Mediaboss Marketing

By Jeff Beer 4 minute Read

For the past few decades, its been best known as Apples ad agency. The partnership between the Cupertino tech giant and TBWAMedia Arts Lab has been among the tightest ever between an agency and a brand. Read any Steve Jobs biography and youre sure tofind TBWAMALs creative chairman Lee Clow.

Afew years ago, the agency launched a separate social impact division called MALFor Good that focusedexclusively on marketing and advertising with a goal of making the world a better place. Its most high-profile workwon gold at Cannes Lions in 2015 forConservation Internationals Nature Is Speakingcampaign, and the agency helped Laurene Powell Jobs launch the non-profitXQ Super School. Other campaigns include work forChicago Cred, a job-training and anti-violence organization founded by former Secretary of Education Arne Duncan, environmental law organizationEarth Justice,Best Friendsanimal rescue, theMuslim Public Affairs Council,and for-profit philanthropic organizationThe Emerson Collective.The agency is also creating content for theXQ Super School Liveshow, that will air on CBS, ABC, NBC, and FOX on September 8.

But now, aligning witha rising trend in both consumer culture and marketing research, MALFor Good is expanding its scope beyond clients with a dot-org, and theyre aiming to help brands of all types use their marketing muscle to do some good while boosting their bottom line. While the agency says it wants to use its communication skills to help make the world better, recent studies suggest its also good for business.

A 2016 study by Edelman found 80% of global consumers agree that businesses must play a role in addressing societal issues. Unilever reported in 2016 that33% of consumersare now choosing to buy from brands they believe are doing social or environmental good. Deloitte reported that87% of millennialsbelieve that business success should be based on more than just profit.

Wieden+Kennedy Portland and Nike Foundation alum Julia Plowman was named MALFor Goods managing director in February, joiningglobal creative president Duncan Milner who moved over in October 2016 after leading thecreative team at TBWAMAL since 2000. Right now, MALFor Good has28employees and is growing with itsown offices on the TBWAChiatDay campus. Its alsoconverting a monster tour bus that Mitt Romney used during his presidential campaign into the MALFor Good HQ, a social impact incubator on wheels, connecting clients with creative communities.

Were growing because more and more brands are investing in social impact, says Plowman. Were here to help them do it right, do it authentically. And that takes strategy, planning, and creativity. You cant just knock-off authentic social purpose ideas; you have to build them deliberately and diligently. That takes real investment. And thats exactly what we specialize in.

After three years of helping a variety of organizations, Plowman says the time is right to expand the social impact agencys work. Milner adds tothat, saying it just makes sense asmore brands put their values into how they do business. When we started we were really focused on Laurene [Jobs] and Emerson Collectives needs, so we did that for a while, Milner says. But now we want to look past that into the future. Theres a desire for us to grow and build on that work.

Its an interesting move, to create an entire agency with this focus, given how much work traditional agencies are already doing in this space. State Streets Fearless Girl by McCann New York being the most high-profile example, but other award-winning work this year includes Ogilvy Brazils Strong Girls for Nestle, and Nomades Mexico Citys gender violence awareness campaign for Tecate. Or Nikes Equality work from Wieden+Kennedy. And thats just around gender issues and inequality.

The agency says the growthin consumer sentiment around social impact and sustainability is strong enough that it represents an entire new shift in marketing and advertising, much like how digital and then social media impacted the ad business. Before it became commonplace, there were specialistsand MALFor Good sees itself as the specialist for social impact.The agency has worked recently with Starbucks and Toms.

This is the forefront of a new focusits important to show brands how they can do it, says Plowman. Marketing is changing. Its becoming deeper, more complex, and more transparent. The work we do helps brands to communicate their values and beliefs outwardly, but also internally to employees. Ultimately, our work is about emotionally connecting a brand with its different audiences deeply.

The key for any brand looking to do more with its marketing budget is to look at it as a long-term investment. Social impact is not a gimmick.

Are you really in this or not? Your toe is dipped in but youre not committing, says Plowman. You cant change public schools, help health care or poverty with a one-off. These are long-term commitments.

The first questions to ask when incorporating social impact with a brand are: whats important to the brand, and whats important to itsaudience? The Venn diagram between the two is a good place to start in finding where that brand can make the best, most effective impact.

For me its always been about trying to find the truth, in the product, the opportunity, and work outwards from that truth, says Milner. It comes back to identifying that truth, what is authenticlets talk about that. Once you find that, and the audience it will connect with, then you have a path to follow.

Jeff Beer is a staff editor at Fast Company, covering advertising, marketing, and brand creativity. He lives in Toronto.

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From Apple To Advocacy: Why Media Arts Lab Is Doubling Down On Social Impact - Fast Company