BRAND GRAB: Long-Termism

Today we live in a world where everything seems to be operating short term. Stock markets dive and climb on a daily basis, politicians are making decisions based on the latest polling and the media cycle has become a second by second activity. ‘Short-termism’ is in.

It goes without saying that most successful and sustainable brands are, by definition, the brands that have been around for a long time. Companies that have lived by a strong set of values build these types of sustainable brands. Think of Patagonia, J&J, & Cadbury. By and large they have lived by good corporate standards and many of them were in fact founded on strong business and social ethics. These kinds of successful brands are taking the long term view or living by ‘long-termism’

Take for example J&J’s ‘CREDO’, written in the early 20th Century, which set out why the company should prioritise mothers and doctors. Earlier still Cadbury’s built ‘Bournville’ a ‘company town’ to provide housing for its employees and deliver education and social welfare to its inhabitants.

These principles, decisions and investments were made with the long-term well being of the whole company in mind. On the flip side, brands that fail to operate in a framework of strong ethics do not survive. Companies such as ENRON, Lehman Brothers & HIH are testament to this fact.

Often we see brand value severely dented because a company did not live up to its own core values by making ‘short-termist’ decisions. Nestle, BP & Goldman Sachs are a few recent examples of brands that have been tarnished by decisions they made which failed to meet society’s expectations.

The question of brand vision in a culture of ‘short-termism’ is an interesting one. That moment when the company executives look each other in the eye and ask ‘Where are we all heading?’

In life, the most successful people have a goal and a plan to reach it, whilst the most successful businesses have a clear set of long-term objectives and a strategy to deliver them. Success is built by having a vision.
 
So why does marketing so often look at sustainability as just another tool for short-term growth, a quick ‘feel-good’ fix or simply a trendy fad. Inevitably approaching sustainability this way means companies end up dismissing the sustainability agenda because they cannot see how it can grow short-term revenue or pay back quickly.

Yet surely this is missing the point. First, sustainability or Corporate Responsibility must be a mandatory first principle for any strong brand with a community of employees and customers. From research we know that 80% of this community are concerned about their own environmental and social impacts.

Today, a company without a sustainability strategy cannot have a trusted and respected brand. When organisations such as Greenpeace or GetUp identifies such companies they are quick to act. You only need to look at recent actions against the KitKat over palm oil and against Harvey Norman for selling furniture made from rainforest timber to see what brand damage can be done.

Thanks to social media every brand must demonstrate, through action, that it takes its responsibilities to the environment, its people and the community seriously. Just like other parts of a brand’s ‘architecture’ sustainability must be communicated clearly and consistently for people to recognise and understand it.

When we start to look at sustainability through the lens of long-term‘ brand’, instead of just the short-term lens of ‘sales’, it is difficult to argue against the importance of its role. Especially if the broader brand strategy is ultimately focused on delivering sustainable shareholder value into the long-term. In the world of a truly sustainable brand ‘Long-termism’ is in.

Matt Perry
Founder & Partner
Republic of Everyone