.png)
Marketing: A question of Ethics
21 January 2008:
Public awareness of ethical issues is at an all-time high. As always, marketers follow close behind. But are they just jumping on the bandwagon?
Marketing used to be a bit more straightforward. Ten years ago it was largely an offshoot of a company's sales division, concerned with shifting as much "product" as possible.
But the industry has seen a massive change in recent years as business has begun operating in a world concerned with fair trade, the provenance of food and carbon footprints.
Now we find fast-food chains encouraging children to exercise more; alcohol companies warning us to drink less; and energy companies and car manufacturers advising us on how to be more green.
Ethical marketing and "corporate social responsibility" are now part of the mainstream for many organisations. So how does this affect the role of the marketer?
Hugh Birkitt, who is chief executive of the Marketing Society, says: "Part of good marketing is that you always have to be alive to what is going on in society. A good marketing person has to be very aware of what the prevailing views are. You will be trying to maximise the value to [the company's] shareholders, and you can't do that in the long term if you're doing something that is socially unacceptable."
So while our new millennium concerns may be for the environment or restricting the exposure of children to unhealthy food marketing, for those in marketing the task is not that different to an earlier time where, for instance, a company had to be seen to support Christian values.
Source: Guardian
