Great brands -- the brands consumers love and for which they exhibit the most loyalty -- are doing more than marketing good products. Great brands are also the ones doing some good in the world.
Brands that do good and, in fact, make sacrifices to demonstrate that they care about society and the planet, are brands that consumers highly respect. Trendwatching.com shares several pertinent examples of brands doing good, including:
- US drugstore chain CVS removed cigarettes and other tobacco products from all of its stores in September 2014, a move that could cost it $2 billion in annual revenue, indicating that tobacco conflicts with the company's emphasis on health. The chain also launched a quit smoking campaign.
- UK supermarket chain Tesco plans to remove candy from its checkouts by December 2014. Its research showed that 65 percent of shoppers felt that moving candy to elsewhere in the store would help them make healthier choices.
- Electric car maker Tesla announced in June 2014 that it would refrain from protecting its patents in an effort to allow others to participate in the electric car market, citing the fact that the world's carbon crisis made helping humanity a priority.
Trendwatching.com cites a global study of 30,000 consumers by Accenture and Havas Media indicating that 72 percent of respondents felt businesses were failint to take care of the planet and society as a whole. The above are just a few current examples of brands that have recognized they need to do good, even if it means sacrificing some of their own sales and profits.