Societal Marketing is trendy again

Recently, there have been a few companies that have used societal marketing campaigns to break through the advertising clutter and keep their brand front of mind. These campaigns have gone viral (and for good reason).

Societal marketing is where companies/organisations promote their products/brands on the principles of corporate social responsibility and/or sustainable development. It is used so consumers think positively towards the brand/organisation because of the good they are doing for society. It’s not to be confused with Social Marketing which is the application of marketing concepts to achieve a specific behavioural goal for society’s good as in campaigns for drink driving, smoking, cancer, obesity etc.

[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iswiKQbtwXQ&w=560&h=315]

The Dove Real Beauty Sketches – is a campaign that is getting women to view themselves differently. Rather than focusing on what the beauty world is telling women what they should look like, it is trying to get them to focus on the positives of the real woman. It’s an inspiring campaign, and is consistent with Dove’s previous campaign the ‘Evolution of Beauty’ which also went viral.

Dove is getting through the clutter of the beauty industry advertising by being different, and women are paying attention to these ads and it keeps Dove front of mind.

[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QcrynQZGec8&w=560&h=315]

Another campaign is Coke’s ‘there are reasons to believe in a better world’ ad from 2012. This campaign still has the consistency of their ‘open happiness’ message but they are concentrating on the world, with the aim of lifting people’s spirits. They also are getting through the clutter of soft drink advertisements by uplifting people rather than promoting their product.

There is so much bad news going on at the moment, that the good shines through and these two ads going viral illustrates that people do want to see something different – not just products but want to see that the companies care. It’s one way to step out of the box and grab attention and add value to a brand in the consumers eyes! Not all companies can do it, or do it well but it can be done as these examples have shown.