We were delighted to be joined at this session by Steve Harrison, award-winning creative director and author of ‘Can’t Sell, Won’t Sell’.
We talked about Social Purpose-driven marketing and the role it plays in modern-day marketing. Steve’s view is clear – a marketer’s job is to sell.
The standout quote from Steve was “We used to sell to people – now we follow them around on the internet shouting at people“. It’s not to take a stance on social issues or try to change the world. But what do others think?
There was a consensus that marketing your product comes first. But many also felt an obligation for the brand to be seen as doing the right thing – especially if your customer base expresses concerns about those issues.
And of course, for some brands, it’s not a matter of a short-term commitment – certain beauty brands, for example, have social purpose embedded in their DNA. Take that away and what is the brand left with?
However, there was a concern from some members that insincere hopping onto a bandwagon by brands can dilute the impact of those brands who live it 24/7. How many brands change their logo to a rainbow-themed one in June, just to switch back in July? Is this seen as simply cashing in on a theme, does it tar all brands with the same brush?
The relevance of social purpose marketing is also going to be driven by your customer base. How important are the issues to your customers – this raised an interesting point of whether such issues are a luxury that wealthier customers can indulge in, rather than those who have to focus on price and value in their purchasing decisions.
It was a great session, which raised a lot of complex and sometimes difficult questions.
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