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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