This may be old news to some but ten months ago, public relations firm Edelman published its annual Goodpurpose survey that studies the relationship between consumer attitudes and corporate social purpose.
For those who are fans of the TV game show Jeopardy!, I’ll phrase it in the form of a question: How does a company’s community involvement affect consumer behaviour?
Some of the key findings from the survey:
• Eighty-six percent of global consumers believe that business needs to place at least equal weight on society’s interests as on those of business. Two-thirds of global respondents expect brands to do something to support a good cause.
• Nearly two-thirds of global respondents (64 percent) believe it is no longer enough for corporations to give money; they must integrate good causes into their everyday business
• Seventy percent of global consumers say that a company with fair prices that gives back is more likely to get their business than a company that offers deep discounts and doesn’t give back.
Read that last one again.
What’s the absolute best way for a company to show its community involvement and get its customers involved?
Editorial photography.
A smart company understands the power of editorial photography over that of public relations photography, advertising photography and any other type of marketing photography. People trust editorial photography and photojournalism. Newspapers prove this everyday. Public relations only attempts to mimic this.
The purpose of editorial photography is to give information to the public. Advertising photography is about taking money from them.
Editorial photography and photojournalism are not just for newspapers anymore. Snapshots from corporate-sponsored community events are a waste of time and money. Real (photo)journalism contains real information.
An involved business leads to good customers which leads to good business.
Unlike a small business, a large corporation may not be able to talk directly with each of its customers. But with the use of editorial photography, that corporation can still touch every customer.
