One of the core principles of a great strategy is to “Act with foresight.” It appears that many corporations missed the memo. What can small businesses learn from corporate missteps?
The C-Suite should have seen this coming.
Corporations and brands used to sell products.
Now many are using their influence to push agendas (and punish dissent), which means consumers have a choice: Find alternative products or support a company with values that don’t align with theirs.
The book Purpose into Practice predicts what will happen when corporations ignore consumers to maximize profit at the expense of stakeholders.
As consumers, we’re stakeholders.
The issues aren’t obvious. Religious liberty, viewpoint diversity, and free speech are at stake underneath the headlines. Every other issue is a distraction manifested in government policy, media, and corporate initiatives.
Small businesses are the lifeblood of the US economy, yet big businesses get the headlines that affect how consumers think about small business brands and reputations.
New research reveals that 82% of shoppers prefer a consumer brand’s values to align with their own, and they’ll vote with their wallet if they don’t feel a match. Three-quarters of shoppers reported parting ways with a brand over a conflict in values.
What do Consumers Want?
Consider the retailers, food and beverage, technology companies, and manufacturers that gamble with their future daily when they put agendas ahead of stakeholder or shareholder interests.
According to a Harris poll commissioned by Google Cloud, 82% of shoppers want a brand’s values to align with theirs.
29% of consumers who found their values at odds with a brand shared their concerns with friends and family.
15% of consumers who found their values at odds with a brand shared their concerns on social media.
That’s not the kind of customer journey or word-of-mouth marketing brand managers envisions.
Consumers want companies of all sizes to stick to what they do and stay out of the conversation.
“Finance chiefs and other executives have significantly quieted down in public settings about their environmental and employee diversity efforts as opposition has mounted from a confluence of interests: investors who want companies to focus on their operations, not the social good.”
Publicly traded corporations may withstand declining sales and falling stock prices resulting from consumer responses to their marketing decisions and product offerings.
Small businesses don’t have the same deep pockets; I daresay they are more in tune with their customers and needs.
Every company — from small businesses to multi-national corporations — must ask and answer this question: Will consumers support our company if we oppose their beliefs, or will they choose alternate brands that share their values?
The answer will be directly attributable to revenue.
Alternatives Win
Corporations that push agendas over serving consumers are blending in, and consumers are opting out. Co-opting a cultural movement makes companies appear to be pandering to boost sales, and consumers aren’t buying.
People are seeking alternatives. We can buy clothes from other retailers. There are multiple beer brands. Consumers can even buy chocolate that satisfies their sweet tooth — with nuts or without — with strongly aligned values and a wicked sense of humor.
Will consumers support your company if it opposes their beliefs, or will they choose alternate brands that share their values?
This cultural moment represents the opportunity to continue the momentum of creating profitable alternatives to brands and channels that love your values, not oppose them.
This is radical differentiation: Build an alternative, not a brand. When consumers choose your alternative, the brand will take care of itself.