Brands have more power than governments to make a difference

Marketing leaders believe that brands hold a unique position to drive societal change. At a recent roundtable, industry experts shared various ways brands can positively impact their communities. Initiatives mentioned include engaging with local communities, inspiring children through play, creating scholarships for underprivileged students, and promoting women in STEM fields.

 

Panellists stated that it is important for brands to “walk the talk” and invest in projects that truly make a difference. They also need to have a strong idea of who they are and what they stand for in order to make a real impact, or they risk not being credible.

Using data and insight to provide an impetus for positive societal impact is also becoming increasingly important. 

 

To illustrate this point, Dr Elaine Rodrigo, chief insights and analytics officer, Reckitt, said Nurofen had launched a gender pain gap report after a study found that almost 50% of women felt their pain was being dismissed by healthcare professionals. The brand also created a free app to equip women with the tools to talk about their pain.

 

What does impact mean for the C-suite?

 

Everything a business does, from setting goals to developing its products and partnerships, is reflective of what the C-suite wants, marketers said. The focus on driving positive impact has to come from the top down.

 

“For the first time in 10 years we’re doing brand advertising and marketing that is purpose driven, we only did product messaging before,” Olexa said, adding that this strategy had led to a positive turnaround for the brand.

 

 

 

Lin, who was Cannes jury president last year said she had learned from judging the Sustainable Development Goals Lions that if sustainability and impact isn’t part of a company’s strategy from the outset it will end up being “a nice-to-have”. She argued that this needed to change.

 

She said: “Good needs to be embedded in products and services and at the core, that’s how to make it work. With global companies, this impact could start from a locally relevant story where the brand can find a scalable factor for other markets to embrace. We must come together to innovate around this, otherwise the world will focus purely on financial metrics.”