Management perspective – Doing good while brand building

I mentioned in a newsletter article recently that I had been to New York to judge the International ECHO Awards. The hard part of the judging process is the cloak of mystery we need to keep around the programs submitted, to protect the program for the big unveiling in October. I got to see some well-executed, inspiring marketing programs from all over the world…and couldn’t talk about it.

Fortunately, what I can talk about is trends I saw in marketing. Specifically, a strong trend I saw in the work – across different industries, countries and channels – is that of socially conscious marketing. I love this and what it is doing for the value of the brands that do it well. Socially conscious marketing is about aligning your brand with doing something good – for people, animals, the environment, etc. It’s something that the brand believes in but is also intrinsically connected with the brand promise, so it’s transparent and authentic.

Recently, at lunch, I ran across a tangible example of this that I can actually talk about because it’s unrelated to my judging duties. Coors brand, associated with clean mountain water, is expanding that brand promise by helping keep water clean in other places…drink beer and keep water clean. It’s brilliant. Because a beer requires clean water as a base, and Coors advertises their Rocky Mountain water. They have a whole section on their website that talks about their water and how important it is to their beer. So they have taken that belief and expanded their reach to help clean water in other states. This is great example of taking a brand promise and bringing it to life. And it’s executed on a drink coaster – a simple, direct promotion, tied to something important to their brand – clean water: