MARKETING
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The five new rules of ethical marketing Sustainable and principled business practices make marketing more effective WRITING
Sarah Duncan ILLUSTRATION
Neil Stevens
Ever-increasing numbers of conscious consumers are forcing a change in the way that marketing departments behave. The old days of creating consumer demand and fuelling consumerism are ending. Companies are now required to be more accountable and responsible in their marketing, both reflecting ethical behaviour in general and disclosing specific details like product origin, supply chain, life span and disposal. Challenging as this can be, the good news is that when a company does behave ethically, its marketing has extra credence and authenticity. Rather than scrabbling around for gimmicks and clichés to sell more, businesses can focus on the genuinely interesting things they are doing: the marketing efforts of an ethical business are self-defining, unforced and, therefore, genuinely engaging. There are five rules to follow. RULE 1
Become a better business
The first rule is simple, but it’s also the hard bit. You need to thoroughly, and honestly, review your organization and establish a plan to become a better and more sustainable business, to the benefit of the environment and society. It is widely accepted that companies have responsibilities beyond simply making profit, but there are many in the c-suite who would still prefer to ignore the moral debate, so it’s Dialogue Q2 2020