Speaker A
[Music]
Christopher Miller discusses values-led activism in marketing, emphasizing shared values with consumers to build loyal fan bases and drive social change.
Key Takeaways
- Building brand loyalty is more effective when based on shared values rather than just product quality.
- Values-led activism integrates social change with marketing to create authentic consumer engagement.
- Starting with company values rather than consumer preferences leads to more genuine advocacy.
- Cause-related marketing and values-led activism can produce similar campaigns but differ in motivation.
- Inviting consumers to join a values-driven journey fosters stronger, more active fan communities.
Summary
- Strong consumer connections are built around shared values rather than just product quality.
- Ben & Jerry's combines activism, issue advocacy, and campaigning with traditional marketing to build both a better world and business.
- The company takes a strong stand on its own values and invites consumers to join their journey.
- Marketing at Ben & Jerry's prioritizes 'fans first' except in advocacy work, where values lead the approach.
- Values-led activism differs from typical cause-related marketing which starts with consumer interests.
- Typical cause-related marketing aims to engage consumers on issues important to them to build brand equity.
- Example given: Avon’s breast cancer awareness campaigns target their consumer base’s concerns.
- Ben & Jerry's approach starts with their own values and the change they seek to make in the world, not consumer preferences.
- The output of values-led activism and cause-related marketing may look similar but differ fundamentally in origin and intent.
Chapters
- 00:00Introduction and Music
- 00:29Opening Remarks on Consumer Connections
- 00:43Building Bonds Through Shared Values
- 01:45Combining Activism with Marketing
- 02:20Ben & Jerry's Approach to Values and Advocacy
- 03:35Contrast Between Cause-Related Marketing and Values-Led Activism
- 05:03Example of Avon’s Cause-Related Marketing
- 05:20Ben & Jerry's Values-First Strategy
Full Transcript — Download SRT & Markdown
Speaker A
[Music]
Speaker A
The strongest connections, the bonds that you can build with your consumers, with our fans, is around a shared set of values. Anyone can make great ice cream. I happen to think we make the best ice cream, but
Speaker A
lots of people make good ice cream. I think what we represent and the opportunity that we have to build a loyal and strong fan base and to help them become active on issues that they care about is around a shared set of
Speaker A
values. So what we're talking about here really is combining activism, issue advocacy, campaigning with traditional marketing techniques that in turn can help build a better world and build a better business. So let me tell you a little bit about sort of our approach,
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sort of how we think about doing this. So we take a strong stand on things that we believe. We take that stand and we act on our own values, the things that we sort of seek to change in the world, and
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then we invite our fans and consumers to come along on that journey with us. You know, our marketing team is really fond of saying that, you know, across all of our business, we're fans first. That is true in all instances except in our
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advocacy work. So let me just quickly talk you through this. So this sort of contrasts what would be a typical cause-related marketing campaign with what we call sort of values-led activism, and they look incredibly similar. In fact, the
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output in many ways can be the same. But a sort of typical corporate cause-related marketing strategy starts with who are my fans, our consumers, what's important to them, and how do I create a campaign that engages them on that issue
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that they care about? And ultimately, what that delivers is building brand equity. So, you know, an example of this, I think many of us are familiar with a cosmetics company, Avon, as their consumer base is middle-aged women.
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Obviously, breast cancer is an issue of deep concern for women, and so for many years they've been focused on pink ribbon breast cancer awareness campaigns. So, nothing at all wrong with that, but it is a fundamentally different
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approach, I believe, than our approach at Ben & Jerry's. We don't start with who are our fans and consumers and what do they care about. We start with what are our own values, what's the change we seek to make in the world, and then we
Topics:values-led activismcause-related marketingconsumer engagementbrand loyaltysocial changeBen & Jerry'smarketing strategyadvocacySustainable BrandsChristopher Miller
