 We recently heard about a professional services firm in the US that donates 50% of its profits to community projects. It obviously isn’t a listed company with hundreds of shareholders to answer to, but it did set us thinking about socially responsible brands. Companies work hard at producing strong brand experiences. Try this test; close your eyes and take note of what you picture in your mind or how you respond when these three brands are mentioned. Apple. Ferrari. Starbucks.
Without having even purchased anything tangible, that test probably evoked some subconscious reactions. Did you recall smells, images, colours or feelings? Those are the intangible attributes of the brand you have just ‘experienced’. The best brands embed subtle but powerful emotional connections with their customers.
More and more, companies are latching onto the idea that those emotional connections could perhaps relate to the ‘feel good’ factor of having also helped one’s fellow man (or woman) out of good conscience.
The concept of conscience has evolved over the past few years. The best companies in the world now even take on corporate conscience as a best practice. People look to brands to act responsibly.
Consumers may have lost faith in governments but they do expect companies that take their dollars to do the right thing. In the past, media outlets could be influenced and in some cases, controlled. Today, every blogger on the planet can write about any topic. The consumer watchdog effect is powerful.
And we all know that intangible assets or goodwill can add tremendous value to a company’s net worth. Before Intel introduced their ‘Intel Inside’ trademark, no one really cared about which microchips went into their computers. They moved from being a B2B brand to being a B2C brand. That successful branding effort made the company one of the most powerful and valuable of its time.
Can B2B brands distinguish themselves as the better business partner to work with, just because they put their conscience to work with the fees you pay them?
We’d certainly like to see that happen more and more. One caveat is that it will be critical to deliver on such a brand promise consistently. Using a brand proposition based on conscience can seriously backfire if the company is perceived to have taken some missteps. With consumer advocacy groups, social media, product forums and the like, news about disappointing brand experiences spread quickly these days and could cause serious damage.
Reputations cannot be built overnight but they can be damaged over 24 hours.
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