Some businesses were built with belief in mind – take The Body Shop’s pursuit of social and environmental change. Others have interlaced purpose into their campaigning, for example Dove’s Real Beauty campaign that has run successfully for over 15 years.
But purpose is not just important for altruistic reasons. Crusading brands with a mission have seen strong brand growth, with Unilever’s ‘Sustainable Living’ brands growing more than 50% faster than the rest of the business and accounting for 60% of growth in 2016.
For purpose to work, it needs to be authentic and meaningful. It needs to resonate with the audience but also be relevant to the brand itself. In a diverse and multicultural world, a one-size-fits-all approach does not work. Social movements that emerge in the West are not necessarily relevant to consumers elsewhere. The need to understand the nuanced social issues driving people has never been more important to local and global brands alike. We used the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals as a framework, asking consumers across Asia what issues were most pressing for them personally and the role they believe brands should play within this complex environment.
Kantar’s Purpose in Asia report found 90% of consumers in the region want brands to get involved in the issues they care about, meaning that an authentic brand purpose is now an expectation not a bonus.
Which issues matter
Despite being aware of numerous global conversations around specific issues, there is a disconnect between what people hear about and what they care about. This has major implications for brands looking to connect with consumers, as although global campaigns may be acknowledged by their audiences, resonance is called into question.
While climate change and gender equality were the two issues most likely to be seen, causes closer to home mattered most, such as health and wellbeing or ending poverty. These two topics appeared within the five most important issues for all countries questioned alongside issues such as quality education and hunger in emerging markets, and decent work and economic growth in developed markets.
Younger people were more passionate about issues surrounding health, poverty, education, and hunger whilst older generations were more concerned with decent work and economic growth, clean water, and affordable energy.
Gaining cultural nuances using social media data
Social media analysis found that good health was strongly associated with lifestyle for some countries, from fitness tips, healthy recipes and motivational quotes across Australian, Thai, Malaysian and Korean consumers to more serious topics such as conversations advocating awareness about depression and the need for selfcare in recently urbanised markets like Malaysia, Singapore, Thailand and South Korea and vaccination scandals for Taiwan and the Philippines, with India and Indonesia comments promoting the need for more education about vaccinations.
There was engaged social debate about the invisible poverty line, even in considerably affluent markets like Singapore, Taiwan and South Korea, with many comments recognising the need to help those who had not benefited from economic progress through social initiatives or government policies. Malaysia and Thailand highlighted the need for education to break the poverty cycle, whilst Indonesia saw strong concern around helping poor refugees from natural disasters like earthquakes and tsunamis.
Brands that want to engage with consumers in Asia need to acknowledge that people give precedence to their local issues. So, although global issues are still relevant, they need to be raised in relation to more specific local problems.
How issues circulate
The study also highlighted the role of social media in circulating information about causes. TV was still the channel where most people heard about social issues, however, the rise of social media in many Asian countries is facilitating more active participation.
Over half (53%) said that they had liked posts on social media around an issue they cared about, and 45% have shared a post or article. These figures were far higher in emerging markets like Thailand (68%), Indonesia (67%) and Philippines (65%).
The study also showed that the visibility of issues on social media is affecting behaviours, with 61% saying it makes them more conscious of issues and one in three (31%) saying that they have changed their behaviour as a result. 20% have donated to a cause as a result of being exposed to the topic.
However, one in three (32%) say that they are frustrated by their social media feed being full of posts about social issues from their contacts and 60% report that there are too many posts generally
Brands looking to enter the conversation need to consider the role that social media plays in providing accessible ways for people to show support for an issue. It plays a central role in educating people and causing them to become more conscious. However, it is saturated with content, so caution is needed to ensure people are not overwhelmed as they will only engage with what resonates with them.
Brand business sense
60% of people questioned said they were more likely to buy brands aligned with their views, and the same number would be happy to pay ‘a little more’ for brands with sustainability credentials.
Authenticity is key. Consumers were quick to challenge brands that outwardly supported a cause, but which had problems with their own business practices, or brands that misjudged the tone needed to engage in emotionally-charged issues.
The study revealed that the top five requests from consumers are for brands to;
Developed markets were more sceptical of brands’ involvement. Only 33% of Australians felt that brands were able to authentically engage with issues, in comparison to India where 74% perceived it as trustworthy brand activity.
Some of the most impactful campaigns came from brands that tapped into the issues that sought to help with local problems such as Globe in the Philippines which worked with Rise Against Hunger, promoting the cause and allowing people to donate their loyalty points to the organisation. In Indonesia, Go-Jek’s work with Food Cycle, a distribution initiative, encouraged people to donate left-over wedding food to the poor. And in Australia, where consumers were typically more cynical about brands getting involved in causes, Woolworths did well with a campaign that allowed people to buy tokens to pay for meals for the local needy.
The campaigns were successful in that they not only raised awareness of issues close to the heart of consumers in these countries, but did so in a way that was authentically connected to their brands and provided simple ways for people to help directly.
Implications for brands
Consumers in Asia are calling for brands to have a voice in the issues that matter to them. Brands now need to listen – to understand these regional and local conversations and align their purpose accordingly. It is now an expectation, not a bonus.
