So there’s a theory that I’ve been touting around for the last few months, and I’d like to reexamine it in light of some new thinking.
The theory: It is going to take large, mainstream, consumer-facing brands with high levels of public interaction to push the needle on key social issues. These big companies have the potential to shift consumer behavior, and as such are the ones that should be held responsible for championing social progress.
The recent thinking (observation, really): There are a number of new startups in the social innovation space that are building their business models with social progress agendas baked in from square one. They’ve seen the sustainability light, and realize that starting with objectives that simultaneously address financial and social objectives is the only way forward.
What’s causing this reexamination, in large part, is the increasingly unavoidable trend of local. This idea has moved well beyond the green and foodie spaces, and is now prevalent in most industries imaginable. So, how to reconcile the idea that big, commercial companies have the power to drive social change when there is an obvious consumer desire to support things going on in their own communities?
My answer – or prediction – is that there’s room for both: A hybrid economy for social consumerism. Maybe this sort of egalitarianism is a cop out. Maybe it’s naïve to think that there can be two “winners”. But to me it’s alarmingly simple – and that’s why I believe it has potential.
The big, existing brands that are able to truly restructure their models to incorporate social values at every level will survive — alongside the nimble, new, social startups. In an inspiring paradigm shift, perhaps big business will start taking a page from the playbooks of socially innovative ventures. And maybe the small and social will lead the big and social.
There’s no doubt that our current economy calls for agility and flexibility. But I don’t think it’s fair to say that just because your company has a long – and maybe tumultuous – history, it’s to late to make changes. It just might be harder.
The new startups that are constructing their business models right the first time around certainly have a leg up. They have a clean slate and an opportunity to learn from the mistakes of those before them. They have different “rules” and are able to tread far more lightly.
But we must remember that humans are creatures of habit. And that might be the only thing the established brands have on the newbies. But it’s something, and it’s not insignificant.
Let’s be sure not oversimplify: Making the transition from a sales-centered, money-driven, single-bottom-line model to one where creating shared (social) value is integral to your success is no easy feat – and many companies won’t be able to get there. (*To be crystal clear: I’m not talking about initiating a new CSR department or rolling out a spanking new cause marketing campaign. I’m talking full blown, sans silos, fully integrated business models where financial profit and social progress happen in tandem.) It will be survival of the fittest, but I believe that there are innovative minds planted all across the commercial world that will help the strongest rise to the top.
So in the spirit of integration, transparency, collaboration, and healthy competition, I look forward to this portrait of a hybrid social consumerism coming to fruition.
Image credit: jaqian