Search results matching tag 'ethical marketing'

Futurism, QR codes, ethical knickers and iFood – it’s a changing world out there.

322703 — Tue, 10 Feb 2009 03:24:00 GMT

On Feb 20th it’s the 100th anniversary of the launch of Futurism (founded by the Italian Filippo Tommaso Marinetti) a movement that looked to the future and embraced new ideas, technology and challenged the old ‘museum’ way of thinking. Look forward not back was the gist of it.

Don’t be afraid of the future and accept change. Ok, they did a have a few negative thoughts – war is good. However, their ideals are something we could well all benefit from in the ad industry at the moment. Instead of moaning about recession, living in the past and defending change, lets embrace it. It’s maybe ironic that a new model agency is launching on Feb 20th with a very new way of working. I’m sure Campaign will be covering it in a week’s time – there’s bugger all positive or exciting news about. at the moment

QR CODES TO CHANGE THE FACE OF ADVERTISING So what’s a QR code? If you don’t know (and don’t worry most Brits or sales assistants in phone shops don’t) ask any Japanese kid with a mobile. Simply put, it’s a sort of bar code (a matrix code) that a mobile phone can read. It’s square in appearance and looks like lots of pixels. So what? you may say but in Japan there are everywhere and have become the new love of all marketing directors. QR stands for ‘quick response’, when a phone scans the graphic it can decode it as text or take you direct to a web page. Forget phone numbers or urls, this is modern technology at work.

The downside is there look worse than telephone numbers on ads (art directors will hate them as much as packaging designers hate bar codes). They really will change the face of ads – mutilate may be a better word as they will sit on ads in a very nasty way. But as an additional marketing technique they’ll add to effectiveness.

What is surprising is that something so linear in thinking has been picked up by creatives and played with. Several artists have used them, Sergio Kano has made a series of images up from over 500 of them, each QR code represents a well known brand slogan. The French street artist ‘Space Invader’ has been placing tiles around the world for years, each one based on the space invaders game. Now he’s converted his mosaic style to QR codes. If you spot one of his tiles then scan it into your phone and it’ll give a message like ‘have a nice day’.

KINICKERS TO ETHICS More than pretty knickers have made an impressive commercial to highlight their new range of ethical pants. This is one step on from Pants for Poverty who got several hundred people to parade around St Pancras station in knickers only (one of which was a female creative director of an ad agency – I’ll mention no names to save embarrassment). The ethical knickers campaign uses a sexy catwalk commercial (directed by Verity White, ex BBC) to highlight the unethical aspects of most underwear. The commercial is excellent – take a look. Did you know that the cotton industry spends $2bn on pesticides – and uses more than any other industry? Or that sweat shop workers get less than a penny per kicker? Or that for every kg of cotton produced they use 20,000 litres of water? Makes you think.

iFOOD I recently suggested to one publication to set a brief to see if 3 agencies could turn a piece or marketing around to get people to pay for it. Lets be honest, if you put a price tag on most advertising would anyone (besides the client) pay for it? This opens up a new idea – what if we aimed to create marketing communications that people did pay for? Stuff they really wanted? Like the Gorilla or Sony balls ads. Like that 24 mailer or that NIKE brochure that sold on ebay for a $60. Well it seems some smart chaps at Kraft foods in the States have achieved just that. They are getting Americans to pay to get ads with food planning tools. It’s become a big hit on the iPhone and now other brands are looking to smart phone applications as the next generation of technology driven marketing.

ECO-VALENTINES DAY This Valentines Day you’ll have a dilemma, should you buy nice red rose from Holland or ethical ones? Which is more ethical, low carbon footprint ones or Fairtrade ones? Maybe you should just opt for chocolates. Again, should you pick the organic or Fairtrade? How about a gift instead - well you’ll have lots of ethical dilemma choices there too. The eco-ethical movement have started to hi-jack Valentines Day as an ethical expression of love – if you love someone then you’ll only buy an ethical gift. It’s a fair point but if you are finding it all too much you can always take the left wing green anti-capitalism view – Valentines Day is a capitalist attempt to generate extra consumerism – so buy nothing.

ETHICAL MARKETING & THE NEW CONSUMER If my regular readers are wondering why I’ve been off blog for a while it’s because I’ve been finishing off my book for the publisher’s Wileys. Ethical Marketing & the New Consumer, which can be found on Amazon (you can pre-order at half price). When it launches it’ll be one of the first multi-platform launches of a book with a website and smart phone applications. Watch this space for more updates.

Can less flatulence this Christmas save the planet?

322703 — Thu, 18 Dec 2008 04:03:00 GMT

I’ve come across some odd people whilst writing my book on Ethical Marketing but the one I met recently takes the biscuit. As it’s Christmas we can write more off the wall blogs.

It started as an innocent conversation about Christmas vegetables. Discussing everything from cabbages to onions when I mentioned I love Jerusalem artichokes at Christmas – these are like knobbly small potatoes and taste devine. “No, you shouldn’t eat those they are bad for the environment.” I was a touch puzzled, after all as part of the sunflower family they produce beautiful flowers and not oil.

“Don’t you know what they do?” I was trying to consider various options, some involved nuclear weapons, others guns, but hadn’t considered the obvious. “They make you fart, a lot, like pulses”. Ever been in one of those situations when your jaw really does drop down? “I’ve stopped eating Jerusalem artichokes, pulses, cabbages and sprouts as flatulence is bad for the environment.”

He was deadly serious. Not even trying to be slightly funny or ironic. When a man is worried about the effect upon the planet of his wind at Christmas he really needs to ask himself if he’s lost the plot. As a devout vegan, I’m sure he’ll be enjoying a lovely bag of nuts on Christmas day, something he can relate to. Me? Turkey with sprouts and my favourite knobbly vegetables.

Is Facebook the new age model business?

322703 — Tue, 21 Oct 2008 01:45:00 GMT

Is social need replacing greed? Given Mark Zuckerberg’s recent comments it seems it is. Mark has stunned City folk and ‘greedmunsters’ across the world with his reply to the question “how and when will Facebook make money?” He isn’t really interested in making money, he openly admits money isn’t high on his agenda, as long as he has enough to get by. What drives him is a personal ethos to connect people.

The idea that the man behind one of the most successful ideas of the last decade isn’t driven by money is a good thing. It shows that greed isn’t always a driving factor. His supporters would probably put his success down to this very factor. Mark wants to build a great social site. His motivation is to bring people together – so far he’s got 110 million and growing. Half of the internet population of Chile are on Facebook. Spanish sites are exploding across Latin America. Sites are springing up across the globe, in part to it’s clever design, local people can set up their own language version.

Teenagers are abandoning emails (due to too much spam) and only using Facebook to talk to their friends. In the UK over 12 million (1/5 of the population) are on Facebook. Facebook is the best thing since…well there isn’t anything to compare it to. At just 24, Mark is one of the youngest CEO’s in the world and powerful with it. If he decided to get a God complex he could use Facebook against anyone with devastating effect.

That’s the power of social networking. Thank God he doesn’t. Mark likes to keep it simple (using an open platform means others do a lot of the work). And simple means being focused on people and values not shareholder value. Mark is probably one of the most eco-ethical leaders about. The basis of any great business is putting its ethos and values first. Without compromise. That’s what creates reputation and makes it a success. Look at Innocent, Body Shop or Green & Black. Then of course, inevitably, it gets bought. The ethos is replaced with different values –make more money, feed the shareholders – and it evaporates. Everything is about cost not quality or values. Craik Jones being an example.

As soon as any business loses its ethos it loses its focus and success. There’s two great business quotes that come to mind, “cutting costs is not the same as making money” and “If you set out to do something well you’ll make money. If you just set out to make money, nothing great will happen.” Brands in trouble (or Blands – brands who have lost their core identity) should get back to their ethos, not spend fortunes on ad campaigns or worse still, rebranding agencies. Nice graphics isn’t the solution.

Abbey was nicknamed ’Shabby National’ because of its poor staff. Millions of pounds later it had a new logo (even if it was a crap one), a new ad campaign and even a new retail environment. But the people were the same. The public wasn’t fooled. The reputation remained the same because it hadn’t really changed. Ethos is what drives us all. It encompasses our values, our emotions and our purpose. It defines WHAT we do, it’s the WHY we do it. It dictates our behavour. And that’s where so many brands fail. When they lose their ethos they start to behave badly and soon get a bad reputation and the customers flies away. If your only value is make a quick buck you son start to exploit people.

You don’t care what damage you do. “People? Planet? Screw them just give me the profit.” The current recession has stimulated much debate about ethics and money. The triple bottom line is people, planet and profit, but most shareholders just want the one. One politician commented on Radio 4 recently, “the problem in the City started when people got so seduced by bonuses they left their morals at home”. “Greed is good” was Thatcher’s slogan. Now it’s a damnation. “”Need is good” is the new slogan.

The need to look after people and the planet. We are about to enter an era where ‘greed’ is fast becoming an anti-social word and ‘profit’ just means profiteering. Now we ask not HOW much did you make but HOW did you make it? At what cost? All of us are asking what price are we going to pay for the reckless City types who gambled billions, expecting to profit in good times and expect us to pick up the tab in bad.

Making money was seen as successful, but not anymore. Success in the future will be about values and ethos. Winning over 110 million people to an idea is success at the highest level. How much Facebook makes in money terms is irrelevant, it’s just a number. What difference it makes in the world is worth far more. Those brands that like to brag about their profits, especially the daily sum they make, will be well advised to stay silent.

They may think it’s a measure of success but profit is not a measure the public respects anymore. Brand reputation is built on WHAT you do, WHAT positive difference you make. Not WHAT you make. I for one would give Mark Zuckerberg my vote for man of the decade. Not because he has created an amazing socially empowering idea but because he has stayed true to his values and not been corrupted by money.

Somehow, we all know that he’ll be still around when all those City kids have vanished, and long term he’ll do well. It doesn’t matter if he ends up as rich as Bill Gates, you can only spend so much in a lifetime. His real riches are the people he connects. The difference he’s already made in the world – many social campaigns have started on Facebook like ColaLife. As the Beatles said, money can’t buy you love. It also doesn’t pay to have it as your only value. Does money make the world go around? No it doesn’t, people do.

Is the ad industry about to sink without trace?

322703 — Tue, 30 Sep 2008 03:03:00 GMT

Will WPP collapse like a stack of cards? Will the industry fall and rise like a phoenix? Or will it muddle through? Has the industry lost its values and value to clients in the pursuit of shareholder value? These were just some of the discussions I’ve had over three amazing days spent on the Aurora boat at the Marketing Forum.

On a more upbeat note I had a great three days speaking on ‘ethical marketing & the new consumer’ and networking. The event is certainly the best one of the year for meeting all sides of our industry. It’s always good to discuss hot issues with people that have different view points. And enjoy great food and a few beers ‘til the early hours of the morning – it’s also one of the year’s best parties. It was a great opportunity to be able to hear the opinions of clients, agencies and business experts like Robert Shaw and Andrew Marsden.

One subject that came up constantly was the effect of the credit crunch on the industry. There’s few who cannot be worried, and I’m sure Martin Sorrell is sipping diet Coke rather than champagne (unlike the fat cats from the banks who were in Monte Carlo last week). Sorrell is a pragmatic realist when it comes to making agencies make money. Few cannot respect him and his ability to build a very successful media group but he’s an accountant not a visionary and could learn a lot from understanding the value of creativity as WPP goes forward. I’d love to spend a lunchtime with Sorrell and change his thinking.

The big issue is values, agencies were traditionally built on values not value to shareholders. And with the current economic climate we, the masses, are all paying the price for an economy that is driven the few. Even the Sun has fuelled anti-capitalism attitudes towards the City. Revolution seems to be in the air. One way or another the ad industry could be in for one of the most dramatic changes since the 60s.

The industry – both clients and agencies – have moved from longevity to short term thinking. The average clients stays in his job about 2 years, agency staff aren’t much better. When once we thought in campaigns over years we now think in weeks. Is it any wonder many big brands have lost their way? The industry has moved its focus from great work that worked, to shareholder value. It has been on a path of cost cutting and in the process it’s cut planning, creative and other value dominated areas.

“Cutting costs is not the same as making money” was my father’s favourite saying. Replacing talent with time focused low level staff is short sighted. “Bubble wrap’ is the term being used by some clients to describe many agencies – “20% substance, 80% air”. One client put it bluntly, “why would I buy an agency just made up of suits? I want to pay for talent – creativity and thinking - and that’s coming harder to find.” Other clients were nodding in agreement.

No disrespect to account handlers, but clients don’t think you are strategic thinkers and therefore no replacement for planners. I‘ve only met a few who could be both planner and account handling. And the idea that account handler led agencies can buy in freelance talent is pointless. So can clients. On a business level, it was felt that agencies are not aligned with client’s business needs. Robert Shaw in his lecture commented that agencies and clients need to stop thinking of budget as pocket money. Clients and agencies need to work closer together as business partners rather than supplier and master. Both need to adopt more professionalism and financial accountability.

So what will the future of the ad industry look like? This is yet to be decided, but change is in the air, so if you are not planning a new model you may be a looser rather than a winner. We have gone from an agricultural economy to a manufacturing economy and beyond - now more people work in Indian restaurants than car and boat manufacturing. We are now in the Creative Economy where it’s intellectual capital that is up for sale. It’s called the Creative Economy by governments and economists for a reason. By contrast, some developing nations are stuck in a Service Economy, when your people is your greatest resource.

So why are agencies not getting this? They need to invest in brain power, yet as an industry we employ more account handlers than planners and creatives. It seems the ad industry wants to work in the service economy. “Agencies are like restaurants,” was the thought of one great adman, Roy Williams. People go for great food, for that you need a great chef (creatives). They expect excellent service (account handling). Which one do they pay more for? Clients also need to review their position. "It takes good clients to make a good advertising agency. Regardless of how much talent an ad agency may have, it is ineffective without good products and services to advertise." - Morris Hite Personally I think those agencies who focus on value – creativity & strategy – will become the new winners.

Greater efficiency, better understanding of clients (because clients can talk to the thinkers) and more effectiveness. Clients will see greater return for their budget because more will be spent on talent. It’s common sense. There will also be the development of a new breed of logistic based agencies that just deal with execution to support the previous types. And the role of account handlers will move to more project management – so goodbye to lots of meetings, long Powerpoints and waffle. Of course many will disagree but that’s the beauty of predictions – everyone can have an opinion but only time will tell. On a more cheerful note, a few days on the Aurora generated some good gossip. I met a couple of great journalists from both Marketing Week and Marketing, but alas I promised not to write any stories about them in my blog, in exchange for none about me! That was one great night!

Excuse me why I just slip into my organic fair trade fashion wear.

322703 — Wed, 17 Sep 2008 00:50:00 GMT

This week all eyes are on ethical fashion and organic everything. And despite a credit crunch we could all be getting greener as a consequence according to Alice Thomson of the Times. Also this week I’m working late hours writing a book for a major publisher on Ethical Marketing & the New Consumer (due to be published in Feb 09).

If anyone wishes to contribute case studies, research data or some really great stories please contact me via this blog or email me at book site - chris@ethicalmarketing.plus.com.

This week is organic fortnight and the Soil Association are running events and activities all over the UK with the Scottish Organic Food Festival on September 20-21st. While the supermarkets offer us discounts and incentives to buy greener greens a recent survey suggest that organics is leveling off – the credit crunching is crunching organics.

A piece in the Times by Alice Thomson ‘Suddenly being green isn’t green anymore’ reflects on how ironically the economic downturn is making us all greener – we drive less, waste less energy, food and therefore packaging. She thinks the salads days are over (quoting the MORI and Organic Monitor polls). She had an amusing pop at Julie Burchill, commenting “she thinks all environmentalists are po-faced, unsexy, public school alumni who drivel on about the end of the world because they don't want the working classes to have any fun, go on foreign holidays or buy cheap clothes.” It’s also London Fashion Week – exciting for some, amusing for others.

However, it's good to see that many ethical fashion brands are getting noticed. Can I make a plea that people stop equating hemp to sack cloth. Few people seem to be aware that hemp t-shirts are softer then cotton and use half as much water to produce, unfortunately they cost twice as much. The London Fashion Week has seen a growing number of ethical fashion brands, designers and events year on year encourage by groups like estethica. Ironically, the credit crunch could also encourage people to look at clothes differently.

Primark (and other cheap fashion shops) are loving the credit crunch and stand to dominate the high street with there 'fast fashion' approach, providing credit crunched consumers with clothes that are so disposable it’s not work washing and as a consequence causing a landfill problem. And the government is worried about direct mail (only 2% of household waste)! But while some buy cheap tat, others actually look for longer term value – clothes that last – and most ethical fashion is well made. Or they learn to recycle or remake – a popular trend in Australia.

Ethical fashion – or ‘eco-sustainable fashion as it’s now called - has grown up a lot over the last few years and designs have got hotter. Adili sponsored the Make Your Mark In Fashion event to find young designers. The winner was a girl who’d been working at Junky Styling (a winner at this years’ Observer Ethical Awards). Junky also sponsor a young designers event. Even though the ridiculous prices to get on the cartwalks may be a barrier to small ethical fashion producers it could also keep it one step away from the pompous and stupid end of the fashion market.

Personally I’d rather see an Edinburgh Fringe style of event, it feels more honest. In a dog eat dog world, RSPCA has dumped Crufts because they are not happy about the ethics of some dog breeders and concerns over the high rate of inherited genetic disease among pedigree dogs. Good on them. Now there’s pressure on the BBC to pull out too, who started the issue with a programme they made called Pedigree Dogs Exposed. The discussion between the RSPCA and a representative from the Kennel Club on the radio got very heated – she lost the plot and did themselves no favors. Meoow