The moral logic goes like this: if everyone in a particular culture accepts something or some way of doing or saying something, then it must be okay. If they don’t, appealing to it will be offensive. And if something is commonly loved or adored, appealing to it, suggesting it, or associating with it will illicit feelings of love and adoration. In addition, we find that advertisements are being used to change social values, ostensibly to make their products more acceptable. But values and morals of advertisers are being foisted upon public in process. What “makes sense” to owners and advertisers is communicated through ads. And it is being done through an appeal to popularity.

Appeal To Popularity The word popular literally means of people, or by people, and even for people—the populus. Thus, an appeal to popularity always requires and carries moral and political overtones. That is to say that all advertising is necessarily political, as well as moral. The point of this discussion is to demonstrate that advertising industry and its people are endowed with greater moral responsibility than average bear, simply because of what they do for a living, like it or not.

We began by talking about state of world, moral crisis that currently engulfs United States of America. For instance, consider Enron and unfolding fiasco of corporate scandal, graft and corruption at highest levels of American society—the levels at which advertising is determined. Owners and CEOs establish or approve advertising polities.

Or consider alcoholism and substance abuse that runs rampant in every community, large or small, urban, rural or suburban. Or consider blatant sexual promiscuity that saturates both media and corporate world. What effect, if any, do you suppose that our moral crisis has in minds of faithful Muslims? Or in minds of anyone concerned about honesty, integrity or justice? Might this be related to our war on terrorism?

See The Mosque to Commerce: Bin Laden's special complaint with World Trade Center, by Laurie Kerr, See The Mosque to Commerce: Bin Laden's special complaint with World Trade Center, by Laurie Kerr, http://slate.msn.com/id/2060207/

Responsibilty Regardless of who is responsible for moral morass in which we find our nation, we can each take responsibility for not contributing to problem. If we can’t make things better, we can at least do everything we can to keep them from getting worse.

People in advertising industry, and particularly creative people—designers, artists, and writers—face a moral dilemma every day, just by very nature of work they do. To fail to recognize it as a moral concern is itself immoral or amoral, neither of which are morally neutral positions. As influencers of social morality, we can accept our responsibility and take high road by appealing to moral virtues, like maturity, honesty, integrity, character, industry and excellence. Or we can take low road and appeal to what we call in our house adolescent values of bump and grind, values that imply, are associated with, or suggest sexual promiscuity, violence, destruction, dishonesty, lust, greed and laziness.

Neither list is comprehensive.

As old saying goes, you can be part of problem, or part of solution. This is a free country. It’s your choice.

©2003 Phillip A. Ross

Buzz, Gossip, and Reputation Public opinion, also known as buzz, gossip, or reputation, is most effective and efficient means of business promotion. Word spreads on its own power. When people talk, people listen.

The key to long range business success is, then, to do everything possible to insure that reputation of business is, first, stellar, and then, familiar. By stellar we mean that values of honesty, integrity and compassion function at every level of business operation. And by familiar we mean a matter of common or public knowledge. Don't be overwhelmed. The aim is not perfection, but maturity, in same sense that maturity is valuable to personal development.

Any attempt to convey impression of such values apart from actually incorporating them into life and operation of a business will, in time, come to be understood by public as deceitful, superficial and immature. All such efforts are harmful to a business because they contribute to negative buzz (a negative reputation), which is more harmful than no buzz at all. An unknown company has a better reputation than a company known for greedy and deceitful practices. And a company known for honesty, integrity and compassion will engender customer (or public) trust and loyalty over long run.

Businesses not guided by long-range perspectives, values and goals actually harm themselves by delaying operational adjustments that will be increasingly difficult and costly to make. The least expensive way to do something is to do it right, because doing it over always increases expenses.

The Virtuous Cycle Advertising, marketing and public relations work best on this kind of foundation. When substance of campaign is actually in best interests of customer(s), people take notice. When motives of a business transaction serve success of company and well-being of its customer(s), a kind of business momentum known as a virtuous cycle is born.

A virtuous cycle is a kind of positive symbiosis, or mutually beneficial relationship between two entities. Here those entities are a business and its customers, or public. James Surowiecki has written an interesting article on virtuous cycle (http://www.forbes.com/work/free_forbes/2002/1223/248.html). While this article is about an historical virtuous cycle among Quaker businessmen, Quakerism is not necessary to such a cycle. However, a moral consensus among those involved in cycle is necessary. Call it what you want, but it appears to be a kind of common faith, where content of faith is honesty, integrity and maturity.

It’s more than stupid economy. Character not only counts, but adds up to sustainable profitability over time.

The ideal advertising or promotional campaign will employ instruments of branding (logos, mottos and like), not merely to create an impression or image in minds of customers, but to allow public to associate a particular business entity with high moral ground. The purpose is to remind target audience of character and principles of business. Again, those characteristics and principles must first be in place.

Advertising Success Two things affect success of such advertising campaigns in marketplace. First, public must share values of character and principles of business to some degree. That consensus must be in place between business and its customers. A side benefit pertains to quality or character of customers such a business will attract. Don't we want honest, mature customers?

The associations being suggested by a campaign must resonate as valuable and important to target audience. And, second, associations should involve more substance than image, more reality than perception. The idea is not to create an image, but to reveal a reality. Advertising and promotional campaigns should take high road. They should endeavor to help businesses to actually occupy high ground of honesty, integrity, character, industry and excellence, not to merely suggest them.

There is little value in simply knowing or communicating name of a business. Rather, purpose of a campaign should be to associate a business brand with its actual character and principles. This approach can be successful in marketplace because character and principles are important values of human experience. And because they are already important to majority of people, and important to development of personal maturity, they will be recognized and remembered. Even when people don't practice such virtues themselves, they are valued for their inherent worthiness. People feel good about associating with worthy values.

Empty Advertising Of course, it is possible to generate impression of business virtue apart from its reality. But over time, such an approach will produce a negative effect because people will discover ruse. Lies universally generate hostility, even among thieves. No one appreciates a liar. People don't like being fooled. Consequently, businesses should concern themselves with getting their own houses in order, and on quality branding, prior to embarking on an advertising or promotional campaign.

It should also be noted that advertising and promotional campaigns can and should be used internally to encourage and reinforce development of particular principles or values within a company. Such efforts often involve programs of workplace value enhancement. Certain behaviors can be encouraged through use of incentive programs. Honesty and integrity can be rewarded within company to encourage their adoption as company policy. Programs can be developed that will remind and encourage kind of character and principles that a company would be proud to show to public. And public will be delighted to see them, and will reward such companies with business and loyalty.

Done right, advertising and promotional campaigns can build a profitable virtuous cycle between companies and customers. And they don't have to be loud and obnoxious.

©2003 Phillip A. Ross