Smart Women Blog

Ethical Marketing and the New Consumer

2010-12-31T14:09:00.000Z

by Chris Arnold

I bought this book at the same time as Marketing 3.0 although it’s taken me longer to get round to reviewing it. Like the other book, it has a clear focus on business values as drivers of marketing. I liked this book for its own ethos – that “being ethical” is more fundamental to ethical marketing than developing an “ethical reputation” and that ethical action should be holistic throughout the business with a concern for all its stakeholders.

It’s also realistic, recognising that the bounds of a business’ ethical stance cannot be entirely “pure”. One person’s ethical priorities will not be the same as another’s and it’s impossible for one business to get every ethical decision perfectly “spot on”.

The great challenge for businesses selling ethical products and services (or selling products and services ethically) is that consumers are confused about what standards they should apply to their decision making. Their priorities, like any others, are challenged by the current economic environment and even reporting on ethical buying can give mixed messages.

As I write, it’s being reported in the press that ethical goods are bucking the recession trend with 17% growth in two years (Co-operative Bank’s annual Ethical Consumerism Report). Pick that apart and you find that sales of organic food have slumped whilst people are still treating themselves to ethical clothing and cosmetics. Fairtrade goods are enjoying growth. So are energy efficient home appliances – but are they ethically or economically-driven purchases? Or a bit of both?

It’s not a simple picture so what is the ethical marketer to do? Apart from be pleasantly surprised that the ethical market hasn’t collapsed as predicted?

The book presents a simple tool – the R&E Line – where the factors that affect sales can be placed on a continuum from rational to emotional. The author claims that a ruthlessly honest approach to this exercise can present some real surprises.

In terms of prioritising your ethical stance, a further tool, the Ethical Sphere, clarifies a number of Key Ethical Values – a useful way of ensuring you have covered all the relevant bases.

There is discussion around the confusing use of terminology. What exactly does “green” mean? How weasly can the use of “organic” be? Just what is a “carbon footprint”? The ethical marketer clarifies the way their values are demonstrated in their business decisions rather than throwing up a smoke screen of baffling terminology.

The latter part of the book discusses issues affecting sectors such as fast fashion, insurance and finance, and obesity and health demonstrating the wide scope that comes under the “ethical” umbrella and giving some practical examples of how businesses have made decisions about the ethics (or otherwise) of how they operate and market themselves.

Useful for small businesses? Yes. Some practical tools, and plenty of examples from small (and once-small) businesses in amongst the big brands.

Useful takeaways:

People vs Planet – people issues have a stronger tug on the heartstrings. Our concerns start with self, then spread to family, community and only then to planet. Should you think about moving your product positioning from being environmentally-friendly to friendly to the home environment, for instance?

The empowered consumer can use the pound in their pocket to make a point, not just a purchase.

Who do customers believe most when it comes to your ethical proposition? It’s your employees! All your stakeholders are important.

Your ethical principles have to be holistic – your ethical communication has to be all-encompassing – look out for some bloopers in the book from businesses that should know better.

Where will support for new (and existing) businesses come from now?

2010-11-01T17:21:00.001Z

The Government’s new white paper, Backing Small Business, has been published describing small business as “a major part of [their] forensic approach to growth.”

They set our six steps that they view as vital to stimulating the growth of the economy through small business:

1. Improving access to finance
2. Opening up government procurement and ensuring prompt payment
3. Supporting those starting a business
4. Making sure our competition framework helps new companies access existing markets
5. Providing targeted support to those that have high-growth potential
6. Ensuring that Government is deliberately reoriented towards their needs

But the business support landscape is set to change radically. Those of you who are accustomed to seeking help through a Business Link Adviser had better make the most of this service while it lasts. Business Link will cease to exist from March 2012, to be replaced by an online resources (I’m presuming not much change from the current Business Link web site), with access to mentors and small loans for those setting up business from a state of unemployment.

Last week I spotted Cameron “hoping” that “hundreds of thousands” of new businesses will be created but what shape will these take, I wonder?

Government strategy is clearly aimed at new businesses that are planning for high growth in targeted sectors and I’ll be keeping a close eye on Government ambitions to:

establish a network of ‘growth hubs’ to provide specialist support for businesses with growth potential to enable them to achieve transformational levels of growth.
invest over £200m in a network of elite Technology and Innovation Centres to drive innovation and the commercialisation of new technology and ideas.
£3m of in-year savings made by the Intellectual Property Office will be used to fund projects to help companies develop new technologies and offer advice in developing their intellectual property
put £600k into a new “Launch Pad” competition aimed at small companies with disruptive solutions to energy, digital, healthcare, and sustainability problems
continue to help businesses to develop their international trade potential and access international markets through the services of UK Trade & Investment

But I also wonder where smaller businesses in more traditional sectors will find the support that has been available. Not through public sources, that’s for certain. How can the private sector shape services for boot-strapping start-ups and still make their own profit? That’s one that many of us will be wrestling with in the near future.

Francine Pickering

Clarity Marketing - marketing advice for small businesses

Coping with turbulent times

2010-10-14T18:45:00.000+01:00

I've had a number of conversations this week around the topic of coping with times of turbulence and uncertainty. The world of business support is still waiting to see how new developments will shape up and, whilst government thinking is starting to take shape, it's still to early to know who will be doing what to help new and existing businesses to develop and thrive in what are still difficult times.

The announcement of the revival of the Enterprise Allowance scheme is clearly aimed at taking prompt action on what would otherwise be growing numbers of unemployed but what this support will actually look like in detail is still unclear.

Policy around the replacement of Regional Development Agencies with Local Enterprise Partnerships appears to be created on the hoof, despite the rapid response of groupings in putting forward their LEP proposals.

Even if you aren't in need of business support (or don't work in that area), the cuts that are already coming are still likely to have an impact on many businesses' marketing environments.

So how are you dealing with these times? Is your motivation holding up? Or has your morale taken a hit?

Let us know how you're responding to these uncertain times - leave us a comment on the blog.

Women's Enterprise Day - How will you be more enterprising?

2010-09-06T11:09:00.000+01:00

This year, Women's Enterprise Day falls on Wednesday 17th November, part of Global Entrepreneurship Week. It's a day to celebrate women's enterprise and to encourage more women to bring out their enteprrising streak.

So what will Smart Women be doing to celebrate?

I thought it would be great if we shared our ideas about becoming more enterprising and perhaps set ourselves some enterprise challenges.

So what will you be doing to be more enterprising? Heres some ideas:

Develop a new product or service to help grow your business;
Find a new type of customer to reach - who else could use your service beyond the obvious?
Create a bold new mission statement for your business to help motivate you towards your goals;
Find new ways of marketing and focus on your benefits;
Demonstrate your values and spread the love by connecting with a great good cause...

There are so many ways you can give your business a boost. What will you choose?

Share your ideas by posting a comment on the blog and we'll share the most exciting, interesting, creative and amusing with the Smart Women community.

Book review: Inside her pretty little head

2010-08-24T12:58:00.001+01:00

by Jane Cunningham and Philipp Roberts

Are women a significant part of your target market? Even you don't think of your market as being specifically female, the chances are that they are, with women being behind the majority of purchase of cars, computers and DIY products.

This book sheds interesting light on how women's thinking differs from men and why that's important if you want to sell to them. It demonstrates the importance of recognising and working with gender differences without resorting to crude stereotyping ("Make it pink" thinking).

The authors, founders of marketing consultancy Pretty Little Head, identify what they term four Feminine Codes and discuss the implications that these have for brands and marketers when they want to appeal to a female market.

Altruism: the brand must be ethical and contribute some good to the world. The authors add a fifth 'P' to the traditional marketing mix, that of 'Policy' where social responsibility becomes essential to the brand.
Aesthetic: for women, detail makes a difference. The brand should sell a whole aesthetic and should make functional products and services pleasurable.
Ordering: women like to keep order and need to be presented with the right information in the right place at the right time to help keep the process of buying ordered; the web can really help to get this right. Women also appreciate the smooth-running that happens from proactive service - don't make them ask if you can offer and don't wait for them to complain before putting things right.
Connecting: the brand should act as a network amongst its fans and advocates. This is about enabling conversation and giving the customer plenty to talk about.

The book discusses how these Codes can be applied in practice through a number of case studies, introducing ideas that would also create real differentiation for businesses that wanted to take their female customers seriously. It also talks about the implications for selecting promotional channels and implementing camnpaigns.

An interesting read for anyone who thinks they might be missing a trick by not taking their female customers into full account.

Have you read this book? Leave a comment to let us know what you think too.

What can social media really do for your business?

2010-08-04T12:36:00.002+01:00

There's a lot of talk about - and a fair bit of dabbling in - the various media known as "social" by small businesses and women are known to make up the majority of users of popular social media sites, yet a recent study suggests that women business owners might not be making as much of this opportunity as they could. With over 60% of respondents saying that they do not track their social media presence and 24% saying they use no social media at all this indicates that there's plenty of scope for us to up our game. But how should we tackle this opportunity?

The thing to remmeber with social media is the "social" bit. Businesses that treat these new media in the way they do traditional media, that is as a monolgue at their customers, will miss out. Social media is about a dialogue where you listen as much (if not more) than you talk. It's about sharing information and building relationships, not a "hard sell".

Recent research from Experian shows that consumers are craving more and more a personal approach although, surprisingly, it doesn't talk about any forms of social media in this respect. But the current hot topic in social media marketing, the Old Spice man, is an archetype of a well-planned social media campaign that takes personalisation to hilarious lengths as campaign star, Isaiah Mustafa, responds personally by specially flimed YouTube videos to individual tweets about the campaign.

Of course, the budget for this type of campaign is well beyond the small business but we can all take inspiration from the way that different forms of social media have been integrated to create an impact greater than the sum of its parts. We should also be ensuring that our social media presence dovetails as neatly with our offline promotional activities.

And this is where we can leave the dabbling and neglected Twitter accounts behind and start taking a more planned and cohesive approach to communicating with our customers online. Why not share with us your social media success stories by posting a comment?

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PS See also Influence is Bliss: The Gender Divide of Influence on Twitter - time to become one of those influencers?

Do women still need role models in business?

2010-07-25T17:52:00.001+01:00

I was talking earlier this week with Vanessa Boon about the way in which female business owners are portrayed in the media and about the extent to which this is helpful or otherwise in encouraging women to see enterprise as an achievable ambition.

Few doubt the power of role models to present options and opportunities to people who might not otherwise consider them but what is the best way to approach this?

On the upside, there is undoubtedly greater representation of women in business in the media than there once was but this can be spoiled somewhat by an insistence on mentioning their age or their hair colour, or by "featuring" them as women business owners. I've been approached a number of times by business publications wanting ideas on who they might feature in their annual "women in business" edition and can't help wondering whether women might be better served by these types if they were simply featured as part of their regular coverage.

Another gripe is that coverage of women business owners so often focuses on how they've achieved what they have whilst balancing their other responsibilities, rather than on their business achievements in themselves.

Does this pigeon-hole women in business in a way that men never are? Does it restrict perceptions of what it means to be a "woman in business"? Does it provide valuable insights into how women who might otherwise be daunted by the idea of setting up a business could achieve a goal they previously thought unattainable? Probably all of these things but how can the laudable aim of making the impossible seem possible be achieved without women business owners being popped into media-convenient pigeon holes?

What do you think? Post a comment and let us know.