Human rights and marketing as strange bedfellows

 
Advertising industry This year's New York Advertising Week was dedicated entirely to the good cause. 
Modesty is not exactly a strong point among American advertising professionals. Traffic chaos in Manhattan? Clogged sidewalks, overcrowded restaurants, jostling pedestrians - by no means an outgrowth of the annual opening of the UN General Assembly or the visit of the Iranian president. No, according to the industry, Manhattan is so crowded because "Advertising Week" was also held here in the last week of September. 60,000 people attended the week-long industry event, according to the organizers, which was founded in 2004 with the intention of boosting the industry, which was suffering from the onset of the recession at the time. The city of New York earns over 50 million dollars a year from the spectacle. Visitors to the 80 or so events and networking events are happy to spend a lot of money.
This year's Advertising Week focused on cause marketing, i.e. campaigns and efforts that benefit the environment and social causes. "Cause marketing plays a hugely important role today, if only because consumers don't trust social institutions and companies," says Samantha Taylor, one of the visitors and founder of the communications agency Reputation Dynamics. "Companies have no choice but to bow to this, and advertising is following suit."
Advertising Week also tried to convince visitors and itself that it is possible to do good with the help of advertising. This was most vividly demonstrated on a panel presenting the "Save Darfur" campaign. Human rights activist John Prendergast probably expressed the feelings of some of the representatives of aid organizations present, such as the UN and Amnesty International, when he called the combination of marketing and human rights "strange bedfellows". Nevertheless, "advertising is the element in our work that is missing the most", he said, pointing out that it is only the commitment of Hollywood stars such as George Clooney or Don Cheadle that can shake up the public.
The campaign was commissioned by the non-profit organization "Save Darfur" with the aim of "making itself obsolete," said David Tobey, creative director of the agency responsible, GMMB. "Not exactly a good client". The campaign consisted of print and internet ads, TV and radio spots as well as a poster component and a guerrilla action and primarily showed those affected in the refugee camps. "Genocide is not easy to communicate," summarized GMMB partner David Mitchell. The greatest success for him was when the Sudanese government complained that the campaign had "turned the world against us".
Another part of the Advertising Week initiative was the "Act Responsibly" exhibition, which brought together motifs from a wide range of international cause marketing activities, including Young & Rubicam's "Bread for All" campaign in Zurich. "Together, the advertising industry can really make a difference," says Hervé de Clerck, initiator of the exhibition and founder of the Adforum. The typical cycle first became visible in the dynamics of global warming: "It started with the scientists, then came the NGOs, then the media, the public, the governments and finally the brand companies, and they brought advertising on board."
One of the oldest campaigns for a good cause in the USA is the "Pink Ribbon", the pink ribbon symbolizing the fight against breast cancer. The pioneer here is the cosmetics company Avon, which has been committed to the cause for 17 years and is considered a dinosaur among marketing philanthropists. For Avon, the aim of the campaign is to remain relevant in the growing clutter of good deeds. "I can only advise those responsible at other companies to focus on one cause instead of getting lost in the general din with a multitude of initiatives," says Carol Kurzig, Director of the Avon Foundation. "The best thing is to be fully committed to one cause."
Gerti Schön, New York