Businesses that are run just to make money may be missing the bigger picture – one that makes sense from a societal point of view as well as commercially.
Now more than ever, we think it’s important that we all Show Some Love. That’s why our amazing team at Carswell Gould have given our ever popular Show Some Love content a spruce up just in time for Valentine’s Day. You can check out the feature below or head over to our ‘love hub’ here.
As author and inspirational speaker Simon Sinek famously said: “People don’t buy what you do; they buy why you do it.”
Really successful brands understand the world is populated by living, breathing humans who are governed by their emotions. If your brand doesn’t connect with your audience on an emotional level, you’re limiting its future success.
It doesn’t matter if you’re running a B2B heavy industry company or a touchy-feely B2C business, you’re selling to people and it’s a human being who decides whether or not to buy your products and services.
With this in mind, our team has selected some of their favourite examples of big brands connecting with their audiences by doing good things.
1. Hey Girls: The Pad Ad
Hey Girls built a new subscription service, offering women easy access to sanitary products. The ‘buy one, give one’ model helps millions of women and girls living in period poverty around the world.
2. Toms [Y]OUR IMPACT
Shoe brand Toms was founded on the premise that for every pair of shoes they sell, they would give another away, but recently they have started to donate impact grants as well so that for every $3 dollars they make, they give $1 away.
3. Ben & Jerry’s Beyond the Cone
Ice-cream makers Ben and Jerry’s has produced its manifesto for doing better business and highlighted all the ways they are making the world a better place in its ‘7 unexpected ways you do good by eating Ben and Jerry’s’ statement.
4. Coca-Cola: This Coke is Fanta
On a mission to turn a homophobic slur into a positive message supporting International LGBT+ pride day in Brazil, Coca-Cola launched this social good campaign with the message: ‘This Coke is a Fanta. So what?”
5. Zappos: Innovating a better hometown
When online shoe empire chief Tony Hsieh sold Zappos to Amazon he tried to single-handedly transform downtown Las Vegas. The company founder used his entrepreneurial spirit to try to improve the city for everyone who lived and worked there.
6. Muc-Off: Supporting frontline workers
At the start of the coronavirus pandemic there was a severe shortage of hand sanitiser and PPE. Muc-Off, a business famous for its cleaning products, quickly set to work switching its manufacturing to start producing hand sanitiser and supplying healthcare workers with the kit they so vitally needed.
7. Velvet: Three Trees Promise
Since 2009, Velvet toilet paper has been running its campaign ‘Three Trees Promise’, a commitment to replace three trees for each one it uses.
8. Maker’s Mark: Give Cozy, #GetCozy
In 2015, Maker’s Mark created a fully integrated, 360 campaign partnered with One Warm Coat to collect and donate gently used costs to those in need.
9. Green Snow: A business doing right with the environment at its core
Online retail and fulfilment business Green Snow has put environmental responsibility at the centre of its strategy. It has pledged to work to eradicate the volume of single-use plastics in its own products and to influence the supply chain from within.
10. Tommy Hilfiger: Moving Forward Together
Aiming to help both the fashion and creative industries recover from the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic, Tommy Hilfiger encouraged consumers to get involved in the digital co-creation of new clothing using left-over fabrics, echoing the brand’s commitment to ‘waste nothing and welcome all’.
11. WP Group: Fuelling Change
For a company that predominantly makes its money by selling diesel, a strap-line like Fuelling Change comes with a heavy burden. But this fuel business’s strategy is all about how it can work with its customers to be more efficient and possibly switch to more environmentally sustainable fuels.
12. Patagonia: Environmental stories on fashion
This is a really obvious one but we make no apologies for including Patagonia. It’s a business that is all heart – and it’s genuine. A clothing business that puts people ahead of profits and we salute you!
13. Hallmark: Free card giveaway
Hey, so perhaps a greetings card isn’t going to change the world, but this initiative by Hallmark is truly showing the love to the people who need it the most at the moment, as it is giving out two million free cards to help us say thanks to the people who have really been heroes during these hard times.
14. Innocent smoothies: The Big Knit
The drinks manufacturer started putting little hats on its smoothies back in 2003, and donating 25p for every bottle sold. To date, they have raised £3m for Age UK. Proof that kindness and quirkiness really can make a difference.
15. The Happy Newspaper: Something to smile about
We love this website from designer Emily Coxhead – if any of the examples on this list encapsulate the phrase “show some love” this one does. In a world full of negative news, The Happy Newspaper celebrates all that’s good in the world and is guaranteed to make your day a little brighter.
Whether it’s a small gesture or an epic repositioning of your entire company focus, time and time again showing some love in how you go about your business makes sound ethical and commercial sense.
If you’re thinking that you would like to be able to do something in your business to help “show some love” but you’re not sure where to start, let alone how to make it happen, give us a call, email or text and start picking our brains about it.
We’ve been working with businesses for nearly 30 years to do just that and we’d love to help you to put some good into the world too.
