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Do B-Corps react better to adversity? (#M4BW)

May 7, 2020 by Joe Cannon Leave a Comment

A new key term in 17th edition of Essentials of Marketing, is B-Corporation (B-Corp) certification “a private certification that meets a high standard for social and environmental performance. An independent company, B Lab, conducts this certification process. Some B Corps are subsidiaries of publicly traded companies. There are more than 2,500 certified B Corps in more than 50 countries, a list that includes small companies and well-known names like Ben & Jerry’s, Patagonia, and Method.” (Chapter 17).

This article, “How businesses emerge better after COVID-19, according to B Lab” (Fast Company, March 31, 2020) describes how the challenges of this pandemic may get companies thinking differently. I think many consumers will emerge from the pandemic differently as well. It might be interesting to get your students thinking and talking about how the pandemic will influence consumer and company behavior.

Filed Under: #M4BW, Chapter 01, Chapter 17, Chapter 19, Social responsibility

He brought socially conscious change to Volvo without hurting profits, and challenges other CEOs to do the same (#M4BW)

February 24, 2020 by Joe Cannon Leave a Comment

Another #M4BW (Marketing for a Better World) Monday post. Out of the World Economic Forum, former Volvo CEO Pehr Gyllenhammar wrote this op-ed at CNN Business, “I brought socially conscious change to Volvo without hurting profits. Other CEOs cab do the same,” (January 22, 2020). I hope that headline alone lures you into the article and a discussion with your students.

Filed Under: #M4BW, Chapter 01, Chapter 19, Sustainability

The most sustainable companies in America are beating the market (#M4BW)

February 17, 2020 by Joe Cannon Leave a Comment

Regular readers, and those who have already seen the 17th edition of Essentials of Marketing know that we believe business can contribute to making a better, more sustainable world — without necessarily sacrificing profits in the process. Barron’s recently posted an article on this topic, and while the real thing is behind a paywall, I found this copy online (I hope it lasts there for your review).

After Barron‘s ranked the 100 most sustainable companies (#1 Texas Instruments), it compared their stock market returns in 2019 (+34.5%) with those of the S&P 500 (+31.5%). The article is optimistic that this trend will continue. Why? Some of the reasons given in the article include:

  • These companies attract employees — people want to work there,
  • They are better at employee retention,
  • Good environmental policies lower costs,
  • Customers want to do business with these companies,
  • Investors want to buy into sustainable companies.

Filed Under: #M4BW, Chapter 01, Chapter 03, Chapter 19, Social responsibility, Sustainability

“Buy one give one” business models — marketing for a better world (#M4BW) or not?

January 6, 2020 by Joe Cannon Leave a Comment

The buy one give one business model has been around for many years. One of the early advocates was Tom’s Shoes which donates a pair of shoes for someone in need for each pair it sells. Warby Parker does the same for eyeglasses and Bombas for socks. In fact, you can find 16 examples in this article and slideshow at Refinery 29. This sounds like a great example of Marketing for a Better World (#M4BW).

I thought so, and then I read “Beware companies that promote ‘buy one, give one’ charity,” Vox, October 31, 2019). After thinking about this counterpoint, I wondered if the author had perhaps overstated her case — and I will still feel good that my purchase of Bombas helped put socks on a homeless person’s feet, my All Birds helped someone get shoes, and I still think Cotopaxi is a cool company with a powerful mission. But the Vox article does raise an important question and useful point of debate for the idea of marketing for a better world. It isn’t always clear when a company makes the world a better place. And if they make some people better off at the expense of others, how do we evaluate those tradeoffs? These examples and the article might prepare you for a class debate on this topic.

Filed Under: #M4BW, Chapter 01, Chapter 02, Chapter 13, Chapter 15

Can marketing help make the world a better place? #M4BW

September 9, 2019 by Joe Cannon Leave a Comment

Marketing gets a lot of criticism. Those of us who teach marketing know that good marketing can contribute to a better world. Meeting customers’ needs and wants can help people. That “bright side” of marketing motivates a forthcoming special issue of the Journal of Marketing, which, in its call for papers, notes: “Marketing has the power to improve lives, sustain livelihoods, strengthen societies, and benefit the world at large. At the same time, marketing can have a dark side—it has the power to hurt consumers, employees, communities, markets, institutions, and the environment that surrounds us.” Often our students come into our marketing classes thinking about the “dark side.”

Inspired by the Journal of Marketing call for papers, a wide range of reading, and my own optimism about what marketing (and more generally business) can do, I am today starting the first of a series of posts that will be tagged #M4BW (Marketing for a Better World). These posts will highlight brands and businesses that have used marketing to create profits–and made the world a better place. To give you a background, I direct you to a TED Talk by Michael Porter (below). I have shared this with my students to stimulate a discussion about how marketing might contribute to a better world. It provides a nice supplement to our Chapter 1 coverage of value, triple bottom line, ethics, and social responsibility.

Filed Under: #M4BW, Chapter 01

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