As per a new study by Accenture, 82% of Indian consumers prefer buying from companies that take stands for any particular purpose.
According to 82% of participants in Accenture’s Global Consumer Pulse survey, which focused on India, consumers prefer to purchase products and services from businesses that share their values. 81% of customers want businesses to speak out on the political, social, cultural, and environmental problems that are important to them.
Furthermore, 84% of consumers claim that the words, attitudes, and deeds of a company’s executives have an impact on their purchase decisions.
Customers are drawn to companies that believe in minimising plastic waste and enhancing the environment (74%), are dedicated to using high-quality ingredients (84%), and treat staff properly (70%).
Why is taking a stand important for a brand?
Brands often stay away from taking any stand on social issues because they fear that people with the opposite thoughts can get angry and might stop purchasing from that company. Brands think that they should stand with their main core purpose and that’s just selling their products and earning money rather than getting involved in any social fight.
But with changing times, the mindset of people is also changing and people prefer those brands more than take a stand. In today’s date, a company must throw their shield of being neutral off and just show their genuine self.
Being authentic and displaying your true thoughts can actually help you to emotionally connect with the audience. Emotion drives the purchasing mindset of the young generation, so the brands that will have a stand on different social issues will earn the trust and love of the people.
It can be tough to decide what’s wrong and what’s right when dealing with any particular sensitive social topic. But you should be authentic. As that will bring more attraction towards your brand from people who have the same thought process.
But there will always be a danger of facing the rage of other sets of customers who have different sets of beliefs. In case you see your standpoint affecting your brand in the wrong way, you can ask for an apology and introspect what went wrong and what made the people upset.
But no brand should swing between two sides which will make your brand lose trust among the people. Being serious with one standpoint is important to win the trust of the people having similar standpoints.
Social good campaigns
Now different brands run several social good campaigns that can be based on different political or social issues. These campaigns run hand in hand with the promotion of the brand’s product. This can spark controversies sometimes, but brands don’t shy away from that for the sake of building a brand image.
There are two kinds of social good campaigns. While some are solely concerned with raising awareness of the message, others utilise it as a means of promoting their own goods or services.
The latter, however in a less implicit manner, nonetheless serves to promote the brand. Businesses that choose the former course of action ought to exercise prudence.
Customers want firms to get more involved in social and political concerns, but they are also growing more discerning about the wording and intent of those demands.
Customers may respond unfavourably if the cause is unrelated to the brand’s offerings and not one that they have previously supported.
Example of a social good campaign
Tommy Hilfiger’s campaign titled – ‘Moving Forward Together’ :
In recent years, Tommy Hilfiger has gained popularity for its socially conscious campaigns, most of which focus on diversity and sustainability. Its most recent project, “Moving Forward Together,” is likewise focused on social good and seeks to aid in the recovery of the fashion and creative sectors from the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic. In keeping with the brand’s mission to “waste nothing and welcome all,” the initial AW20 activation invited users to participate in the digital co-creation of new apparel using leftover fabrics (as well as helping participants unemployed or in some way affected by the pandemic).
Personal standpoints
Sometimes even if the brand stays neutral, the founder can put their ideology forward. There are several such examples.
One of the prime examples of that is Elon Musk. This name needs no introduction, but he is more often in news headlines for his different social stands. His idea of bringing Trump back to Twitter or X offended a lot of people but at the same time, he won the trust and appreciation of many as someone who wants to bring the truth.
Now we can also talk about another instance that backfired the person. Recently the Founder of Infosys, Mr. Narayana Murthy said that Indian youth need to work for 80 hours per week for the development of this country. This created a rage among many but it didn’t affect the business because it’s a b2b company and has no dealing with commoners.
Conclusion
As a founder or as a brand as a whole, you need to have an empathetic view towards different social issues to build a strong loyal customer base in today’s world. Risk will always be there but if you stay authentic, you may win in the long race.