Sunday, June 9, 2013

MARKETING/BRAND MANAGEMENT....Greatest New Threat To Your Brand: Your Customers


Greatest New Threat To Your Brand: Your Customers
 At the end of 2010 I wrote about the ‘Coming Decade of Radical Transparency.’ My prediction for 2012 was the ‘Rise of Consumer Activism.’ We now find ourselves in mid-2013 and these two issues have combined, leaving brands facing a well-informed, media-savvy and mobilized audience intent on punishing behavior that does not serve the greater good.
This challenge did not emerge out of thin air. Emboldened by the citizen and consumer activism of the Arab Spring Revolutions and #OccupyWallStreet, these customers (especially Millennials and Gen Z) have grown up in a marketplace in which brands and consumers are locked in a dynamic dialogue about who they are, what they make and why they do it. Yet recent conversations played out in traditional and social media have taken this to a new level in terms of volume and frequency.
The recent protests against Monsanto MON +2.97% over their use of GMO’s (genetically modified organisms) have taken on unprecedented proportions. According to the AP, “March Against Monsanto” protests took place in at least 52 countries and 436 cities amassing over 2 million people attacking the agribusiness giant over genetically modified foods. The movement grew from a Facebook page that called for boycotts against Monsanto-owned companies, pushing for GMO labeling and further studies of the health effects of GMOs.
Nor will this be a short-lived phenomenon. For example, a 26-year-old Los Angeles-based, freelance programmer, Ivan Pardo, has just launched a mobile app called Buycott. Once you’ve scanned an item, Buycott will show you its corporate family tree on your phone screen to see if you want to support that company’s profit by purchasing that product. One of its campaigns, Demand GMO Labeling, will scan your box of cereal and tell you if it was made by one of the 36 corporations that donated more than $150,000 to oppose the mandatory labeling of genetically modified food. And moving forward, the developers are asking shoppers to help improve their technology by inputting names of products they scan that the app doesn’t already recognize. So, based on shared values, such consumer efforts are fast becoming an ongoing, shared responsibility.
Not only do such movements demonstrate the power of technology in consumers’ hands, but also the power of the individual. Another recent example is the protest against the re-surfacing of insensitive and inappropriate remarks by the Mike Jeffries, the CEO of Abercrombie & Fitch.
Jeffries set off a traditional and social media firestorm by stating: “In every school there are the cool and popular kids, and then there are the not-so-cool kids. Candidly, we go after the cool kids. We go after the attractive all-American kid with a great attitude and a lot of friends. A lot of people don’t belong (in our clothes), and they can’t belong. Are we exclusionary? Absolutely.”
The comments especially infuriated an 18-year-old eating disorder survivor Benjamin O’Keefe, who created a petition on Change.org that has now garnered over 70,000 signatures.
Abercrombie has made several apologies. The first apology by Jeffries was largely seen as a non-apology (he did not regret the words themselves but how they were “interpreted in a manner that has caused offense”). Further enraged, protestors posted pictures of themselves in A&F ad poses to #FitchTheHomeless, a campaign which focused on handing out Abercrombie clothing to the homeless. Such public outcry compounded the already faltering sales figures of A&F, and as part of a “too little, too late” strategy the company has also agreed to support “anti-bullying” efforts in addition to considering diversity as a potential company value.
In the face of increasingly militant activism, a brand that wants to manage their reputation, and sure up their social license to operate and inspire great customer loyalty and sales must do the following:
  • Define your authentic brand mission, core values and vision
  • Share the brand story with employees and incorporate their input
  • Support a cause that is in alignment with your brand’s core values
  • Share the company’s vision with its customers and ask for their feedback
  • Co-create marketing with your customers based on shared values and a common purpose
  • Demonstrate authenticity, transparency and accountability in your commitment to the company mission
  • Celebrate the success stories of your employees and customers that reflect the company’s values
  • Collaborate with strategic partners and competitors to demonstrate a commitment to a cause greater than your own bottom line
Such steps are more than risk mitigation. They are critical steps a brand must take if it hopes to leverage the new marketing dynamics created by social media and smart phones. Perhaps most  importantly, these steps empower brands to play a critical role in scaling social change that will yield both professional and personal benefits for employees and customers. Together, brands and their customer can stop competing and align around values to build their businesses and a better world.
http://www.forbes.com/sites/simonmainwaring/2013/05/28/monsanto-abercrombie-fitch-and-the-greatest-new-threat-to-your-brand-your-customers/

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