WEBVTT - Brands Speaking Out for Good 0:00:00.160 --> 0:00:04.160 This is Bloomberg Business Week with Carol Messer and Bloomberg 0:00:04.240 --> 0:00:07.920 Quick Takes Tim Stinovich from Bloomberg Radio. A little more 0:00:07.960 --> 0:00:09.559 than a year and a half ago, we heard from 0:00:09.600 --> 0:00:11.680 the business roundtable. They came out, They talked about the 0:00:11.720 --> 0:00:15.360 purpose of a corporation, multiple stakeholders, yes, shareholders, but so 0:00:15.440 --> 0:00:19.600 much more understanding all of them. And uh, that has 0:00:19.640 --> 0:00:22.439 really come into focus big time during the pandemic the 0:00:22.440 --> 0:00:25.440 past thirteen months. As we thought about inequities, we thought 0:00:25.480 --> 0:00:28.479 about racism, we thought about the gaps getting wider in 0:00:28.520 --> 0:00:31.480 our society, and as a result, we've seen brand stepping up, 0:00:31.560 --> 0:00:34.239 speaking out and how that is more important than ever. 0:00:34.280 --> 0:00:37.160 Our next guest gets that. We welcome Scott Goodson. He's 0:00:37.159 --> 0:00:40.479 founder and CEO of the advertising and marketing agency Strawberry Frog. 0:00:40.560 --> 0:00:44.680 Has worked with Walmart, sun Trust, Emirates, PNG, so many companies, 0:00:44.720 --> 0:00:47.639 Coca Cola. Scott is out with a new book, Activate 0:00:47.680 --> 0:00:50.159 Brand Purpose, How to harness the power of movements to 0:00:50.280 --> 0:00:53.000 transform your company, and he joins us on the phone 0:00:53.000 --> 0:00:55.000 in New York City. It's got so nice to have 0:00:55.080 --> 0:00:57.680 you here with us. Um. First of all, how are 0:00:57.720 --> 0:01:00.240 you and what's the past year been like? For your world. 0:01:00.280 --> 0:01:01.760 I mean, you talked to a lot of companies and 0:01:01.800 --> 0:01:04.120 I'm just curious what it's been like over the last 0:01:04.120 --> 0:01:09.720 thirteen months. Well, very pretty much appreciate being on the show. UM. 0:01:10.400 --> 0:01:14.399 We wrote Activate Brand Purpose because of what we experienced 0:01:14.400 --> 0:01:19.039 over the last year. UM. A lot of CEOs and 0:01:19.240 --> 0:01:23.280 you know, heads of HR have been grappling with this 0:01:23.600 --> 0:01:26.000 concept of purpose for the last you know, couple five 0:01:26.080 --> 0:01:29.080 years or so. Everyone's been talking about it. The problem 0:01:29.200 --> 0:01:33.119 is that, you know, it hasn't really been activated, and 0:01:33.160 --> 0:01:36.000 then all of a sudden, you know, everything changed. The 0:01:36.040 --> 0:01:40.360 sky fail and people who had activated purpose had a 0:01:40.480 --> 0:01:42.720 rudder in the in the water. They were able to 0:01:42.760 --> 0:01:45.680 kind of navigate the seas, but those that didn't were 0:01:45.760 --> 0:01:48.720 kind of thrashing about. And I think what we're seeing 0:01:48.800 --> 0:01:51.680 coming out of Purposes that company, coming out of the 0:01:51.720 --> 0:01:53.720 last year, is that companies with the purpose that is 0:01:53.840 --> 0:01:58.240 activated at the core of business strategy are thriving well. 0:01:58.240 --> 0:01:59.560 And I want to go right to I love that 0:01:59.600 --> 0:02:01.480 you start with HR because it's one of the things 0:02:01.520 --> 0:02:03.920 that caught my attention in the book about COVID nineteen 0:02:04.440 --> 0:02:06.480 and the changing role of HR. You right, the old 0:02:06.600 --> 0:02:09.320 HR model is no longer fit for purpose. I do 0:02:09.440 --> 0:02:15.200 feel like employees consumers really looked at companies differently. Employees 0:02:15.240 --> 0:02:19.200 looked at their employer very differently during COVID. How has 0:02:19.240 --> 0:02:21.480 that changed? And I know you've had a lot of 0:02:21.480 --> 0:02:25.919 conversations with CEOs about this. We we had a wonderful 0:02:25.919 --> 0:02:28.280 opportunity to connect with the CEOs of some of the 0:02:28.320 --> 0:02:31.400 largest companies in the country. Uh spoke the Times of 0:02:31.560 --> 0:02:35.480 Sterburg and also Christie to who's the chr O of 0:02:35.880 --> 0:02:39.280 Verizon UM. Well, you've spoken with some of you know, 0:02:39.919 --> 0:02:44.320 rogers of Truists UM and the companies are getting it right. 0:02:44.520 --> 0:02:49.399 Understand the importance of activating purpose at the cultural level 0:02:49.480 --> 0:02:51.960 within the organization. And the people who really know that 0:02:53.160 --> 0:02:57.000 are the people directors. And I think historically the hr 0:02:57.200 --> 0:03:00.480 group has been almost an extension of the legal Department 0:03:00.560 --> 0:03:03.320 and that they really focused on risk management. But in 0:03:03.320 --> 0:03:08.160 today's world where we have so many emotional, physical, and 0:03:08.320 --> 0:03:11.839 financial well being issues based by American workers, to see 0:03:11.840 --> 0:03:14.720 that it's really the hrro's moment in time. It's really 0:03:14.720 --> 0:03:17.399 their opportunity to shine and stand up and and many 0:03:17.440 --> 0:03:20.120 of them are doing just that. And the book, you know, 0:03:20.240 --> 0:03:23.680 looks at how and how do you deal with a 0:03:23.800 --> 0:03:25.800 number of issues. How do you deal with the fact 0:03:25.840 --> 0:03:28.080 that people are coming out of the past year with 0:03:29.000 --> 0:03:32.960 um concerns about their health and welfare. How do you 0:03:33.240 --> 0:03:36.760 deal with the fact that, you know, people are joining 0:03:36.760 --> 0:03:39.400 companies and working for companies that work remotely, who haven't 0:03:39.440 --> 0:03:43.160 ever been inside an office. So the importance of culture 0:03:44.120 --> 0:03:47.760 bringing to life the vision of the CEO is really 0:03:47.800 --> 0:03:51.120 a challenge. And there's another element, which is we're living 0:03:51.160 --> 0:03:53.440 increasingly in this peer to peer world where people are 0:03:53.440 --> 0:03:57.880 getting you know, their inspiration and there, let's say they're 0:03:57.920 --> 0:04:01.840 being um moved by that appears. It's a time when 0:04:01.880 --> 0:04:05.520 you can't really lead with mandate from the top anymore. 0:04:05.640 --> 0:04:07.720 You know, those days are gone. You know, you really 0:04:08.320 --> 0:04:12.320 need to lead a corporation by creating a movement inside 0:04:12.320 --> 0:04:16.360 the organization that people feel like they're belonging to something bigger. So, 0:04:16.680 --> 0:04:20.680 you know, mandate, top down mandates just don't work anymore. Hey, Scott, 0:04:20.720 --> 0:04:23.560 in your book, uh and some of the research you 0:04:23.560 --> 0:04:26.280 guys shared with us ahead of time talked about how 0:04:26.320 --> 0:04:29.040 recent stats prove that more than eighty seven percent of 0:04:29.080 --> 0:04:32.760 consumers would purchase a product because a company advocated for 0:04:33.120 --> 0:04:35.400 an issue they cared about, and more than two thirds 0:04:35.440 --> 0:04:38.280 would refused to do so if the company supported an 0:04:38.279 --> 0:04:41.360 issue contrary to their beliefs. I know that is very 0:04:41.400 --> 0:04:44.360 much the case with my teenage daughter, my nieces who 0:04:44.360 --> 0:04:46.919 are in their twenties and thirties, and I know I 0:04:46.960 --> 0:04:50.159 increasingly look at what a company stands for. This is 0:04:50.200 --> 0:04:52.560 what you get to and this is why it's become 0:04:52.560 --> 0:04:55.560 such an important issue for leaders and for anybody who's 0:04:55.600 --> 0:04:58.920 running a company. Yeah, if you're running a company today, 0:04:58.960 --> 0:05:02.680 you've got to move from toothless purpose to actually you 0:05:02.760 --> 0:05:07.599 need to activate your purpose um and show galvanize people. 0:05:07.760 --> 0:05:11.720 Your own people and as well as consumers. They're looking 0:05:11.760 --> 0:05:14.440 for that, that's what they're asking for. And where you know, 0:05:14.480 --> 0:05:17.200 you have to look outside in politics and in the 0:05:17.240 --> 0:05:20.080 world around us. In culture. We're living in age of activism. 0:05:20.080 --> 0:05:22.080 You know, this is the age of the conscious consumer. 0:05:22.120 --> 0:05:26.720 They're socially aware, they're connected. So you know, CEOs that 0:05:26.720 --> 0:05:28.440 are going to succeed are really going to need to 0:05:28.440 --> 0:05:31.960 move from being woke CEOs to being warrior CEOs. CEOs 0:05:32.040 --> 0:05:34.680 can actually put purpose at the core of their business 0:05:34.680 --> 0:05:38.359 strategy and activated and that's that's what we focus on 0:05:38.400 --> 0:05:44.800 in activate around purposes, helping CEO, cmos rs and even CFOs. 0:05:44.839 --> 0:05:49.080 Like if you think about this idea of UM taking 0:05:49.120 --> 0:05:52.080 equity and moving into what I would describe as a 0:05:52.279 --> 0:05:55.080 m share or a movement share. You know, if you're 0:05:55.120 --> 0:05:58.279 launching a movement, your company does have a purpose and 0:05:58.279 --> 0:06:01.600 you're activating that with movement thinking, then why couldn't you 0:06:01.839 --> 0:06:04.799 launch an m share that people can buy into because 0:06:04.839 --> 0:06:08.359 already buying into the idea, and that's highly motivating to 0:06:08.480 --> 0:06:11.440 your daughter or your son and the younger generation. Well, 0:06:11.480 --> 0:06:14.040 and you know what's interesting. I recently I mentioned talking 0:06:14.080 --> 0:06:16.920 with the CEO of Tapestry and it was a CEO 0:06:17.080 --> 0:06:20.839 panel Imax, Mozilla, Hyatt Hotels, and we were talking about 0:06:20.880 --> 0:06:24.560 disruption as an economic driver that you were forced your 0:06:24.600 --> 0:06:27.320 businesses were you didn't have a choice, were disrupted by 0:06:27.320 --> 0:06:30.160 the pandemic. But in some ways it expedited some of 0:06:30.160 --> 0:06:33.040 the initiatives that you had in place. But maybe we're 0:06:33.040 --> 0:06:35.720 going to take longer, whether it was a digital strategy 0:06:35.800 --> 0:06:38.800 or what have you. What is it about activating though 0:06:38.839 --> 0:06:43.120 a brand purpose is really important in terms of an 0:06:43.160 --> 0:06:45.039 economic driver. And I think it gets back to what 0:06:45.080 --> 0:06:49.600 I said before about consumers care right, clients care about 0:06:49.640 --> 0:06:56.320 that purpose. We just completed uh, the second Purpose Power Index. 0:06:56.800 --> 0:06:59.680 It's the world's first empirical measure of purpose brands. We 0:06:59.760 --> 0:07:03.719 had seventeen half thousands consumer responses in the United States 0:07:03.720 --> 0:07:07.799 and it's absolutely clear this is what consumers are rewarding. 0:07:07.800 --> 0:07:11.200 Their rewarding brands that are activating their purpose and they 0:07:11.240 --> 0:07:14.160 see through brands that only put purpose in their advertising 0:07:14.240 --> 0:07:17.520 or you just use it as surface. And it is 0:07:18.040 --> 0:07:22.680 of you know, a very high um importance to the 0:07:22.760 --> 0:07:26.360 consumers who are you know, looking into the world right now. 0:07:26.520 --> 0:07:29.080 The enormity of the challenges that we face in the 0:07:29.120 --> 0:07:33.880 planet are coming home to the younger generation millennials, you know, 0:07:34.000 --> 0:07:36.600 more than others. Of course, it's rells into everyone, but 0:07:37.080 --> 0:07:39.560 particularly in this younger generation, they think that, you know, 0:07:39.680 --> 0:07:42.240 companies have messed up the world, and they're looking for 0:07:42.280 --> 0:07:44.680 companies that are willing to put it out there that 0:07:44.720 --> 0:07:47.320 they're willing to tackle some of these bigger issues that 0:07:47.360 --> 0:07:50.680 are threatening the planet, the civilization, or our community, and 0:07:50.720 --> 0:07:52.680 they're rewarding them for it. And that's why you're seeing, 0:07:53.240 --> 0:07:57.040 you know, company leaders coming out strongly for things that 0:07:57.320 --> 0:07:59.800 you know, historically would never come out or whether it's 0:08:00.240 --> 0:08:04.640 legislation or it's for sustainability and climate change, they are 0:08:04.680 --> 0:08:08.400 coming yet because their consumers are demanding that there's action. 0:08:08.880 --> 0:08:11.400 And that's why you're seeing some CEOs doing it and 0:08:11.440 --> 0:08:13.960 they're being highly rewarded for it. And those that aren't, 0:08:14.360 --> 0:08:17.240 those who, as I said, have embraced what I think 0:08:17.600 --> 0:08:20.120 is a toothless purpose in other words, of purpose that 0:08:20.160 --> 0:08:22.360 they frame and they put it on the wall to 0:08:22.480 --> 0:08:27.240 wrap rapturous applause by their own leadership or executive that's 0:08:27.240 --> 0:08:29.000 not going to do anything in this through the world. 0:08:29.040 --> 0:08:31.160 You can't just put your head in the sand like 0:08:31.240 --> 0:08:34.080 an ostrig and hope everything goes away. You know, there's 0:08:34.080 --> 0:08:37.760 there's also councel culture which is a strong motivation for 0:08:37.840 --> 0:08:41.439 leaders to activate their purpose. Well. And it's interesting too though, 0:08:41.920 --> 0:08:43.880 and we talk about this a lot, Scott. When it 0:08:43.920 --> 0:08:46.079 comes to E s G. You can't just kind of 0:08:46.120 --> 0:08:49.440 slap a label on something, do greenwashing when it comes 0:08:49.440 --> 0:08:52.760 to s G, but not actually walk the talk. And 0:08:52.800 --> 0:08:55.079 that's a lot of what you get into. And I 0:08:55.160 --> 0:08:57.720 guess that's what you mean by activating purpose. Right. You 0:08:57.720 --> 0:08:59.760 can just you can say we're a good company, we 0:08:59.800 --> 0:09:04.320 stay them for this. But then then what well you 0:09:04.400 --> 0:09:06.959 have to you know, you can't just to your point, 0:09:07.160 --> 0:09:10.040 you know, greenwash or purpose wash. I mean, we worked 0:09:10.080 --> 0:09:17.480 on Proctor and Gamble strategy, sustainability strategy. We developed um 0:09:17.640 --> 0:09:22.000 a approach called future Friendly which took you know, elements 0:09:22.040 --> 0:09:26.720 of that company's where where they were actually making significant 0:09:27.400 --> 0:09:30.320 progress in sustainability, and we turned that into a strategy 0:09:30.320 --> 0:09:33.440 that could be embraced by everyone inside the company. And 0:09:33.440 --> 0:09:36.360 if you ask people inside that company today, they will 0:09:36.400 --> 0:09:40.280 tell you that they are making significant impacts in water 0:09:40.679 --> 0:09:44.280 usage as as a core pillar of the strategy. Before that, 0:09:44.320 --> 0:09:46.480 you know, if you would have just ran an ad 0:09:46.520 --> 0:09:51.079 and said, well tide saves you water. Okay, that's a benefit, 0:09:52.000 --> 0:09:53.800 I guess because it's cheaper. You don't have to spend 0:09:53.840 --> 0:09:55.760 so much money with hot water in your washing machine. 0:09:56.360 --> 0:09:58.840 But if you have consumers that are actually looking for 0:09:59.200 --> 0:10:03.240 sustainability e s g. Proof that companies are actually making impact, 0:10:03.440 --> 0:10:05.960 you need to figure out a strategy that you can 0:10:06.000 --> 0:10:10.439 take your c s R, your actual sustainability products and 0:10:11.520 --> 0:10:14.360 decisions that you're making and put in a blender and 0:10:14.920 --> 0:10:17.880 develop a purpose and then activate it with a movement. 0:10:18.520 --> 0:10:21.160 Hey listen, just got about forty seconds here. Forty five 0:10:21.640 --> 0:10:24.200 unfortunate because we're running out of time. Our audience is 0:10:24.200 --> 0:10:27.280 a smart audience. It's investors right there looking for trends, 0:10:27.320 --> 0:10:29.480 are looking to understand things. What do you think they 0:10:29.559 --> 0:10:32.560 need to understand about what you were saying and what's 0:10:32.559 --> 0:10:34.800 in your book? And again, just got about forty seconds here. 0:10:35.240 --> 0:10:36.560 I think the key thing is there are a lot 0:10:36.600 --> 0:10:38.600 of companies out there that are doing the same kind 0:10:38.600 --> 0:10:41.880 of thing. The ones that are going to break through 0:10:42.360 --> 0:10:45.200 are the ones that have a purpose. Companies and leaders 0:10:45.800 --> 0:10:48.400 who don't just start a business but actually try to 0:10:48.440 --> 0:10:51.600 solve the world problem are going to end up doing 0:10:51.640 --> 0:10:54.880 extremely well, and those are the companies that will will thrive. 0:10:55.160 --> 0:10:57.360 So you know, I would invest in a company that 0:10:57.480 --> 0:11:00.600 has a purpose that is at devating it. You know, 0:11:00.600 --> 0:11:02.720 if all things being equal, if you have, for example, 0:11:03.400 --> 0:11:06.240 ten different financial lots that are helping you pay for things, 0:11:06.600 --> 0:11:09.480 and one of them is taking a stand for something 0:11:09.520 --> 0:11:12.520 that is highly motivating to a large group of people, 0:11:12.640 --> 0:11:16.000 that is going to do better now, I agree, and 0:11:16.040 --> 0:11:18.640 I think the conversation has definitely shifted a lot towards 0:11:18.679 --> 0:11:21.480 more of this uh and we're seeing it in certainly 0:11:21.480 --> 0:11:24.120 institutional investors are talking a lot more about this kind 0:11:24.120 --> 0:11:26.480 of thing. Scott, thank you so much. Scott Goodson. He's 0:11:26.520 --> 0:11:29.480 founder and chief executive officer at Strawberry Frog. Check out 0:11:29.520 --> 0:11:32.120 the book Activate Brand Purpose, How to harness the power 0:11:32.120 --> 0:11:35.400 of movements to transform your company. This is something you know. 0:11:35.559 --> 0:11:37.959 You've been listening the CEOs that we talked to, This 0:11:38.040 --> 0:11:41.560 is on their minds big time. Have a good evening, everybody. 0:11:41.600 --> 0:11:42.960 This is Bloomberg Radio.