Why doing the right thing shouldn’t be a tough choice
This year, individuals trying to do the right thing have already hit the headlines on several occasions, from the playground cries of David Cameron refusing to debate without a representative from the Greens Party, to Al Gore coupling with PR Super-Hero Pharell Williams to deliver news of Live Earth 2015.
In the Square Mile, the debate goes on over banking ethics, partly inspired by the Co-op’s new charter for good.
But one thing that shines through is the lack of cohesion in many organisations' arguments over what is and is not ethical, and what we should believe and why.
The first point of contention in all this is the language of ethics in business, particularly the ambiguous nature of sustainability.
The language of ethics and sustainability don’t explain to consumers what the promise actually is. Organisations appear to be in claims warfare to make the most "holier than thou" statement – but sadly, the reality is that most companies aren't clear about what their sustainability policies actually are. Thus, there's isn't much chance of affecting real change.
If the same wooliness around ‘doing good’ was applied to a brand's core structure, we wouldn't see many success stories all around us. If ‘Just Do It’ was as ambiguous, it would be more like ‘Sort of Do It’.
That said, those brands that bake genuine ethics into their business reap the rewards. See, for example, Toms shoes' "one for one" scheme, under which, for every pair of shoes bought, Toms donates a pair to a child in need. And Tesla, with its open source intellectual property. Even Velvet toilet paper plants three trees for each one it cuts down. Simple.
Increasingly, we can all reject brands with a click and embrace with a Tweet, which means we're no longer reliant on what we are told. This means that companies must have total clarity on their stance.
In other words, brands need to be clear about ethical policies. They should be driven from the core of the brand, growing from a long and established set of values, rather than a need to look like they're keeping up with the Joneses.