Idea in Brief
The Challenge
Brands can play a critical role in global health by combating violence, reducing infectious disease, improving fitness and diet, and more. The key is for marketers to leverage what they do best: influencing behavior.
The Approach
A framework with five elements—behavioral change, internal support, performance measurement, external partnerships, and systemic change—can help any brand effectively connect a purpose to its business and increase its social impact.
The Result
At Unilever, brands with a social mission promoted new behaviors that enhanced public health in Asian and African markets. At the same time, they grew 46% faster than the rest of the business and delivered 70% of the company’s revenue.
A beer brand might seem an unlikely ally in the campaign to end violence against women. But the clear connection between alcohol and abusive behavior made Carling Black Label, the largest beer brand in South Africa, realize it had to take up the challenge.
