thank you We face immense problems Problems caused

thank you We face immense problems Problems caused by our own behaviour solutions

thank you We face immense problems Problems caused by our own consumption behaviour Marketing is heavily implicated in these solutions problems The need to rethink commercial marketing

A study of marketing as if people (and the planet) mattered

Marketing in a Post‐Consumer Society Gerard Hastings Social Business Conference Anadolu University Eskisihir 11 13 th June 2015 ISM Institute for Social Marketing

structure 1. A crisis for marketing 2. Marketing re examined 3. Marketing as if people and the planet mattered

The reassuring rhetoric of marketing ‘The shift in focus to services is a shift from … the producer perspective to the utilization of the customer perspective. ’ (Gummesson, E 1995) The ‘application of specialized competences (knowledge and skills) through deeds, processes, and performances for the benefit of another entity’ (Vargo & Lusch 2004) ‘value co creation’, ‘equality of resource integration’ ‘empowered customers’, ‘integrating value to make our lives better’ (Ischia 2013) All very gratifying (especially for us with plenty of money) But then I remember other realities…

negative equity this is co creation as nightmare

financial crisis public health

shortened lives The holy trinity of public health: food, alcohol and tobacco 2/3 rds of Americans are now overweight or obese – this will take 1 in 5 health $s by 2018 (Lang and Rayner, 2012) 4 th greatest cause of premature death – even tho half the world don’t drink (WHO) 1 in 2 smokers are killed by their smoking 8 million a year by 2030 (Doll and Peto 1992; WHO)

shortened lives The holy trinity of public health: food, alcohol and tobacco The unholy trinity of corporate marketing The obvious truth that this marketing has an effect

These companies are consummate marketers where is the ‘the customer perspective’?

Industrial Epidemics ‘The concept of an epidemic associated with the commercialization of a dangerous product …. diseases of consumers, workers and How is this for the community residents caused by industrial ‘benefit of another entity’? promotion of consumable products …. In each instance, public health oriented policies run the risk of being opposed by industrial corporations in a health versus profit trade off. ’ (Jahiel and Babor 2007)

Profits and pandemics: prevention of harmful effects of tobacco, alcohol, and ultra processed food and drink industries (Moodie et al 2013 The Lancet)

financial crisis public health children

Targeting Children ‘Children are important to marketers for three fundamental reasons: 88% of smokers 1. They represent a large market in themselves start as children because they have their own money to spend. Surgeon General (2012) 2. They influence their parents’ selection of products and brands How can this be called 3. They will grow up to be consumers of ‘integrating value to everything; hence marketers need to start our lives better’? and building upmake their brand consciousness loyalty as early as possible. ’ Foxall and Goldsmith (1994) Consumer Psychology for Marketers p 203

The Scandal of Infant Formula ‘I shouldn’t be standing in front of you, on the 25 year anniversary of the Code, telling you so little has changed and that companies continue to encourage mothers to spend money they don’t have on manufactured food most of them don’t need. I shouldn’t be standing in front of you because it shouldn’t still be happening. But it is, because the voluntary code clearly isn’t working, and children are dying as a result’ Jasmine Whitbread, CEO, Save the Children UK (2007)

play has become just another marketing tool The game recruits new Krave Facebook fans…and provides current fans with new content. It engages fans with the brand brings to life the core ad concept underpinning Krave – the character’s relentless pursuit of chocolate

Are these really ‘empowered customers’? How young can branding go?

financial crisis public health children inequalities

inequalities The source of so much hardship in our society… Segmentation, targeting and viability to those who have is given more ‘Of the 1, 400 new drugs developed between 1975 and 1999, only 13 were designed to treat or prevent tropical diseases and three to treat tuberculosis. In the year 2000, no drugs were being developed to treat tuberculosis, compared to 8 for impotence or erectile dysfunction and 7 for baldness. ’ (Bakan 2004)

inequalities Up to £ 450 per kilo £ 185 per kilo £ 17 per kilo £ 2. 26 per kilo

financial crisis public health children inequalities materialism

Materialism “Whatever we treasure for ourselves separates us from others; our possessions are our limitations” (Rabindranath Tagore) 'I got a Dyson but I don’t even know if I want it'

financial crisis public health children inequalities materialism the big one…

planet earth every increasing growth = every increasing consumption good service (gets us shopping; stops us questioning) this is leading to catastrophe…. Unlocked by melting ice caps, the great polar oil rush has begun Independent 6/9/11 …it is an ecosystem from hell

It is a problem of consumption – not just too much of the wrong stuff, but too much of all stuff ‘we need to consume less*. A lot less. Less food, less energy, less stuff. Fewer cars, electric cars, cotton Tshirts, laptops, mobile phone upgrades. Far fewer. ’ (Stephen Emmett 2013) ‘every decade global consumption continues to increase relentlessly’ (ibid) …‘we are fucked’ (ibid) * esp we in the global north

structure 1. A crisis for marketing 2. Marketing re examined 3. Marketing as if people and the planet mattered

structure 1. A crisis for marketing 2. Marketing re examined: ü Fiduciary imperative: who is in charge? ü Consumers or citizens? ü What is the purpose of marketing 3. Marketing as if people and the planet mattered

Fiduciary imperative The contradiction at the heart of marketing In a world governed by the fiduciary imperative, consumer sovereignty is treason Perpetual dissatisfaction (the satisfied stop shopping) Even were it real, consumer sovereignty is a dangerous concept: • • • It assumes we know what we want (‘May all you dreams come true’ is a Chinese curse) That we are in full possession of the facts and economists are right: we make rational decisions That we don’t need adversity

Consumers or citizens?

Critical thinking ‘military industrial complex’ ‘unwarranted influence - economic, political, even spiritual’ ‘felt in every city, every Statehouse, every office of the Federal government’…. ‘we must not fail to comprehend its grave implications. Our toil, resources, and livelihood are all involved. So is the very structure of our society. ’ Eisenhower (1961) ‘only an alert and knowledgeable citizenry’

Consumers or citizens? Consumers Earn money to buy stuff to meet their own needs Address life’s challenges by shopping Guiding principles: consumer satisfaction & ‘caveat emptor’ Citizens Think of the collective as well as their own needs Solve life’s challenges by self production, exchange, reusing and abstinence as well as shopping Guiding principle: responsibility and critical analysis

What is the purpose of marketing? Moving beyond consumption ‘the idea of conducting the entire economy on the basis of greed’ ‘Needless to say, wealth, education, research and many other things matter for any civilisation, but what is most needed today is a revision of the ends these means are meant to serve. And this implies above all else, the development of a lifestyle which accords material things their proper, legitimate place, which is secondary and not primary’ (Schumacher 1993) Marketing is about much more important matters than the mere acquisition of stuff

What is the purpose of marketing? Co operation “If human beings had not been able to cooperate in this way they would probably not have survived the rigours of the savannah – or subsequently of regions much colder. At best our lives would have been, as Thomas Hobbes put it, solitary, poor, nasty, brutish and short. We survived because our genes gave us the ability to cooperate. ” Richard Layard (2005) Marketing is the timeless protocol behind this vital human cooperation

What is the purpose of marketing? It is surely not to produce megalithic companies that now dwarf countries: World Bank data from 2011 shows that 110 of the 175 largest global economic entities in 2011 were cor porations, not countries … …the revenues of Royal Dutch Shell, Exxon Mobil and Wal Mart each exceed the combined GDP of the 110 poorest countries (Pingeot 2014)

structure 1. A crisis for marketing 2. Marketing re examined 3. Marketing as if people and the planet mattered

Marketing as if people and the planet mattered Three suggestions: • Marketing should be a privilege not a right • Regulation (learn from health and safety: independent & statutory) • Helping us cooperate: encouraging collective responsibility not individual satisfaction How would this work in practice?

Marketing as if people and the planet mattered: the four Ps Promotion Marketing communications should be designed to help us make ethical and sustainable choices The downsides as well as the upsides Loi Evin: ü Adults only ü Stick to the facts A Loi Evin for all products?

Marketing as if people and the planet mattered: the four Ps Place and price We marketers know just how susceptible people are to these drivers As with promotion they should be designed to help us make ethical and sustainable choices A system that sees a third of the UK veg crop left in the field because it is too ugly, and another third thrown away because BOGOFS have made us buy too much has to change (UK Institute of Engineers 2014)

Marketing as if people and the planet mattered: the four Ps Product Handguns: we restrict production when needed Externalities – the EU tobacco solution [€ 100 billion per annum direct health costs 25% fewer smokers and 45, 000 saved lives (Tiessen et al 2010)] As for the smoker’s lungs, so for the planet: we should calculate the externalities, and either make sure the producer pays them or decide they are simply not affordable

conclusion We face immense problems Marketing as currently conceived is driving these Social marketing can play a role in reducing this harm But its mother discipline needs fundamentally rethinking if we are turn the tanker around

conclusion Over to you Do you agree with my analysis? Do we have a problem? Are the solutions tenable? What do you think?