ARTICLE: Should a company’s values be the moral compass of its marketing?

Should a company’s values be the moral compass of its marketing?

Wherever you look, nearly every company has a set of values. Whilst some are for internal use only, or only marginally better than just naval gazing, others are proudly advertised by the business to attract and retain customers.

But when it comes to the crunch, how many actually operate and work to these values, specifically in connection with their marketing? Does a company’s values ring true at all times?

Without wishing to single one firm out in particular, a good recent example of such a disconnect is Boohoo.

On 5th December 2018, the hugely successful internet fashion retailer Boohoo.com was adjudged by the Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) to have mislead consumers by running promotions that continued after the end of a timed countdown. On 9th January 2019 it was again punished by the same authority for selling real fur as fake.

One could be forgiven for thinking that these two marketing incidents, so close to one another, would dramatically and negatively affect both the company’s share price and future revenue. But it you look at the graph below, the price was already back to November’s level by mid January and the December dip was not down to the first ruling, but rather the profits warning from ASOS.

Similarly, the second ruling had no effect on share price whatsoever, and a cynic might feel that both rulings gave the firm more publicity than negative press, welcomed (or at least not objected to) by shareholders who might arguably value return above marketing ethics (and why shouldn’t they, after all).

In light of such circumstances, or at times when a final decision needs to be made about a marketing campaign or tactic, a company should be able to look for its moral compass in one overriding, ever-present place: it’s values.

Company values are a funny beast, with businesses up and down the UK creating annual Cultures & Values days for employees to workshop things like Missions and Visions, all with the overriding aim of retaining talent and attracting customers.

The mistake lots make is to include very obvious behaviours in their values, such as Honesty & Integrity, which one would hope was a given. Another mistake is choosing ones which are too common, such as Passion. Whilst a disinterested family solicitor might not be the end of the world for most clients, it’s generally agreed that companies should at least pretend to be interested.

A good rule of thumb is this: if the opposite could equally be true for another business, then it’s good to go. For example:

• • Caution (law firm) versus Pioneer (tech start up).

• Pace (fast food chain) versus Considered / Methodical (medical research)

If you look at Boohoo’s website, the P of the four values that make up PACT (Passion, Agile, Creative, Team) contains the following sentence:

“Each day we’re inspired to be the best we can. We’re focused and committed to giving our customers the experience they want.”

Which clearly wasn’t followed in either ASA instance. Customers do not want to be misled as part of their experience, which is effectively what happened on both occasions here. A good set of values should be referenced by employees when they’re asked to do something they’re uncomfortable with, so perhaps the real failure here is not so much the rulings, and certainly not the share price, but the lack of internal communication of PACT to all employees on a regular basis.

What are your thoughts? Have your company’s values helped it avoid negative situations?

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