Brand terrorism & the green wash

If the fundamental principal of branding is to win trust, why are so many brands lying? It’s a foolish strategy because now Goliath brands that lie can be easily toppled through ‘brand terrorism’. The new David can be little more than a school kid sitting in his bedroom with a laptop.
"Four out of five Britons now believe that many companies pretend to be ethical just to sell more products". That’s according to a recent MORI poll.

Far too many companies are using ‘green spin’ (or ethical spin) to make themselves look good. More fool the public if that means they actually buy products from brands that use false green claims.

It seems madness when the fundamental purpose of branding is to win trust. With the growth of the ‘honest economy’ more and more people are seeking honesty from brands, tired of lies, false claims and spin.

Advertising sits at the bottom of the trust pile with politicians and estate agents, according to a recent piece I read in the Guardian.

When once saying you were in advertising resulted in admiration now it only gets strange looks at parties. These days we almost feel the need to apologise that we work in advertising. Remember that old phrase “please don’t tell my mother I work in advertising, tell her I play piano in a hoar house."

But the internet is in a twisted way could be our savior. Few people I know in the business really want to lie. If we are honest it’s the client’s more than us.

Fuelled by social networking, the truth is out there in a website somewhere. Maybe on a website, a blog or a chat room. Some spotty little 14 year old dork can now bring down a multi million pound brand in days with a website. The growth of ‘brand terrorism’ is coming a real threat to big brands.

One brand of drink had their false claims about vitamin C exposed after a group of teenage kids did an experiment in their school science labs. A well known bike lock almost went bust when one punter revealed that far from being unbreakable, all you needed was a biro to open it.

McDonalds and Apple are just two brands that have taken a brand kicking through the web. Greenpeace even supplied material for its supporters to produce anti-Apple material.

No matter how much you spend on green wash campaign – British Gas, Shell, BP and the rest take note – people see through the green veneer and the truth comes out.

If you want to win trust then your brand needs to adopt one simple word. Not the usual tosh brand consultants trot out like ‘innovation’ or ‘visionary’ but ‘honesty’.

It’s a great word. It’s an even better policy.

ANITA – THE LAST WORD

Enough has been written about Anita in the last week. She will be remembered as one of the most influential women in business. She proved that ethics makes good business. So I thought I’d leave the last word to her. A few quotes she said that should make us all think.

“If you do things well, do them better. Be daring, be first, be different, be just.”

“I want to work for a company that contributes to and is part of the community. I want something not just to invest in. I want something to believe in.”

“To succeed you have to believe in something with such

a passion that it becomes a reality.”

“If you think you're too small to have an impact, try going to bed with a mosquito.”

“I am still looking for the modern equivalent of those Quakers who ran successful businesses, made money because they offered honest products and treated their people decently.

This business creed, sadly, seems long forgotten.”

“I hope to leave my children a sense of empathy and pity and a will to right social wrongs”

Anita Roddick 1942-2007

Sweat shops, am I bovvered?

I wonder how young girls would feel about shopping at Primark, GAP, Matalan and H&M if they did a job exchange and worked in an Asian sweat shop for 9 hours a day for just £1.13?

Sitting on the W3 bus on the way home, I was surrounded by a group of young girls who were coming back from the West End. In typical ‘thick as two bricks’ voice, one was commenting on her purchases from Primark. “It’s amazing” she remarked, “I don’t know how they manage it. They got t-shirts for just £2 and shoes for a fiver.”  

Even before I could respond one of my fellow Crouch End socialist greens got in there first. “It’s because they exploit people in the third world. They make girls like you work a 60 hour week for as little as 13p an hour.”

He was holding a copy of the Guardian in his hand with it’s report into how many high street brands like GAP, Primark and Matalan are using sweat shops.

There was a silent pause.

“Third world? Where’s that then?” 

Priceless.