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Our world-famous lingerie company is under attack again.
Some people are upset about a Victoria’s Secret ad that depicts a line of thin underwear models
in bras and panties beneath the slogan “The Perfect ‘Body.’ ”
(Body is the name of the lingerie line that the ad is pushing, but surely the double
meaning is intentional.)
A petition originating in Britain and signed by thousands of people accuses the company of “body
shaming.”
“This marketing campaign is harmful,” the petition says. “It fails to celebrate the amazing
diversity of women’s bodies by choosing to call only one body type ‘perfect.’ ”
A competing lingerie company responded by lining up women of many sizes, to reinforce the point
that people come in all shapes and sizes.
When you add such a protest to the ongoing backlash against the Abercrombie Fitch
preference for tanned, toned, half-naked physiques, the total makes two central Ohio companies
identified with body-mass-index bias.
So here is a question: Does that make central Ohio the capital of Unrealistic Beauty
Standards?
A case could be made, but I see it thoroughly confusing outsiders, who more likely identify the
area as the home of 300-pound offensive linemen, Jeni’s Splendid Ice Creams and a generally
well-nourished population.
After all, on lists of the “fattest cities,” we never emerge on the slender end. A Gallup Poll
this year ranked Columbus in the top 10 for obesity among large metropolitan areas.
(A lot of obesity rankings exist. Columbus looks thinner in some than in others.)
Perhaps the tension between unattainable body type and enthusiastic caloric intake could work in
favor of Victoria’s Secret.
If the British petition proves to be a major headache, the company could always point to the
obesity rankings as evidence that its stick-thin models are having no discernible effect on the
populace at the epicenter of its empire.
Still, I think it’s high time Victoria’s Secret got real and flashed a sense of humor. After
all, we’re talking about nightgowns, not nuclear war.
Perhaps it could rerun the Perfect Body ad but this time have each of the models eating a
Thurmanator, the three-quarter-pound bacon-cheese-mushroom burgers that only the most intrepid
diners dare to order at the Thurman Cafe.
Think of it: Unrealistic Beauty Standard meets Unhealthy Body Mass Index in a union of central
Ohio extremes.
The audience would surely conclude that sanity lies somewhere in the middle.
Joe Blundo is a Dispatch columnist.
jblundo@dispatch.com
@joeblundo
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The future of marketing is philanthropy and causes. As it has been for two decades. Ever since Evelyn Lauder unleashed the pink ribbon in 1992, marketers have executed a
“cause-marketing template” with a basic formula — big brands, big causes, big mass media campaigns, big results — that has remained relatively unchanged for 20-plus
years.
Until now.
Imagine instead: a woman sits on a subway tapping away on her iPhone 6 with the sudden, quick jabs of a mobile gamer. Unlike a typical
gamer who might hemorrhage money on Candy Crush, she is playing for free and the game is sending micro-donations to a breast cancer organization that she actively chose to fund. A lingerie retailer
provides the game, makes the donations and sends her offers just for playing, regardless of whether the woman buys a product.
What if “giving back” becomes so
profitable that making the world a better place becomes common sense business strategy? What if consumers embrace and nourish new brands because they finally understand the “soul” of the
company and connect on an emotional level?
The fusion of mobility and giving is disrupting old models of cause marketing and making this future possible. People are using mobile
devices to vet non-profits on Charity Navigator, fund individual school projects on DonorsChoose.org and search for particular causes on GoFundMe. Giving is more personal, and, as the Ice Bucket
Challenge demonstrated, it works best when it is also social, viral and participatory.
With 9 in 10 global
consumers saying they will switch brands to one that supports a good cause, giving back is destined to become the heart marketing. However, cause marketing has to adapt to the new digital culture.
Consumers respect your brand for giving, but they want to participate, and they want choices.
So, I propose four new guidelines that can put all brands on the leading edge of cause
marketing:
1. Think Outside the Register: Don’t always tie donations to transactions
Some of the most well-known cause-marketing campaigns tie
donations to transactions. For instance, every time you buy Ethos Water, Starbucks donates five cents to support water, sanitation and hygiene education programs in water-stressed countries. It works,
but don’t stop there. Cause marketing can be at least as valuable if your company links engagement to a donation. When you introduce “giving” to an earlier stage of the customer
journey, you build more trust because you give before you take.
2. You’re Not the Boss of Me: Give consumers a choice instead of choosing for them
Typically, cause-marketing partnerships support a handful of charities, but the choices are made without consumer input. For example, the recent partnership between Toms and Target assigns
a set donation to each purchase item. But what if Target had instead let customers choose where donations go? Choice makes giving more active than passive, and it acknowledges that individuals care
more about certain causes than others. Depending on the size of your company, you can offer a mixture of local, national and global charities that allow customers to express themselves in the context
of charitable giving and your brand.
3. Make It Habit-Forming: Ensure that giving back is fun, easy and routine
Create cause-marketing campaigns
around personal and habitual actions. Giving can be convenient. A free moment waiting on the bus or a five-minute break from work can be the context for doing good and interacting with your brand
simultaneously. We subconsciously check email, open apps and start playing games — giving can become part of our digital ritual, too. It can also become part of our daily commute if, for
instance, we drive a Prius instead of an SUV to work, knowing that we give back each day by reducing our carbon footprint.
4. Commit to Getting Better at Doing Good: Place
data and measurement at the center
A strategy centered in mobility and engagement offers a wealth of behavioral data that has previously been unavailable in the field of cause
marketing and marketing in general. A data-driven approach helps both brands and cause organizations uncover synergies and optimize marketing partnerships to drive results for the cause, brand and
customers.
The bottom line is that consumers want to know what you stand for before they stand for you. There are more ways to invite people to participate in your social
mission — and the brands who are most effective will continue to rethink and advance traditional models of giving. Philanthropy is no longer an obligation; it is another frontier for
innovation.
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