Summary: Customers care more about the values of the companies they buy than ever before.<br> It’s more than your purpose. It’s more than what you sell.<br> They want to know what kind of company you are and what do you care about.<br> Does a company want to do more than drive profits?<br> That’s why I interviewed Dr. <a href="http://www.kellogg.northwestern.edu/faculty/directory/kotler_philip.aspx">Philip Kotler</a>, who is known as the “father of modern marketing.” He is the S.C. Johnson & Son Distinguished Professor of International Marketing at the Kellogg School of Management at Northwestern University and co-author of <a href="https://www.amazon.com/Brand-Activism-Purpose-Christian-Sarkar-ebook/dp/B07K71B413/">Brand Activism: From Purpose to Action</a>.<br> In this interview, you will hear Dr. Kotler describe brand activism, the importance of focusing on a purpose as a company, and the problems encountered when companies do not use brand activism correctly.<br> To start, what is brand activism?<br> <a href="http://www.markempa.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/05/BA_cover.jpg"></a>Dr. Kotler: <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brand_activism">Brand activism</a> is a movement toward making a brand do more than just tout the virtues of a product or a service, its usual function, and to go and even identify some value or values that the company has and cares about.<br> For example, The Body Shop, when it started under Anita Roddick, she made it her point that she’s not only selling skincare products as a retailer, but she really was also fighting for animal rights, civil rights, fair trade, environmental protection.<br> So, her brand was active. I don’t mean that all other brands are passive because they do a lot of work, but the implication is that companies carry reputations, and they want to carry a good reputation.<br> More and more consumers would like to know what kind of company this is, what does it care about.<br> Our society is saddled with many problems, and does the company care about any of these problems, or does it just think it’s supposed to make money?<br> An increasing number of companies would like an identity that goes beyond just making the product or service.<br> And that is what we are calling brand activism, the brand that connects with some cause or causes.<br> A Lack of Trust in Society <br> Brian: That’s a helpful distinction. You recently wrote a book on this topic. I’d love to know the story behind why you wrote the book Brand Activism and why now?<br> Dr. Kotler: I think that, if you look at some barometers, like the Edelman trust barometer, about the level of trust in society today, it’s undoubtedly been falling.<br> Brian: Yes.<br> Dr. Kotler: And as a result, many companies are not going to be trusted either, as part of maybe government not being believed, and other institutions.<br> And companies ought to be the first to fight against bad companies rather than stand near them or be part of them.<br> So, the idea is that, at this time, companies want to be profiled in a certain way.<br> In other words, the reputation a company has could be just whatever happens in its course of actions.<br> Or it could also be something that could be designed better.<br> Consciously better.<br> What are the different branding stages of development?<br> Dr. Kotler: And you see, the whole idea of a brand itself has gone through several stages, and that’s very important. I think brand activism is probably the highest stage, but let me tell you what the stages are in my mind.<br> Brian: That would be great.<br> Dr. Kotler: Yes. The first stage is when the company simply does its best to feature its product and services.<br> Now that’s normal. The brand name was an identifier.<br> Then brands moved into trying to define the company’s positioning, but not social positioning.
