Building a Positive Brand Image Through Ethical Marketing Strategies

References

• Keller, K. L. (2021). Strategic Brand Management: Building, Measuring, and Managing Brand Equity. Pearson Education.

• Kotler, P., & Sarkar, C. (2020). Brand Activism: From Purpose to Action. Idea Bite Press.

• Maignan, I., & Ferrell, O. C. (2022). Corporate social responsibility and marketing: An integrative framework. Journal of the Academy of Marketing Science, 50(3), 591–611. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11747-021-00828-4

• Lee, K., & Kotler, P. (2022). Social Marketing: Behavior Change for Social Good (6th ed.). Sage Publications.

• Rokka, J., & Hietanen, J. (2023). Rethinking brand purpose and social good in post-pandemic marketing. European Journal of Marketing, 57(1), 45–67. https://doi.org/10.1108/EJM-04-2022-0345

Marketing Strategy for Good – Part 1

The marketing world is a fast-paced environment where business promotes the buying and selling of products and services. Marketing plays a vital role in connecting organizations with their audiences in a meaningful and strategic way. While marketing includes advertising, selling, and delivering products to consumers or other businesses, there are many facets that need to be considered when developing a marketing strategy to ensure success for the business as well as the consumer. Strong strategies not only enhance profit but also foster brand loyalty and trust over time.

For this Assignment, you will take on the role of a marketing professional to develop a persuasive marketing strategy for good. The task encourages you to think critically and creatively as a real-world problem solver in today’s competitive market. Your goal is to help society while being cognizant of the organization’s mission and goals. Your task is to design a social media/social marketing campaign for your organization that would promote diversity and inclusion and could help benefit the company. Adding a socially responsible component can help enhance the brand’s image and connect emotionally with its audience. Your decisions must align with the company’s mission and goals. You may choose a well-known company or make up a mock organization and identify the tactics, strategies, and influencers needed to ensure your campaign will reach a diverse audience.

For the purposes of this exercise, here are some guidelines:

You will choose the company (or type of company) and create a narrative for the specific opportunity the business is considering (in other words why the company wants to do this and what benefit or position this campaign could give the company, as well as how it could promote positive change). It’s important to ensure that your proposed campaign aligns with both consumer values and organizational ethics.
Your selected organization could be a company where you have worked or with which you are familiar, or you could locate an example of a company and use it as the basis for your narrative. This flexibility allows you to tailor the project to your own experiences and areas of interest.
Note: If you select a company with which you do not have personal experience, some of the questions related to the campaign specifics may be more challenging to answer; however, you should feel free to use your creativity to respond to the questions. Imaginative and realistic storytelling can make your proposal more compelling and engaging.
Provide information that will help you craft your narrative for the campaign. The purpose of this activity is to demonstrate your ability to think through and develop marketing solutions to business problems, not to have all the “right” answers. Effective campaigns often evolve from innovative thinking and a willingness to take calculated risks.
Once you have selected your organization, you will need to identify a positive-social-change-related outcome/goal for the organization. This will be the foundation upon which your strategy is built and the measure by which success can be evaluated.
With those thoughts in mind, begin constructing your marketing campaign design document, being sure to incorporate appropriate examples, where applicable, as well as citations for relevant academic sources from the classroom, the Walden Library, and/or other appropriate scholarly sources to support your work. Credible evidence strengthens your rationale and ensures academic rigor throughout your analysis.

Note: Your marketing campaign design document will be submitted over the course of 3 weeks. Keeping a clear timeline will help you plan your research and content development effectively. In Week 9, you will use the same document to develop and submit Part 2. In Week 10, you will finalize the document, to include Part 3. Setting milestones each week will allow for consistent progress and refinement.

To prepare for this Assignment:

Refer to the guidelines for this exercise to choose a company. Taking time to understand the company’s brand and mission is essential before designing your campaign.
Download Module 3 Assignment Template. Note: Be sure to keep a copy of your completed Assignment this week, as you will be adding to the same file for your Weeks 9 and 10 Assignments. Staying organized will make your work easier as you expand your ideas over time.

Part 1: Laying the Foundation for Persuasive Marketing Tactics (2–3 Pages)

Examine the selected organization, its mission (and goals, if available), what products or services (or both) it offers, and its customer base, including any sub-groups that might currently apply. Comprehensive research into these elements will help ensure your strategy fits the company’s values and audience.
Use your creative license to identify a positive-social-change-related outcome/goal for the organization that will be used as the basis for the social media marketing campaign. (In other words, in what way is the company trying to bring about positive social change, be a force for good, etc.?) Emphasizing positive change helps align marketing with ethical leadership and community engagement.
Synthesize the business opportunities and goals for the marketing campaign. (In other words, what is the expected/desired outcome?) Define both qualitative and quantitative metrics to measure your success effectively.
Describe the persuasive marketing tactics that will be used to execute your campaign strategy. Practical examples and reasoning should guide your choices to ensure the tactics are relevant and impactful.
Analyze the internal strengths and weaknesses and external opportunities and threats that this opportunity presents for the company (SWOT). Use insights from this analysis to develop a well-rounded and informed strategy.