Disaster Marketing Shifts Toward Compassion and Solutions
Hurricanes, tornadoes, wildfires. As natural disasters become more common in part due to climate change, marketing to the victims has evolved to be more compassionate and solution-oriented. Associate professor of marketing Jonathan Zhang says companies were focused on maximizing profit in the 80s and 90s, but that has changed as younger generations grow older.
Transcript
00:00 (explosion)
00:02 - Hurricanes, tornadoes, wildfires.
00:05 As natural disasters become more common
00:07 in part due to climate change,
00:09 marketing to victims has evolved
00:10 to be more compassionate and solution-oriented.
00:14 Associate Professor of Marketing, Jonathan Zhang,
00:16 says companies were focused on maximizing profit
00:19 in the 80s and 90s,
00:20 but that has changed as younger generations grow older.
00:23 - They realize that there are all of these other issues
00:26 that we have in society, right?
00:28 They become more socially conscious
00:29 and as a result, from customer side,
00:33 from the investor side, from the management side,
00:35 there's this convergence to turn this traditional idea
00:38 of company being profit-driven
00:40 to be more purpose and socially driven.
00:42 - A recent example of this is when Spam donated
00:45 $1 million worth of its canned meat products
00:47 to Maui wildfire victims.
00:49 The company says the people of Hawaii have a special place
00:52 in both the history and heart of its brand.
00:55 Zhang says there are four things businesses
00:57 should keep in mind to be more empathetic after tragedy,
01:00 sensitivity, relevance, pricing, and honesty.
01:03 He says they should avoid capitalizing
01:05 on someone's misfortune and instead promote products
01:09 or services that are relevant to the needs of victims.
01:12 Companies also need to make sure not to inflate prices
01:14 in response to increased demand following a disaster
01:18 and fulfill the promises that they make.
01:20 All this, he says, will help businesses to be successful
01:23 while also making a difference.