Arnold on ethical marketing

CHRIS ARNOLD

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.