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Goodvertising: The Advertising Model Of The Future?

4 comments

Posted on September 22, 2009
Kristen R.

Contagious has recently published an exclusive report entitled "Goodvertising: The ethical, responsible and sustainable marketing revolution".

According to Contagious, people and companies are currently reevaluating their priorities. They are looking for more transparency in the domain of communal, social and environmental responsibility. The community of marketers is acting to spread this ethical movement more widely. "Goodvertising" is a term that explains the role of advertisers in the resurgence of ethical marketing being practiced by companies.

Contagious’s report supplies a precise and pertinent study of this trend, as it studies quantitative motors, explains a few of the contemporary strategies, shows interesting initiatives, sums up the key pillars of the new model and presents the challenges facing the advertising community. In this article, we share the key results of this study with you.

1. The good space: interconnected and inseparable trends

Goodvertising covers many interconnected trends that will soon be inseparable. The key domains: the environment, corporate social responsibility (CSR), ethical investment, community health and well-being.

Among the more innovative in this domain we find companies with global strategies such as Ecomagination by GE, advertising campaigns like Flick Off, new corporate approaches such as the "Buy one, give one" initiative by Toms Shoes, the "Africa Works" micro-finance system by Benetton, "Awearness" by Kenneth Cole and health and education programs such as "Roadmap to Healthy Skin" by Neutrogena.

2. Caring consumers: new values propel ethical companies and adjacent communication strategies

We notice a deep change in the values of consumers, confirmed by some quantitative data. The majority of people tries to be seen as more ethical, responsible and ecological. According to an international study pertaining to global warming recently conducted by Havas Media, 81% of interviewees think that we will have to change the way we live.

A few key figures:

9 out of 10 Americans believe that if a company claims that their product or service is ecologically friendly, they need to provide proof.
7 out of 10 Americans say that the ecological impact of a product or service influences whether or not they will purchase it.
1 out of 3 British citizens intends to spend more money on ecologically friendly products this year.
93% of Chinese prefer buying products from companies that are trying to reduce their contribution to global warming.

Also, the number of consumer groups and movements that get together through online networks such as "Dothegreenthing", "Changents" and "Dotherightthing" is steadily growing.

Brands realize that they need to listen and change in the face of these consum-actors—KFC and PETA and Unilever/Dove and Greenpeace are just two examples. Established brands react to the needs for their consumers to get involved. Walmart has just launched a sustainable packaging program, and Tesco has introduced an ecological membership card.

3. Ethics and economics: new corporate approaches associate ethics and profit

New company practices and economic models must be linked to economic and ethical principles, as well as take into account the ecological impact.

This new generation of entrepreneurs motivated by the idea of sticking to their ethical convictions will include their particular positioning at the heart of their marketing strategy. According to studies conducted by Mori, new consumer attitudes are now anchored, and will even survive future economic crises.

4. A new model of communication and advertising: facts, long-term, collaboration, activity and honesty are on today’s agenda

Communication will not only follow these trends, on the contrary, it finds itself smack in the middle of these changes. A new advertising model is being created. This model will have to satisfy several demands: it must be pertinent, based on good practices for society, educational, and created for the long run. Its key elements: collaboration, activity, transparency and commitment.

Lego and Threadless are among the pioneers in this domain, using collaborative strategies. There are also active programs like Pangea Day by Nokia and Global Cooling by Absolut, transparency initiatives like those of Patagonia and Timberland, and even 360 degree commitments by Marks and Spencer and Sanyo.

5. The challenge: a need for new ideas, standards and relations

How can advertisers adapt, develop and support this Goodvertising phenomenon? By resituating their existing models and by developing new roles, practices, relations and standards. It will be necessary to innovate, create new relations and alternative forms of communication, all based on new ideas.

As explains Al Gore: "We are at the early stages of the biggest business movement in the history of the world and advertising is playing a larger role than any other time in history. Messaging has to be part of the solution. You need to find ways to use the skills you have in abundance to communicate the solutions."

You can find more information in the short version of the report, Goodvertising Extracts. For all those interested in purchasing the full report, Contagious magazine is offering a 20% discount to Culture-Buzz readers, £360 instead of £450 (promotion code: Culture-Buzz). For more information, don’t hesitate to contact Stephane.

Sources:
The Contagious report "Goodvertising: The ethical, responsible and sustainable marketing revolution"
Goodvertising Extracts
The original post on culture-buzz.fr
Translated by H. Turner

Image sources:
The Contagious report "Goodvertising: The ethical, responsible and sustainable marketing revolution"

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Comments

1. Wednesday 23 September 2009 attime 10:10, by Louis Rencontres :: Nouvelles fraiches

Thank you for this article, it is really interesting. It gives lots of tips and I didn’t know about this pourcentages.

2. Wednesday 23 September 2009 attime 12:09, by Rosi Designermode :: http://www.mybrands.de/

the article is really nice but the ecological aspect in advertising is not new, i think. pretending to be green means a lot to the consumer. most interesting information in the articel "93% of Chinese prefer buying products from companies that are trying to reduce their contribution to global warming" => i don’t know why but actually i think this result is faked^^...resource?...

3. Wednesday 23 September 2009 attime 12:31,

Thank you for your comment, Rosi. Yes, the figures about China seemed weird to me, too.

In the Contagious report it isn’t actually clear if 93% of Chinese consumers WOULD prefer to buy green products or if they actually DO it. I think in this case the intention was measured, and as we all know intentions and actions are two different things...

The important thing here was to show the general trend in China, and clearly the Chinese are becoming more aware of environmental issues.

4. Thursday 25 March 2010 attime 19:28, by Wetter :: http://www.tourist.de

"actually i think this result is faked^^...resource?..."

@Rosi: These were my first thoughts too.

"The important thing here was to show the general trend in China, and clearly the Chinese are becoming more aware of environmental issues." Lets hope they´ll get there fast.