Do Good: Embracing Brand Citizenship to Fuel Both Purpose and Profit

In a hyper-competitive, always-on world, staying relevant is tough. Will customers stick around if the economy slows or a mishap goes viral? What happens when competing products and services flood the market? Can you afford to invest in areas that might not show an immediate payoff? Based on interviews with thousands of consumers, Do Good offers a refreshingly upbeat answer: people are drawn to companies with a higher purpose--and reward them with their business. In every region, age group, and socioeconomic level, customers connect with brands that care about them, their values, and the world at large. They're more committed and less price sensitive to companies that "do good." But doing good is not just a one-time attention-getting effort. It's an ethos that permeates every aspect of an enterprise, from how it delivers products and services to the way it treats employees, the community, and the environment. People see good citizenship in companies like Apple for making communication easier, or Walmart for making life more affordable. They admire Nike and H&M for improving their overseas labor practices and channeling funds into positive efforts: athletic shoes for people with disabilities, or grants for environmentally sustainable fashion. Do Good documents this sea change affecting every industry, and proves that doing good and making profits are now inextricably linked. Packed with dozens of examples, and grounded in data from years of original research, this groundbreaking book lays out the new rules of business, and how to win with them. Anne Bahr Thompson's unique five-step Brand Citizenship(R) model will help your company cultivate the qualities that customers demand: - Trust. Clearly communicate what you offer and follow up with reliable products and services, sincerity, and reciprocity. - Enrichment. Simplify routines, make mundane tasks less dull, and enrich daily life. - Responsibility. Treat people fairly, behave ethically, acknowledge shortcomings, and strive to be better. - Community. Connect people with similar interests, rally communities, encourage behaviors, and fix social problems. - Contribution. Advocate on issues that matter to customers, improving communities and ultimately enriching the lives of fans. Fixating on quarterly results can blind you to the bigger picture: that achieving greater value, better service, better ethics, better focus on sustainability, and social good are the real, proven measures of long-term success. It's these qualities that attract people to a brand, build trust, and cement commitment--the one sure path to profitability. Do Good will show you the way. Anne Bahr Thompson is founder of the brand consultancy Onesixtyfourth and former executive director of strategy and planning at Interbrand. She has been featured in The Financial Times , The New York Times , and on Fox Business and MarketWatch Radio.