P&G are battling it out with Unilever. All the supermarkets are at it. It seems everyone is trying to be more ethical than the other as the agenda moves from green to more philanthropic causes. ‘Ethical marketing’ is the term of the moment.
I always hate saying “I told you so” but this was on the cards. The big brands were flirting with ethics a few years ago. Many thought it was just about being green but now they are fighting on a bigger ethical platform. Everyone is tying up with charities and trying to save the people as well as the planet.
In a recent blog I mentioned Coke and Pepsi’s shift towards humanitarian causes and how this was defeating the environmentalists. How can you call a company that saves lives in Africa evil, even if their plastic bottles are filling land fill?
As the supermarkets battle it out, M&S have certainly won the recent PR battle with their 5p on carrier bag announcement. Plan A has been a historic moment in both their history and in the world of retail. But the Co-op still dominates as the UK’s leading ethical retailer because ethics is at the core of their ethos. While others have jumped on the green bandwagon, the Co-op have stuck firmly behind Fairtrade and their belief in supporting people and communities, even when the greens have been condemning food miles.
Even Asda has been rolling back the ‘green’ prices while their parent company Wal-Mart has been championing ethics (there is a God).
The award for putting your foot in your mouth goes to Tesco’s. After a very successful year of being the greener grocer, they announced the £1.99 chicken. Opps! That really wasn’t the right time with so much TV coverage on chickens. Meanwhile Jamie and Sainsbury’s seemed like a married couple on the issue of ethical food but managed to see eye to eye in the end (thank goodness for Relate).
So strong is the move towards ‘ethical marketing’ in the States that Saatchi’s have bought an ethical specialist. The UK isn’t short of a few green agencies (probably more than the States) and ethical marketing specialist either – it’s a growing trend. Meanwhile the traditional ad agencies are falling over themselves to look greener than green (better ten years late than never) though green wash would be a better word.
One just knocked up a green guide and rather than send it as a pdf printed it instead – dooh!
Yep, ‘ethical marketing’ is the hot term of the moment. Everyone wants it, few have a clue about it and even less know how to deliver it. But that’s what makes it all so very interesting.
CHRIS ARNOLD
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Member since: 03 Jun 2008
Last login: 19 Nov 2009
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