Mythology - The Meaning Behind the Marketing

Building Brand by Choosing Sides

It used to be that the vast majority of corporations did everything they could to avoid offending a possible customer by choosing sides. Most major brands played it safe, and if they did publicly support a cause, it was almost always something broadly supported and impossible to be against.

Today, through the explosion of communication, the impossibility of keeping things quiet, and the focused efforts of activists of all stripes, it's nearly impossible for a company to not be forced to take a stand on any number of controversial issues.

A recent example relevant to Mythology's home base state of West Virginia: Recently Bank of America announced that they will no longer lend to companies that practice "mountain top removal", a form of mining that literally lops the tops off of mountains to get to the coal. Environmentalists have been very savvy in targeting the source of funds for this practice, and in the case of B of A, were successful in forcing the country's largest bank to turn off the money spicket.

In doing so, B of A had to make a choice: offend the coal mining companies and the workers who may get laid off, or the growing ranks of environmentalists and average citizens who are becoming more "green" aware? You would like to think these decisions are made based on principle, but it doesn't take much deliberation to determine that B of A probably gained more green-minded fans than lost coal miner business.

The list of issues and causes is endless, and even smaller companies are having to "choose who you lose" in order to position their brand effectively and profitably with the right customer segments. Many of the early adopters of more liberal "domestic partner" benefit policies were companies that made the decision practically in order to retain what they considered talented employees.

The understanding of brands as personal identity markers has fed into this dilemma. The best brands have powerful emotional connections, and the more emotionally connected a consumer is, they more meaning they want to build in the relationship. Brands that are seen as Americana and traditional (e.g., Disney) may have a lot of conservative customers who get deeply hurt when a company policy seems to support a more liberal agenda. Likewise, if a hip, edgy company (e.g., Nike, The Gap) makes a business decision that doesn't seem to support liberal or social justice policies, it can come under attack.

Even the social media activities of your employees can influence how your brand is perceived as more people speak their mind on blogs and sites such as Facebook.

CEO's and senior marketers may not have planned to get their brand directions enmeshed in politics, but increasingly they may not have a choice. Some soul (and brand) searching questions you may want to ask about your company:

• What does our company culture and mission give us as guidance on how to make tough decisions?
• What categories of decisions should be based on the moral and ethical merits, and which ones based on practical business?
• How will executives and employees collaborate on these decisions?
• What are the implications of NOT taking a stand on something vs. taking a stand, not just in terms of short-term revenue and good/bad PR, but on attracting the employees/partners that we need?

Has your company had to make a tough public choice on a moral or political issue that affected your business? We'd love to hear how you handled it and what the outcome was.

Mission Marketing

One of our passions here at Mythology is to help firms identify their inner "hero" and connect emotionally to their target customer segments. In today's cluttered world, only brands that can break through by attaching themselves to an idea bigger than themselves tend to succeed.

One tactic for aligning your brand with a cause that means more to the consumer than just the functionality of your product/service is "cause marketing." Typically, this is defined as

 ...a type of marketing involving the cooperative efforts of a "for profit" business and a non-profit organization for mutual benefit. The term is sometimes used more broadly and generally to refer to any type of marketing effort for social and other charitable causes, including in-house marketing efforts by non-profit organizations. Cause marketing differs from corporate giving (philanthropy) as the latter generally involves a specific donation that is tax deductible, while cause marketing is a marketing relationship generally not based on a donation.

Breast cancer awareness is one of the most successful cause-related marketing initiatives in history. Who hasn't seen a product wrapped in pink over the past few years? Even NFL teams sell pink hats and jerseys to support breast cancer awareness.

Non-profits dedicated to health and wellness are not the only "mission" to get behind. In some areas of the country, investing in an economic or community development effort can be very powerful. I can't help but wonder if Wal-Mart could have avoided a lot of their "Wal-Mart kills small towns" negative PR if they had a proactive cause marketing initiative around helping rural entrepreneurs.

However, when a cause becomes so big and so pervasive, does it help a marketer to align with it? Or do you get lost in the crowd?

There are of course many causes to align with, and the process for choosing a mission to connect to the brand is a very strategic decision. A few questions you may want to ask yourself:

• Does the cause have a natural connection to your product or service? Many breast cancer awareness partner brands are interested in gaining influence among women consumers, which is a broad category but one that makes sense for them.

• Can your brand be the dominant one associated with the cause? Or will you be lost in a crowd of other supporters?

• Do your employees have a passion for this cause? Generating broad interest and participation among your employees, channel partners, even vendors can generate better ROI and support for the charity.

How will you measure impact? Remember, this is cause marketing, not purely charity. Yes the non-profit or cause will benefit from your participation, but this is about building a brand and ultimately selling more stuff as a result. So how will you know if the effort was ultimately a marketing success or just another good charitable effort?

That last question is a fine line, and one that is important for your organization to understand. Cause marketing should not be managed by a company foundation or giving team; it is marketing, and should be a marketing team-lead effort (with support or partnership from others of course.)

If you're considering a cause or mission-oriented marketing effort, we'd be happy to talk through some more ideas and options.