Corporate DispatchPro JAMES VELLA CLARK
Brands with a Societal Legacy In a recent article about doing marketing with a mission, published in the Harvard Business Review, the author argues that “brands can and must play a critical role in tackling global health issues, from violence to infectious disease to poor fitness and diet.”
It is an assertion that can set any business leader and marketeer thinking. Because when push comes to shove, people will retort with the proverbial “but it’s business.” So, this begs the question: ‘Are businesses there to make profit and deliver value to their shareholders or to make society better?’ I would say both. Naturally, a better, healthier, and happier society is a society with a higher feel-good factor, and we all know that the higher the feelgood factor, the more people tend to want to consume. At face value, this might sound egoistic. However, it is only egoistic if considered outside the wider context where all businesses and brands should be willing to strike a healthy balance between profit, ethical behaviour, and societal well-being. Brands should never underestimate their potential for social reach. Those who do, miss out on a huge opportunity to bring the muchneeded societal change. And we all know how much change society needs to undergo at this point in time. When brands become attuned to the potential role they can be playing in their respective communities, the way they will start
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