Mar. 28, 2017 "Profit and purpose: A marriage made in consumer heaven":
Companies need to build causes into their strategy, not just their marketing
Conventional wisdom in advertising says steer clear of politics. But at the Super Bowl, the Holy Grail of advertising, brands broke the rules.
Shelling out $5 million for a 30-second spot, marketers made poignant statements about gender pay equity and immigration while hawking cars and beer. They used the biggest ad stage to take a stand for a cause.
Judging by the online exposure from the debate about ads and issues, these commercials were a huge success in terms of reach. And while we applaud brands for bringing millions of people into these important conversations, some got flak for false advertising.
For instance, a car company preaching gender equity while only a small fraction of its executive team are women, raised questions for some about what they’re actually doing to change the status quo.
“Cause washing is when your walk and your talk don’t match up,” says Marcia Stepanek, professor of digital media at Columbia University. “Solidarity with a cause is a good step, but it has to go further than the latest ad campaign.”
Stepanek points to the importance of “brand democracy,” where companies follow their customers’ lead to get meaningfully involved in social issues.
And the data proves that customers respond.
People form relationships with brands not just because of what they sell but because of what they stand for.
A sizable majority of shoppers—80 per cent—agree companies should address social issues. But the effort has to be authentic. A 2016 Drexel University study found there is a cost for companies whose behaviour and brand don’t match up.
Unplanned purchases dropped by 15 per cent when companies violated consumer expectations.
Cause washing, while fashionable, may be detrimental in the long run.
“[Customers] don’t understand the power they have” says Danielle Fugere, president and chief counsel of As You Sow, a shareholder advocacy group that pushes corporations to make positive footprints.
More than 84 per cent of consumers say they want to support companies making real progress. If shoppers act on this impulse, they are essentially voting with their dollars for the change they want to see in the world.
In order to win these customers with real brand activism, companies need to build causes into their strategy, not just their marketing.
Clif Bar is lobbying for legislation to forgive student-loan debt for budding farmers, one of the major obstacles keeping youth from jobs in agriculture, an aging industry. Patagonia donated their entire $10 million Black Friday sales to conservation projects in 2016.
And Airbnb paired an ad for diversity during the Super Bowl with free housing to refugees and those in limbo in the United States after the travel ban.
Companies represent 58 per cent of the largest economic entities in the world, with tremendous resources to grow and scale.
When they invest meaningfully in causes, marrying profit and purpose, they make sales and social impact.
For Stepanek, corporate causes hold tremendous promise. But she cautions shoppers:
“Awareness is not an outcome, it’s the start of the journey.”
"Millennials seek more than a check"/ "Converting problems into profit"
"Classrooms of the past unequal to future job market"/ "Are you living your best work life? Get paid to find your purpose"
A 15-year-old paperboy has been credited with saving an elderly customer’s life after spotting a pile of untouched deliveries outside her door and taking action into his own hands.
Student Liam Apps, from Wigmore in Kent, was doing his job as usual on Thursday, when he spotted an unusual number of newspapers piled up outside the 89-year-old woman’s house.
“I counted how many there were, and it was Sunday’s up until Thursday,” Liam told the PA news agency.
“I didn’t really think anything of it, so I went to school and it was playing on my mind the whole day.
“When I got home I asked mum if we could go over there to ring the door and see if she’s alright.
“We didn’t get an answer, so we went to a neighbour two doors down who helped us go around the back.
“We shouted through the window ‘are you okay?’ and we didn’t have a response firstly, but then she shouted ‘I can’t get off the floor’.
“So that’s when I dialled 999 and called for an ambulance, and after that we had her permission to break the door down to get in. Everyone played a part in it.
“When we were inside, we saw that there was quite a lot of blood everywhere… we went over and asked if she was alright and got her secure.”
The woman is thought to have been stuck on the floor for several days before being rescued.
Liam said he does not have first aid training, but had been advised by his mother Katie Pollitt, a midwife, on what to do in an emergency.
The neighbour who helped them gain access to the house, meanwhile, was a paramedic.
“It was a really good team that we made, and all of us played a part in sorting the lady out and waiting for the ambulance,” said Ms Pollitt.
“I’m very, very proud. He’s really well behaved so I wasn’t surprised… I’m very proud.”
Liam said that the paramedic later informed him over the phone that the lady was “doing alright” and was in hospital.
When asked what advice he would give to anyone who found themselves in his situation, he said: “Definitely just check that everything is okay, because immediately I wasn’t going to, and now because of what happened I’m so glad I did.”
A GoFundMe page has been set up to replace the woman’s door, with any surplus funds to go towards cleaning the blood from the carpets. It can be found at www.gofundme.com/f/fix-a-94yr-old-ladies-door-after-a-fall.
Paperboy, 15, saves elderly woman’s life after noticing pile of deliveries (yahoo.com)
"Cruise ship appears to float in air off Devon coast in optical illusion": I found this on Yahoo news at first. Here's an article by Tom Batchelor from the Independent:
A cruise ship appears to float above the surface of the sea off the coast of Devon in the latest image showing an unusual visual phenomenon called superior mirage.
The vessel, moored close to Lyme Bay, was shown in the photo apparently sitting out of the water thanks to a temperature inversion, in which warm air sits on a layer of cold air.
The Fata Morgana optical illusion results from the brain’s assumption that light travels in a straight line. When light bends due to a temperature inversion, the brain is tricked into thinking that the object is in the position it would be if the light's path was still straight.
Cruise ship appears to float off coast of Devon in optical illusion | The Independent
This was on Facebook- a memory from last year:
Mar. 25, 2021 "Police: Man in Atlanta grocery had 6 guns, wore body armor": Today I found this article by Jeff Martin and Desiree Mathurin on Yahoo news:
ATLANTA (AP) — A worker at an Atlanta grocery store heard “clicking sounds," and it sounded to him like someone was loading weapons inside a restroom stall, he told police. Then he saw an an “AR-15-style rifle" leaning against the wall.
The sharp-eyed Instacart worker is getting credit for helping officers to stop the man wearing body armor and carrying a half-dozen guns from roaming through the Publix grocery store Wednesday, police said.
The new details are included in police incident reports released Thursday by Atlanta police. The man's intentions are not explained in the reports.
The worker, Charles Russell, “heard clicking sounds from the bathroom stall," a police report states. “It sounded to him like someone was loading firearms."
Russell then alerted a manager at the store, urging him to call 911.
Two Atlanta police officers arrived. One grabbed a rifle from his patrol car, put on a ballistic helmet and went into the store, where he apparently surprised the armed man as he came around the corner from the restroom.
“I immediately ordered the accused to put his hands up and don't move to which he complied," the officer wrote in his report. “The accused appeared to be surprised when he saw us that close to him."
Officers then arrested Rico Marley, 22, without a shot being fired.
Police: Man in Atlanta grocery had 6 guns, wore body armor (yahoo.com)
My opinion: That's good that a mass shooting was prevented. You don't read a lot about prevention of mass shootings happening.
Spring season 2021 TV shows:
Manifest: This show will come out with season 3 on Apr. 1:
"After being presumed dead, passengers onboard Flight 828 return and discover the world has aged five years. As they reintegrate into society, they begin to experience guiding voices and visions, and soon a deeper mystery unfolds."
Manifest (TV Series 2018– ) - IMDb
Law and Order: Organized Crime: This will come out on Apr. 1. I quit Law and Order: SVU by 2012. I watched that show from 2002-2012. It was good and all, but I was getting depressed. I will check out the pilot and will record the series and watch this all in a week.
"Elliot Stabler returns to the NYPD to battle organized crime after a devastating personal loss. However, the city and police department have changed dramatically in the decade he's been away, and he must adapt to a criminal justice system in the midst of its own moment of reckoning. Throughout the series, we will follow Stabler's journey to find absolution and rebuild his life, while leading a new elite task force that is taking apart the city's most powerful criminal syndicates one by one."
Law & Order: Organized Crime (TV Series 2021– ) - IMDb
Kung Fu: This new TV show will come out on Apr. 7 on the CW. This is an action drama. There are lots of Asians. I will check out the pilot and will record the series and watch this all in a week.
"A quarter-life crisis causes a young Chinese-American woman, Nicky Chen, to drop out of college and go on a life-changing journey to an isolated monastery in China. But when she returns to find her hometown overrun with crime and corruption, Nicky uses her martial arts skills and Shaolin values to protect her community and bring criminals to justice -- all while searching for the assassin who killed her Shaolin mentor and is now targeting her."
Kung Fu (TV Series 2021– ) - IMDb
Rebel: This starts on Apr. 8 and stars Katey Sagal. I will check out the pilot. I don't know if I will watch more than that.
"This potential series pilot follows a legal advocate with a blue collar background, who helps those in need without a law degree."
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