Advertising Goods or Advocating for the Greater Good…Why Not Both?

by Jillian Goodrich

If you’re reading this, chances are you’re a member of the ad community who understands that advertising is an incredibly powerful tool for driving consumers to action. A report published by worldmetrics.org states that 64% of consumers have purchased a product online after watching a video about it. That same report suggests that 86% of consumers value authenticity as a deciding factor in their purchasing decisions, and that emotional ads are two times more likely to generate sales than strictly informational ones. It’s clear that advertisements - especially those that tug at the heartstrings and provoke deeper thinking - are effective in generating sales. But could that power also be channeled toward a more meaningful purpose? 

Advertising possesses a profound ability to transcend business goals and act as a real catalyst for social and political change thanks to its broad reach, emotional power, and cultural influence. According to a recent report from the Advertising Association in collaboration with Credo, there has been a 10% increase over the past three years in the number of consumers who see advertising as a driver for positive social change and 34% of consumers agree that advertising has had a “major impact” on how they think about matters like diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) and making more sustainable purchases. Additionally, an advertisement’s social contribution is now seen as the second strongest driver of trust in brands, second only to the enjoyment of the ad itself.  

Clearly these statistics, along with plenty of real-life success stories online, in print, and on TV, point to the fact that advertisements can in fact drive genuine positive changes of the heart and mind. Many prominent companies are already implementing efforts to shift toward meaningful change, but what are the practical, actionable steps that the everyday advertiser can take to join the charge? We’ve come up with a few examples to get your creative gears turning. 

Align your business goals with tangible actions  

In this day and age, when consumers have access to more fact-checking tools than ever, it’s crucial that brands back their messages with real, tangible action. Taking steps to offset your carbon footprint, promote racial equality, advocate for handicap accessibility, and other similar measures can go a long way in building consumer trust and driving positive change. 

A prime example of a compelling advertisement followed up with real initiative is Patagonia’s 2019 “We’re All Screwed” campaign. 

The print ad begins with a pessimistic poem about the ill-fated future of our planet amidst the ongoing climate crisis. Just as readers reach the end, likely feeling a bit downtrodden, they are invited to re-read the poem backwards and receive a more hopeful message that states, “we can imagine a healthy future so don’t tell us that we’re all screwed.” On its face, the ad presents a clever, thought-provoking message that elicits hope for a healthy, sustainable future. 

The key here is that Patagonia doesn’t just pay lip service to the climate crisis. Since 1965, the brand has awarded over $140 million cash and in-kind donations to domestic and international grassroots environmental groups making a positive difference in their communities. Patagonia is driving positive change through their advertisements because they are also putting their money where their mouth is, and that’s a step that every advertiser should consider taking in whatever ways are feasible for them.  

Bring the problem to life through storytelling 

Creating a compelling narrative for viewers to follow along with and become invested in is a powerful way to connect with consumers on an emotional level and create a memorable, impactful experience that resonates long after the ad is over. Sharing personal stories, presenting statistics and data, revealing the human-centric aspects of a problem, and creating a sense of urgency are simple storytelling tactics that can motivate audiences to pay attention to your message.

Back in 2009, Dawn dish soap began running advertisements conveying the story of how Dawn became the preferred soap brand of the nonprofit groups that help clean off birds and marine mammals that fall victim to oil spills. The ad spots show oil-covered ducklings, penguins, and baby otters emerging from sudsy Dawn bubble baths, gently cleansed from all remaining oil before being safely returned to their homes. These simple yet effective ads have created an emotionally touching, compelling story of triumph that gets viewers thinking about the impacts that oil companies can have on the environment. This is a prime example of how to take a large-scale problem and distill it into a meaningful story that helps audiences understand the impact of their purchasing decisions.  

Craft visuals that elicit real emotion 

Humans are hardwired to respond to certain types of images, so the visuals used in your marketing campaigns can play a significant role in driving awareness and change. Images that show people suffering can evoke the type of sympathy and compassion that drives audiences to action; while uplifting images of people looking joyful and hopeful can reinforce the message that change is possible and inspire audiences to get involved. Determining the right emotions for your cause and then selecting the proper visuals to evoke them is a key step in driving support for your mission.

Dove’s “Real Beauty Sketches” campaign provides a remarkable example of the power of imagery to convey a meaningful message. The video starts with various women describing their physical features to an FBI-trained sketch artist on the other side of a curtain who creates a portrait based on their self-description alone. Then, the women were asked to provide their descriptions of another member of the group to inform the sketch artist’s second drawing. At the end, each woman was shown their self-described image next to the one crafted based on others’ perceptions of them and the differences were astonishing. Nearly every woman involved was driven to tears as they realized that the rest of the world perceived them as much more beautiful than they perceived themselves, and the ad ended with an inspiring message about the importance of self-esteem and seeing the beauty in oneself and others. 

This imagery made it easy for the viewer to envision how they would perform in an exercise like this, and helped audiences understand the overall message that “you are more beautiful than you think.” This campaign serves as a great example to emulate when considering how to use visuals in a compelling way.  

Join us on August 14th to dig deeper into advertising’s impact on advocacy.

We’ve only just begun to scratch the surface of how advertising can be used to drive social change and why it’s so important to put its power to good use. 

We hope you’ll join us on August 14th from 4pm – 7pm at our next Summer Session, “Can Ads Make Movements?”

We’ll be joined by leaders from both a major advocacy group and a local DMV creative agency as they delve into the pivotal role of advertising in driving political and social movements. Click here to register, and prepare to be inspired to further the impact of advertising for good!