No small beer in jumping on bandwagons
These days consumers do expect companies to take a stand on things.
OPINION: I can’t remember the last time I bought a Heineken beer but recently the Dutch brew has been just about everywhere in the marketing media.
Not the actual beer, but its latest ‘‘Worlds Apart’’ advertisement which tackles some big social issues with the heartwarming idea that most differences can be sorted out over a nice, cold beer.
A greenie and a global-warming sceptic get on famously once they’ve done a team-building task together: assembling a flat-pack bar. Same with a transgender woman and a right-wing guy who thinks ‘‘it’s wrong’’ and a feminist and an anti-feminist.
You get the picture. The advert has been lauded, for the most part by marketers, for effectively dealing with cause-based issues.
At least in part, Heineken’s advertisement has received a warm reception because marketers agree that it’s a country mile better than Pepsi’s recent mega-marketing cock-up.
That was the one that saw American celebrity Kendall Jenner uniting a world of every creed, colour and belief through the power of Pepsi.
Indeed, Heineken did do a better job. At least it didn’t have a celebrity writhing about, scantilyclad in the middle of the advert doing a photo shoot for no apparent reason.
But it made me wonder, when did companies start to think that major societal issues were a good way to push their products?
At least as far back as 1971, when Coca-Cola created its ‘‘Buy the World a Coke’’ advert featuring the earworm jingle ‘‘I’d like to teach the world to sing’’.
One thing’s for sure: There’s been a huge upswing in cause- or purpose-based marketing over the last few years.
I’m sure we will see much more, as marketers struggle to work out how to connect real issues with flogging their products. There’s no doubt that these issues – racism, sexism, gender, religion and diversity – are (again) the burning matters of our times.
We’ve watched the United Kingdom implode and vote for Brexit from Europe, largely driven by protectionist leanings and a ‘‘get off our land’’ mentality.
France has just been to the polls after a bruising election campaign divided between far right and centrist options. We’ve listened to United States President Donald Trump’s repeated sexism and racist tub-thumping during his election campaign.
Race, religion and gender equality are fraught areas for marketers and they tread into them – or even close to them – at their peril. Getting it right is pretty close to impossible. You’re always going to outrage someone.
But if the effect they’re looking for is to stand out from other competitors, companies have achieved that – though at what cost? Pepsi’s learnt that lesson.
Last month, skincare brand Nivea apologised and pulled a campaign after featuring the words ‘‘White is purity’’ in one of its online adverts. It had received almost immediate backlash, with critics calling the image racist.
Meanwhile, Google-owned YouTube has been scrambling to put in safety measures to reassure dozens of advertisers, including Johnson & Johnson and GlaxoSmithKline, after they threatened to pull advertising on the video platform.
The threat came after media reports of those companies’ adverts being placed next to offensive content, including terrorist and racist messaging.
It’s no wonder corporations struggle to find out where they fit into the debate, and how they can build their brand through deeper connections with consumers about these major issues.
But there’s one question they need to think about: Is it the role of marketers to lead social change, or is their role to hold up a mirror to reflect what’s going on around us?
These days consumers do expect companies – particularly globally-dominant companies – to take a stand on things.
We expect them to demonstrate ‘‘corporate social responsibility’’ in areas where we think they should be doing the right thing – alcohol-related harm, obesity, environmental degradation, child workers, fair working conditions, and human rights.
Do we really expect, or want, to see companies trying to brandbuild by jumping on social issues they have no ability to control, just to promote their beer, soft drinks or personal hygiene products?
To me, that kind of marketing seems hollow and divisive. ❚ Sue Allen has worked in journalism, communications, marketing and brand management for 15 years.