During my college studies, we had a habit basking until the lecturer came around for the session. Those were the moments to catch on the latest events, politics or rumours, depending on the source. However, during one of the sessions, my friend started a debate on business leaders. It was an entertaining debate as different members of the group took varied positions as names cropped up. The interesting part was when one member said that he even aspires to be the governor of the central bank! Others mentioned heads of companies; great entrepreneurs, writers …etc. I also mentioned a person whom I thought was a career inspiration. Well, by then I had not even met him, by then it was just what was contained in the public domain and media in particular! The discussion went on, took a turn and seemed like the old saying of …’when I grow up’. Most of the discussion was based on what these persons were doing and what their companies were engaged in. There was little debate on profitability. The lecturer approached and our engaging discussion on aspirations and basking moment came to an end.
About one year after I completed the undergraduate course, I joined one of the institutes in town for a professional course. During an occasion to mark one of the many events, the institute invited senior executives from the accountancy industry, including the gentleman I had mentioned a few years back during the ‘pre-lecture moments’. I remember it was a hot afternoon, and we all waited for this particular gentleman to offer his speech. As he stepped on the platform, I stood on my toes to have a better glimpse. So this is the guy I had told my friends about? As the saying goes, ‘he was a man of few words’, talking about the need to link education and industry and other such aspects of his speech. The day ended and business of life continued as usual. I completed my course, started a career in business and market research, not in accountancy!. Three years down the line, I stood in front of that gentleman and members of his board to make a presentation on a research project that I had managed for his company. After the presentation, I had this urge to call my old friends and tell them; …hey guys do you remember that hearty discussion just before our class at the university?
The whole objective of the above story is the impact that marketing in general and communication can have in cascading the image of business and senior executives to people, especially the youth. The youth grow looking up to people in these companies and state, and their image to some extent shapes their perception and aspirations. Why do brands use celebrities in campaigns? That’s a discussion for another day. Just like a celebrity campaign usually persuades a customer, so is the seniors within society shape the aspirations of anyone looking up to them. To the youth, this ends up to be like the infamous line …’when I grow up’! Studies among the youth have shown lack of role models, mentors and people to ignite their aspirations. But how can businesses play any role here? If anything, there role is to make profit and create value! Yes, create value to the stakeholders; mainly the shareholders but also other subsets.
Research has also shown that vast part of the society views education as a channel for better life and most important out of poverty. Hence, when companies engage with the youth on social-related issues, it not only fulfils the needs for skills transfer but also acts as a motivation in reaching their personal goals. In the short term, the interaction may mostly be beneficial to the young people than to the brand development goals of the company. The task among the youth may not have impact to the bottom line in the short run, but creates a positive disposition. This is a key ingredient for future decisions. The key aspect here is engagement – by being physically present within their environs.
The youth will identify with such activities more than to hear about a cheque. This even hits the marketing chord of emotions – it is not mostly what ‘you’ do, but how you make the other person feel. The ‘You’ here could the person, the staff, the product, the brand …etc.
Experience from both the East Africa and the Middle East regions show that companies struggle in evaluating effectiveness of their involvement with the society. In both regions, common areas that seem to have a higher impact on society include sponsorship in areas of health, education and sports. Energy and environment related areas also have an impact in the Middle East, given the push for greener environment.
Overall, having a flagship area of involvement, where a company is identified with a given event, is usually a starting point. That is usually the view I hold as it is easier for public to associate a given business with the event. Just like in service industry where a player needs a key service that customers can identify it, so is the involvement with the society. However, the depth and breadth of involvement depends on the company’s strategy.
Taking the example of engagement with the youth, like in the above story, there are some key aspects that would act in making such engagement impactful:
1. Make it relevant: beneficiaries have needs and that’s why companies step in to help. However, we continue to witness companies that pump resources to programs that are not so relevant to the beneficiaries, in this case, the youth. Hence, it is important to evaluate the relevance of a program.
2. Engage your staff in such programs: It is one point to issue a cheque, pose for some photos and include it in a newsletter or press statement. However, it is another point to get down staff and spend a day with the beneficiaries. Take an example of a company that sponsors books to children’s home. Issuing a cheque for those books is all good, but having some of your staff spend an afternoon with those beneficiaries will have an emotional impact, most likely a motivation and inspiration to work harder in their studies.
3. Keep it simple: Address the issue that your beneficiaries are facing, without having layers of details or conditions. However, simplicity does not imply lack of accountability.
Indicators show a decline in quality of living (with most African countries at the bottom) and an increasing number of people falling into poverty bands. A little inspiration from companies through their social engagement programs would help the youth.
For details, contact:
pauline@episodesresearch.com
www.episodesresearch.com
