, now
with billions of Twitter and Facebook posts published every minute and more video content uploaded to YouTube in
a month that the major TV networks have
broadcasted in the last 60 years, brands
have realised the potential the internet
has. In January of 2015, Forbes wrote:
“62% of millennials say that if a brand
engages with them on social networks,
they are more likely to become a loyal
customer. They expect brands to not
only be on social networks, but to engage
them.” Over the past decade, what had
once begun as a space for people to
gather and connect has turned into an
ideal platform for advertisers to study
their audience and interact with them.

Social media has changed the way we


communicate and has become a plat-
form where news spread like fire. The
internet and social media being acces-
sible to most people has resulted in it
becoming a medium that has brought
news back into millennial life, with 73%
of them relying on digital outlets and
social media for their daily news, accord-
ing to a study conducted by Wibbitz.
Thanks to social media, this generation
is more aware of what’s going on in the
world at every instance, reason why it’s
also been named the ‘woke’ generation. The internet has not only enabled people to learn about the real qualities of the products that are advertised to them, it has
Jill Dumain, Director of environmental exposed them to the unethical behaviours of some companies; making Millennials demand change from them. In this internet
policies at Patagonia said, “I think with age, brands are defined by what they do more than what they say, and if they act unethically, they will suffer the conse-
social media and the speed at which quences. A clear example of this, was what happened with Uber in 2017 when people called the company out for allegedly
stuff travels at today, there’s no way to disrupting and taking advantage of the taxi strike that was happening at the JFK airport as a result of Donald Trump’s ban
hide the truth.” The fact that social media on Muslim immigrants. This caused outrage and encouraged thousands of Twitter users to boycott the company by calling
is a platform where everybody can write for other social media users to delete their Uber applications by tweeting ‘#DeleteUber’. In response, the company apolo-
whatever they want, without any type of gised and promised to donate 1 million dollars to the American Civil Liberties Union. This comes to show that brands can’t
censoring, has turned it into a platform get away with just claiming they care about their consumers anymore. As stated in the book ‘Good Works’ by Philip Kotler,
for people speak their minds freely and David Hessekiel and Nancy R. Lee “Purpose-driven marketing has moved from a nice-to-do to a must-do for businesses.”
share their beliefs. Which has turned
social media into an increasingly political

“Purpose-driven marketing has moved from a


space, with platforms like Twitter becom-
ing key players in the current political

nice-to-do to a must-do for businesses.”


landscape and becoming sources of
20 mass communication. 21
2.3 LET’S GET POLITICAL
A lot of brands have instead opted for making fun of controversial political leaders such as Donald Trump, while still being considered
politically correct. Smirnoff is a clear example of this, with their recent advert that read “Made in America... But we’d be happy to talk
Brands have been participating in politics since the 1880s, with about our ties with Russia under oath.” On the other hand, some brands have chosen not to speak up on politics at all, or have taken
United Colors of Benetton being one of the leaders of this move- a milder approach to it, like Heineken did with their campaign ‘Find Common Ground’. The advert aimed to prove that people with dif-
ment with their advertising campaigns such as ‘UNHATE’ and ferent political views can still come together. “We want to stand a bit in this campaign for empathy, tolerance and also the simple act of
‘Sentenced to Death’. But brands getting involved in political talking to one another and if that happens over a beer, then that’s great as well” Heineken’s marketing manager, Nic Casby, explained.
matters has become even more common with time, to the point
where advertisers have been accused of holding too much power
over the mass media, limiting their freedom to think indepen-
dently and objectively. A key argument to why this movement is
happening, is the unstoppable globalization. The lines between
economic and political issues, are getting increasingly blurred.
It’s believed that globalization entails the weakening role and
power of governments and gives companies a new political
role. “Look at the history of the world, the kings used to have
all the power, then it was the church, then it was the state and
now it’s corporations” expressed Alex Bogusky, an Advertising
Creative and Co-founder of the advertising agency Crispin
Porter + Bogusky, in the documentary ‘The Naked Brand’. For
instance, as corporations increase in size and become global,
they start assuming more responsibilities that used to be lim-
ited to governments. Which has reflected in their advertising and
has resulted in brands being more vocal about politics than ever
before. Another factor that has also contributed this change in
advertising landscape, is people’s distrust in politics which has
been intensified by political conflicts that have taken place in
these recent years, like Brexit, terrorism and the refugee crisis. There is a debate about whether brands
Events like these have triggered a reaction from people, espe- should have a political voice or remain neu-
cially amongst the younger generations and has encouraged tral. Some maintain that brands need to just
them to speak up. Therefore, a lot of brands have seen this as an stick to selling their products instead of focus-
opportunity to engage their target audience by relating to them ing on a political matter or going up against a
and standing up against the political issues they care about. party or leader. While others believe that with
the current use of social media for debate,
it has become almost inevitable for corpora-
But some brands are still reluctant to share their political views, tions not to be pulled into political matters, so
in case they aren’t perceived as being ‘politically correct’. they believe they should use their power and
Political correctness or ‘PC culture’, defined as “the avoidance influence to take a stand. According to Simon
of forms of expression or action that are perceived to exclude, Mainwaring, author of ‘We First’, the market-
marginalize, or insult groups of people who are socially dis- ing sector could and should be the third pillar
advantaged or discriminated against” seems to have become of social change to help out change in gov-
a must for advertisers to take into consideration when bring- ernments, “one of the most powerful ways to
ing politics into their campaigns. They have stopped using be meaningful to your customers’ lives is to
gender roles in their adverts and avoiding racial stereotypes. demonstrate a concern for something greater
than yourself” he added. There’s always
going to be a risk of alienating some potential
However, avoiding offending people and being tolerant like costumers when a brand takes a stand on a
The British Army tried with their advert ‘Keeping My Faith’ political issue, but Scott Maxwell, Founder
doesn’t always work for brands. The advert showed a of OpenView Venture Partners believes that
Muslim soldier praying while other soldiers waited respect- brands that get political are taking a risk,
fully as guns firing could be heard in the background. People but “those that do nothing are risking more.”
criticised it and classified it as being ‘too politically correct’.

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3. DO BRANDS HAVE SOCIAL
RESPONSIBILITY?

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“ The reality is that staying silent, for some brands and for some instances, is not an option. But saying nothing is better than saying something and re-establishing your values.

Brands are more than they used to be in the past. They aren’t just a name, logo and design of a product that distinguishes

note, Leo Savage, an Executive Creative Director at Grey Group, believes that an obsession with cause marketing, especially
them from their rivals in the eyes of customers anymore. They have become a construct of beliefs, ideas and morals that among younger employees, is hurting creativity within agencies. “It’s just advertising; you don’t always have to save the world”
consumers associate them with, which is why now brands aren’t just limited to selling products, they sell beliefs too. They aim he expressed.
to connect with their consumers in an emotional level, to engage them by creating a bond. Jonathan Steuer, Chief Research
Officer at Omnicom Media Group said, “research shows that consumers across all generations want and expect the same
things from brands as they do of their friends and family -like reliability and authenticity- and the feeling like the brands ‘get’ Undoubtedly, brands can’t please everyone. Different consumers are going to respond differently to a brand supporting a social
them.” This is why consumers nowadays expect more from brands, they want to feel identified with the brands they like. cause, based on their personal views as well as their views on that specific brand that is taking a stand. Mark Ritson, a brand-
ing strategy insider wrote in an article for Marketing Week “Do customers want purpose-filled brands? Sometimes. In some
categories. Depending on how it is done. A lot of the time they don’t actually care.” Some people may perceive a brand speaking
So, does this mean that all brands should be socially responsible? The truth is, CSR isn’t always the answer. “Sometimes saying up on a social issue as a good statement and applaud the brand, while some people may take it the wrong way because the
nothing is okay” Sprout Social’s Vice President, Andrew Caravella, told AdWeek “The reality is that staying silent, for some brands and statement made by the brand doesn’t align with their own values. So, it all comes down to who the brand wants as their target
for some instances, is not an option. But saying nothing is better than saying something and re-establishing your values.” On a similar audience and what values they want to associate themselves with.

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3.1 RALLYING BEHIND A CAUSE VS. STANDING
FOR A PURPOSE.
With the changes happening in the advertis-
ing industry in the last couple of years, and the
number of brands using CSR as a part of their
strategy increasing, a new major challenge has
resurfaced: appearing to be genuine to their
target audience. This trend has become so
common among brands because of its appeal
to their consumers that it has become a must explained Dr. Tufekci in a blog post. He
for a lot of brands. But, there’s a difference continued on by saying that since ‘slack-
between rallying behind a cause and standing tivists’ were never activists to begin with,
for a purpose, and as a consequence of the they are not actually making a change.
popularity of this movement, it may appear to
some, that some brands just pick a random
social cause to incorporate in their advertis- In 2011, Patagonia released their ‘Don’t Buy
ing, even if it’s not relevant to their brand or This Jacket’ campaign on Black Friday, a day
they don’t believe in it. “A major challenge has where people are encouraged to buy as many
been helping brands understand the difference things as they can. “The environmental cost
between rallying behind a cause and standing of everything we make is astonishing,” the
for a purpose. Brands often want to randomly advert read. It explained how their ‘R2 Jacket’
pick a cause even if they don’t truly believe in which was displayed on the advert; required
it. Millennials will see right through that” said 135 litres of water to be manufactured, gen-
School’s CEO, Max Lenderman. According to erated nearly 20 pounds of carbon dioxide
him, finding the right mission for a brand is the and left two-thirds of its weight in waste. The
key to getting the consumers interest and trust. advert concluded: “Don’t buy what you don’t
need. Think twice before you buy anything”.
While Patagonia is a company that wants
But sometimes is hard for brands to differentiate to sell more like any other company, they
themselves and stand out from the rest, while came off as genuine with their message that
finding a brand mission that is right for them. intended to get people to start thinking about
A lot of brands tend to just link themselves to sustainable consumption. It acknowledged the
causes that are popular amongst millennials, hypocrisy of trying to lead such an effort while
for example, supporting the LGBTQ community. also hurting the planet and resulted in peo-
Companies like H&M, J. Crew and Nike donate ple acknowledging their efforts and praising
a portion of what their customers spend on pride them for trying change to people’s behaviour.
merchandise to LGBTQ charities. Money going
to charities is a good thing, right? In a way it is,
because it gives people the illusion that they are The effect that societal marketing can have,
participating in a good cause, but it also could is undoubtedly very powerful. “Regardless of
be considered ‘slacktivism’. “What is called whether a brand is advocating for an issue
commonly called slacktivism is not at all about close to heart, or simply showing their sup-
‘slacking activists’; rather it is about non-activists port for those who do - content marketing is a
taking symbolic action - often in spheres tradition- powerful way they can deliver their message
ally engaged only by activists or professionals,” authentically while building a lasting connec-
tion.” The Managing Director of Oath Hong
Kong and INSEA, Rico Chan, said in a The Drum
article. He proclaimed that he believes brands
can do well and do good at the same time.

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3.2 ARE BRANDS THE NEW BEARERS OF HOPE?
In a world were there seems to be so many problems, people need something to make them believe in humanity again, they need
hope. Brands seem to have become the new bearers of hope in our society in a way; they claim to fight for social causes, speak up
about political issues and save the environment. Robert Montgomery; a street artist known for taking over billboards and replacing the
adverts with his poetry, has the belief that the advertising industry wields a great power, and he believes that brands and agencies have
the responsibility to create positive change in the world. He says “It’s all about understanding that globally we need so much change,
and this isn’t going to be done by governments or political systems alone. We need a whole societal effort. Brands have a big share of
voice, so they need to be agents of social progress.” But what do consumers think? AdWeek magazine carried out a survey on Twitter
that asked people if thought brands should align themselves with a political or social issue. They found that most people claimed they
felt more comfortable buying from brands that align with their ideals, because it’s another way for them to make a connection, but that
they wouldn’t purchase products from a brand strictly because they agree with their social stance they believe in.

Some may argue that brands have a lot of power to change the world we live in and can easily influence a lot of people by tackling a
social cause, and therefore they have a responsibility to speak up. Steve Henry is an advertising veteran that thinks this is in fact, the
truth. He has been in the advertising industry for decades and has worked for some of the most important advertising agencies and some
of the biggest brands. He is the Co-Founder of Decoded, a digital marketing agency and of HHCL, an advertising agency. Steve believes
that brands have the power to do what governments fail to accomplish, reason why, he thinks that in this ‘age of transparency’ that we
live in, brands should invest their marketing budgets to fight for the causes that people care about. We have interviewed him to dig
deeper into this topic and ask him about his opinion on some controversial topics that surface when talking brands and cause marketing.

What do you think would happen if every brand in A lot of brands have tried to include a social cause
the market started doing advertising with a social mission? in their advertising/brand image and failed, why do you think
this happened? (E.G. Pepsi’s campaign “Live for Now” or
Mastercard’s “Goals for Meals”)
SH: It would make the world a huge amount better. Brands
need to differentiate themselves, of course, but I don’t
see that being a problem. Many brands use TV advertis- SH: Both those ideas were clumsy and ‘addy’. Pepsi took a great
ing, but they still have to differentiate. It’s about finding idea - supporting the idea of protest. (Patagonia did this by pay-
your ‘brand purpose’ and that needs to be different for each ing the legal fees of anyone on their staff arrested for protesting
brand. I would say a good example of a brand that has - a lovely idea) Pepsi got it wrong by making it all about Pepsi. It
done it well, is Nike with their Colin Kaepernick campaign. needs to be all about the cause, but brought to you by the brand.
See the Heineken campaign from 2 years back [‘Find Common
Ground’]. Mastercard again got the tone all wrong. Hunger
Lynx has been criticized for ‘toxic masculinity’ in shouldn’t be linked to gambling or chance - it’s far too important
their old advertisements, but they completely changed their to be ‘gamed’. So, both brands got the tone wrong. But they were
adverts when they released the “Find your Gold” campaign both trying to do good.
in 2016. Do you think it was a good move or they were
just trying to fit in with what other brands where doing?
Does the end justify the means in advertising; does
it matter what the brands intentions are if, at the end of the
SH: I think when they started in 1997, they wanted to help social day, they are making a positive impact?
anxiety among young men, in a humorous way. However, gen-
der politics is complicated and keeps changing so the campaign
started feeling wrong. They did research online with Google SH: There are so many problems in the world and politicians
and found out that a lot of young men were questioning what aren’t solving them. At the same time people are getting bored
masculinity meant - quite rightly. The patriarchy is probably the with advertising. So, I think brands should use their marketing
biggest problem on the planet. Then [Lynx’s new campaign] budgets to help solve real problems for their audiences. Ideally,
“Find your magic” was an interesting attempt to move the debate they should create communities of customers who help to solve
“Brands have the power to do what governments fail to forward in that area. It helps loosen old attitudes to masculinity - these real problems, using not just the money from the marketing
which is a great way of trying to make the world a better place. budget but also the power of the community.
accomplish” - Steve Henry
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4. BRAND NEW BRANDS

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In this day and age, consumers are overwhelmed by content, is Lynx. The deodorant brand was known for their sexist adverts
options, marketing, and products everywhere they look. It seems like their ‘Angels Will Fall’ campaign which showed women

4.1 THE FUTURE OF ADVERTISING


like wherever they go, they are bombarded with advertisements. dressed as angels falling from the sky after a male character
The product is no longer the centrepiece, the brand image has applied Lynx deodorant. Adverts like that not only sexualised
become what matters the most. But with more brands than ever, and objectified women but also led men to believe that they
and so much choice, it’s become harder for consumers to build needed to rely on Lynx to be confident. In 2016 however, they
relationships and get attached to a brand. So, in order differentiate underwent a total 180-degree repositioning, redefining masculin- The advertising industry has been redefined several times.
themselves from others, some companies have had to have a make- ity. Their strategy went from their old-fashioned sexist adverts to The number of advertising agencies within the industry
over. Re-brandings can be a powerful tool to change a brand’s image attempting to make men feel more comfortable in their skin with has grown. Companies have gone from investing millions
and close the gap between brands and their audiences, or to appeal their ‘Find Your Magic’ campaign. The change was well-received on TV and poster advertising to saving their marketing
to a new type of audience. It’s also a natural step in the development by the public, resulting in both male and female consumers com- budgets to improve their brand and the world. Some of the
of a company, and a key factor to long-term growth. If done cor- menting on the video things like: “Took them about 40,000 years biggest multinationals of the 1970s which were the best at
rectly, it can have great results, but organisations need to be careful to realize that the hypermasculine, stereotypical male isn’t really marketing at the time, like Philips, Volvo, and Ford, are all
when identifying what they need to change to reinvent themselves realistic for the majority of men in society. But thank God they struggling now to keep afloat. This is happening because
or they might not be successful. A lot of brands have seen the con- did it, and did it right.” they failed to understand the changing market, and the
temporary challenges as opportunities to embrace a more critical, need to engage with their customers and provide value
ethical, and socially responsible role through their advertising. They to them. As a result of these constant changes happening
have decided to rebrand themselves by becoming more ethical and Yet, advertising rebrandings like this don’t always turn out per- constantly in the industry, people have been left wonder-
purpose-driven, so they can appeal to a newer or younger audience. fectly. As was the case for the fast food brand McDonald’s when ing if socially responsible marketing is another fad or if it’s
“It has become a necessary thing for a brand to do.” Derek Rucker, they tried to rebrand themselves by becoming more health here to stay. Saatchi and Saatchi’s Executive Chairman,
a professor of The Northwestern School of Management, said. conscious. However, they failed to change the perception the Kevin Roberts, stated “Marketing is dead. Strategy is
public has of them. “McDonald’s didn’t incorporate apples on the dead. Management is dead.” Roberts instead believes
Happy Meal because they are concerned about children’s health that the advertising business is going to be all about creat-
Re-brandings are surely essential for a brand to become rel- but because of public pressure and also because they wanted ing a movement of people that share values from now on.
evant but, does it always change people perceive the brand? to gain back an audience that they were losing, a reason to
The truth is, if it’s necessary and done well, brands will see posi- come back.” Said Creative Director and Digital Marketer Carrie
tive results. In some occasions, the brand doesn’t even need to Ingoglia on the Forbes podcast, ‘Hiding in The Bathroom’. This It’s uncertain what is going to happen in the future, but
change their product or redesign their packaging or logo, some- comes to show that rebranding is a bit harder than just changing what’s certain is that the advertising industry is going to
times it’s a matter of changing their values and the way they the layout of a restaurant or the colour of a logo. Brands need to keep changing and will switch from traditional advertise-
advertise to their target market. An example of a brand having commit to the causes they are claiming to stand for, in order for ments and mediums to new strategies and platforms. A.K.
an advertising make-over to become more socially reasonable, people to perceive them differently. Pradeep, CEO of Neurofocus, declared that he believes
that advertising is going to be a word that we look at
fondly and think, “oh my god they used to do advertis-
ing long ago.” He sees experiences and PR stunts to
have more potential in the future than regular advertising.
Whereas Ben Bisbee, Founder and Principal of Rhinocorn
Consulting, believes that CSR is the future of advertising
“I think it will become less about corporations looking to
‘plug’ into social good efforts and more about an increased
invitation to join strategic efforts.”

How will the advertising industry ensure evolution and not


extinction? The first learning is perhaps to understand that
we live in times that require constant reinvention. Unilever
CEO, Paul Polman, believes that in order to reinvent
themselves, brands need to learn what their core strength
is as well as articulate it, to connect more with their audi-
ence by becoming more socially aware. He proclaimed
that he believes businesses would be ‘stupid’ not to lead
on purpose-driven products and campaigns and those
who don’t “won’t make it”. Experts also agree with this,
estimating that the future of advertising will demand more
transparency from organisations and rely on emotional
connections between consumers and brands.

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T
5. CONCLUSION:

DOES hroughout this magazine, we have discussed how advertising has evolved through the
years and how cultural, economic and political changes have influenced the changes in

THE
the advertising industry. Looking back at the question of whether if advocating for social
issues through advertising work for brands or if it damages their image, we can conclude
that there isn’t a simple ‘yes’ or ‘no’ answer. A lot of factors come into play that have to be
taken in account. Although it’s not strictly necessary for a brand to become socially respon-
sible, there have been a lot of brands that have been successful when they have done it
and have also created a good impact on society.

END
We have found that for a brand to be successful when practicing CSR, they have to con-
sider various elements. First, it’s not as easy as a brand picking a social issue to stick their
name next to or being politically correct. Companies have to study their target audience
in order to choose an issue that’s relevant not only to them, but also to the brand in ques-
tion. Second, rebrandings, even if they are only applied to a brand’s advertising strategy,
are sometimes crucial. Brands should strive to reinvent themselves in order to change

JUSTIFY
as the times change, and sometimes becoming more socially aware can be the answer.
Third, brands have to commit to the cause they have chosen and be consistent with it, to
show that they are actually going to do all that they can to raise awareness or attempt to
change the perception of a certain issue. Lastly, a brand has to be clear about what their
objectives are when they apply cause advertising to their campaigns, because this kind of
advertising doesn’t always show instant or measurable results. Cause advertising is usu-
ally more effective to change a brand’s image or appealing to a new target audience than

THE
to increase sales. However, even if a brand follows all these steps, they have to be careful
with the way they execute their campaign. Because in the end, it all comes down to how
well executed the campaign was and how the cause they’re trying to help was portrayed,
for them to appear as authentic and genuine to their customers.

On another note, we have also discovered that a lot of people perceive advertising as an

MEANS
amoral business. Industry leaders, academics, psychologists and others don’t agree on
what is ethical and what isn’t in advertising. In the past, people viewed advertising as a gim-
mick to persuade them to buy whatever a brand was selling. ‘The Journal of Advertising:
The Current State of Advertising Ethics’, describes how McDondald’s’ creator, Ray Kroc,
was unaware of the risks of eating food high in fat when he created the fast food company.
Suggesting that it’s essential for brands to revaluate their ethics and what they stand for
as the world alters, to adapt to the changes that are happening constantly in soci-

IN
ety. Because now, with more awareness and information out there than ever,
people demand more from brands, which has resulted in brands trying to ‘do
good’ to be perceived as more value-led. But, some people still just see it as
a way of brands attempting to exploit a cause to sell more rather than them
trying to change the world. So, as Niccolo Machiavelli would say, does the
end justify the means in advertising? It’s up to debate whether it’s right
for a brand to speak up about a certain issue, even if it concerns their

ADVERTISING?
consumers. But we have come to the conclusion that if done right, it
doesn’t really matter what the brands initial intentions were, if they
are still making a positive impact in society.

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WRITTEN BY:

LYDIA PEREZ LOPEZ

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