PSAMA Luncheon- Caroline Dettman

Yesterday I made the journey down to Seattle for the monthly American Marketing Association (Puget Sound chapter) luncheon. The topic of this month’s event was “Mutually Beneficial Marketing: Why businesses and brands need a good purpose”, and the keynote speaker was Caroline Dettman, the managing director and executive vice presidentt of the Chicago Consumer Brands practice who also serves as director of the U.S. Consumer Practice at Edelman.

Caroline focused her discussion on social responsibility as a cornerstone of successful businesses today. She argued (with supporting research data) that consumers prefer brands that support worthy causes, and are willing to pay more because of it. They are even more likely to promote the brand to others through word of mouth. Even in a recession, where value is key, consumers still prefer companies with purpose. Consumers believe that companies are spending excessive amounts on advertising, while that money could be better spent towards a good cause. Social purpose is sometimes even more important than price or quality when distinguishing between competing brands.

These statistics show that marketers and consumers are finally on the same side,  at least when it comes to social causes.  Caroline related “social responsibility” to charitable causes, environmental consciousness, etc while citing examples such as Dove, Quaker Oats, Brita Filters, and other success stories.

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iYhCn0jf46U&hl=en&fs=1]

To maximize the effectiveness of these social causes as a source of brand equity, new social media is ideal. Viral campaigns, social networks, blogs, and other word-of-mouth facilitators can be invaluable in conveying a company’s worthwhile purpose.

Carol’s closing comments resonated with me: “Word of mouth, social marketing, and new non-traditional channels are key to bringing the social purpose concept to life in a world of Attention Deficit Disorder and 24/7 communications.”