Today on CauseTalk Radio, Megan and Joe talk to Maria Redin, General Manager and Strategy Lead at GOODcorps, a social impact consultancy that grew out of GOOD Media. GOODcorps has worked with top brands such as Pepsi, The Gap, Starbucks and DICK’s Sporting Goods. DICK’s won two Halo Awards at last week’s Cause Marketing Forum conference in Chicago!
Megan, Maria and Joe discuss newly released insights from phase one of a three-part research project that explores “goodness” in brands and how consumers perceive what truly makes a brand “good.”
Five core insights were uncovered from this phase one of research.
1. Brands are judged as people. Respondents evaluate “good” brands similarly to how they judge a “good” person. Human traits and characteristics are used to describe brands they consider “good,” including integrity, honesty and trustworthiness.
2. Goodness can be a loyalty driver. The “goodness” of a company comes second to other purchase decision drivers, like price. However, responses did show that companies with strong community relations and sustainability programs have remarkably loyal customers.
3. Conscious consumers want more clarity on “good” identifiers. When it comes to judging the sustainability of specific products, consumers could only comprehend certain categories, such as clothing and food, while categories like consumer technology and automotive felt overly complex. Respondents do not want to spend time researching, but instead, desire more transparency and curation for products from “good” companies, regardless of category.
4. Passionate leaders are memorable. Respondents appreciate companies with leadership who speak proactively out about key issues. Of note, the CEO’s of Salesforce and Patagonia were mentioned as social entrepreneurs who show a fierce passion for their product and are values driven.
5. People care about people. When sharing how they evaluate brands, respondents point to the treatment of a company’s employees as key before mentioning its philanthropy or sustainability efforts.
GOODcorps plans to move into phase two of its research this summer! We’ll keep you informed.
Mentioned In This Podcast
2015 Cause Marketing Halo Awards
2015 Cause Marketing Forum Conference
GOOD on Twitter (A must follow!)
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