senckađ
Group745
Group745
Group745
Group745
Group745
Group745
Thought Leaders in association withPartners in Crime
Group745

What Brands Can Learn from Charities in This Purpose-Driven Market

26/07/2019
Advertising Agency
London, United Kingdom
201
Share
INFLUENCER: Don't Panic's Joe Wade explores who brands should look to for inspiration in this new CSR world

The world has changed; our climate is in crisis, our governments are incompetent, and brands are increasingly expected to provide the solutions. Social purpose is no longer a ‘nice-to-have’ CSR tag-on but an absolute priority. In fact, 46% of consumers agree that brands now have better ideas for tackling society’s issues than politicians (Edelman Earned Brand Study, 2018). So, in this new world, who should brands look to for inspiration? 

Don’t Panic emerged 10 years ago; first creating flyer packs supplying analogue info on underground art, design and politics, then creating no-budget YouTube videos which satirised banks and politicians, before turning into the London-based creative agency it is today. Through our work with charities such as Save the Children, Oxfam, and Sumatran Orangutan Society (with whom we recently won Campaign For Good’s Best Fundraising Campaign), we’ve come to recognise some key traits that we believe all brands would be wise to pick up and use in this purpose-driven world.

Learning one: Make your masterbrand stand for something, and mean it.

Charities exist for a purpose, giving their masterbrand clear meaning. However, in crafting their own social purpose, brands can fall victim to ‘woke-washing’. Consumers are cynical to tokenism, so it’s essential to practice what you preach by making your commitment to the cause run through your masterbrand. So, if you’re a massive oil brand preaching about air pollution, don’t be surprised if your audience calls your motives into question.

Beyond the obvious benefits to a cause, integrating social purpose into your brand is a big advantage in attracting and motivating talent. A study carried out last year by PWC revealed that 88% of candidates globally want a job where they feel their work matters, and this number only continues to rise. Giving your brand social purpose and meaning is therefore is a sustainable move for internal development too.

Learning two: Give your audience a reason to engage in your purpose.

Before undertaking a cause-related campaign, brands must be careful that their social purpose has a clear objective in mind. Many charities are able to prompt donations and consistent support from their audience because they have a tangible end goal, like Water Aid’s objective to bring clean water, decent toilets and good hygiene to everyone within a generation, or Tearfund’s declaration: ‘We won’t stop until poverty stops’. While any efforts to support causes should be championed, brands should be careful about dabbling in a one-off activation like switching their logo to rainbow colours during Pride, unless they are genuinely affecting change towards a defined objective. Giving your purpose tangibility is crucial to keeping your audience engaged.

Learning three: Reframe the narrative to disrupt conversation.

At Don’t Panic, we understand that our nonprofit clients want to cause maximum impact to prompt people into action, whether that be awareness, behaviour change or fundraising. Frequently they are competing with other charities for attention, battling with limited media budgets, and wondering how to reach their audience in an era of compassion fatigue. The best campaigns are therefore born out of a blend of creative risk and cultural insight to articulate purpose. That can mean reframing a well trodden narrative, as we did with dementia for our uplifting film, #AskUsAnything, with Alzheimer’s society. Or making a serious conservation issue into entertainment, like we did with our Wind in the Willows campaign for The Wildlife Trusts. Where we used copyright free characters to encourage families to protect our countryside Wind in the Willows. Taking risks helps ensure shareability, earns media, and changes the conversation; brands need to create content that wins hearts and minds if they’re to cut through with purpose.

As the gap between for-profits and nonprofits narrows, brands need to work hard to define their social purpose; for our kids’ sake but also for the future of internal profitability. It’s now our responsibility as agencies to help brands articulate it with authenticity.



Joe Wade is CEO and co-founder of Don't Panic
Credits
Work from Don't Panic
ALL THEIR WORK