Responsible marketing is a term and practice that is gaining prominence as it reshapes the ways brands approach marketing.
Lola Bakare is an advisor to Chief Marketing Officers and is the author of the new book, Responsible Marketing. In the book, Lola defines it as “the practice of ambitiously addressing brand-relevant societal needs in ways that positively impact brand reputation and deliver outsized business results.”
Like inclusive marketing, engaging in responsible marketing unlocks outsized commercial impact. Let’s get into how.
Listen on Apple Podcasts | Spotify | Transcript
How responsible marketing drives business results
As an inclusive marketing strategist and consultant, one of the areas that I find I often have to advise clients on is to find ways to build deeper relationships with the underrepresented and underserved communities they want to reach, in a manner that makes life better for the communities.
A common objection is that brands feel like the moral imperative is at odds with the business imperative for engaging in inclusive and responsible marketing.
My advice is almost always that it doesn’t have to be one or the other. It can and should be both. Lola Bakare agrees. She argues that brands can focus on the moral imperative with their corporate social responsibility (CSR) department. Those initiatives are distinct from what we recommend from a marketing standpoint.
She shared, “Marketing is always going to be about creating business results in the long-term or short-term, right. And that’s a big part of the confusion that really led me to want to write the book because I want people to understand that we’re not talking about some sort of walled garden that we’re doing out of the goodness of our hearts when we talk about these initiatives.”
Here are a few ways responsible marketing drives business results for brands.
Moves beyond extraction marketing
As I analyze campaigns from many brands across industries, one of my most common observations is that the brands who turn their attention to engage consumers from underrepresented and underserved communities often do it in a way where it feels like they are just extracting from them.
They start marketing to the community so they will buy the brand’s stuff, but they don’t actually do anything to uplift or support that community.
I covered this topic more in detail in this post on inclusive marketing ethics. But ultimately, when your sole goal is to get people from an already vulnerable community to buy your products and services, you have to ask yourself if you are causing more harm than good.
Aside from causing harm, another consideration is that extraction does nothing to build trust. Today’s consumers are more saavy. Their expectations of brands, particularly the ones they are considering buying from are that they are present and supportive of their communities in some way.
Marketing in a responsible manner to address specific brand-relevant needs of communities you are trying to serve is just good practice. It removes barriers and objections that consumers from these communities may have about buying from you.
It builds trust
During my conversation with Lola, one of the things she explained was that responsible marketing fuels trust. “What is one of the main ways that you earn outsized trust or earn outsized preference from your consumers? It’s creating an emotional connection. So what’s a faster and more efficient way to emotional connection than touching on what really matters to society? So that’s why it works.”
Consumer trust is valuable currency and a common KPI for brands. However, trust is often even harder to earn when it comes to people from underrepresented and underserved communities, because they’ve been ignored, extracted from, and marginalized. As a result, they are skeptical of brands who suddenly start targeting them.
In response to Target rolling back their diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) policies, one consumer wrote on a Reddit thread about the subsequent boycott of Target, “none of these companies actually care about you.” Another person on that same thread commented, “I’m not against boycotting, but let’s also be real: even the companies with some sort of DEI component (for now) don’t [care] about Black people or anyone. They just want you to spend [your] money there.”
Consumer trust is low for brands. When your brand acts in a way that demonstrates that you do indeed care about them as people and their communities, you will earn trust and loyalty.
It solves real problems
One of the primary reasons consumers buy from you is because your brand helps them solve a problem. One component of responsible marketing elevates the connection between consumer and brand, is addressing problems that provide futher barriers to consumers’ ability to achieve success with what you offer.
As part of our discussion on the Inclusion & Marketing podcast, Lola gave the example of Mastercard’s True Name card as one of her favorite examples of a brand solving real problems in a brand-relevant way.
Within the framework in her book, Lola outlines three additional ways brands can practice responsible marketing:
- tell real stories
- create real opportunities
- influence real policies
The difference between responsible marketing and inclusive marketing
They are similar, but not the same. I like to think of responsible marketing as a component of inclusive marketing.
Inclusive marketing is all about acknowledging the many ways in which consumers are different, choosing which identities your brand will serve, and then incorporating those identities throughout all areas of your marketing mix.
Responsible marketing supports you in addressing the societal needs of those identities you’ve chosen to serve, in a brand relevant way.
Practicing responsible marketing strengthens your inclusive marketing efforts. Thus, there isn’t a need to ask which one you should engage in. But if the question is lingering in your mind, the answer is both. Infuse responsible marketing into your overarching inclusive marketing strategy (which should be a core part of your brand strategy).
It’s time to infuse responsibility into your marketing
You’ll find it is a more effective way to engage in marketing, and it helps you make a big impact in the process. Responsible marketing is a win for your customers, it’s a win for their communities, and it’s a win for your brand.
To get started on your journey with responsible marketing, I recommend listening to the podcast episode in full with Lola, and picking up her new book.
