Question

You have been approached to develop a 2-paged paper as a guide to advise the cabinet secretary for Industry, Trade and Co-operatives. The problem at hand is that there seems to be a major lapse in marketing ethics. (5 Marks)

Answer 1

Marketing is an acitivity and process for creating & communicating , delivering value which is win win for customers partners & society

Marketing doesn’t always have the best reputation – and in the past that’s often been well deserved – but here’s a short list of some steps you can do to help make your company and marketing strategies more ethical for the organisation in the country in concern.

1. Be honest
   Probably the main thing within ethical marketing is to be honest – it seems like such an obvious thing to say but marketing has not always had a great reputation for telling the truth. It’s important to concentrate on the positives rather than on the issues of others or lie. Whatever your product or service there will always be positives to concentrate on; it is not worth risking your relationship with your customers by being struck in a lie. In the past people have made dubious decisions when it comes to their marketing, made outlandish claims which are either not true or certainly cannot be quantified. If you wish to promote an ethical practices, you have to promote or Instruct organisations to concentrate on what is true.Keep to the fact, keep to the positives tell people the truth about why they should want your product.
2. Check the companies you use in your supply chain
   You can be as ethical as you like but if the companies in your area are not then you may find you’re doing as much damage. It is important that you know how your supply chain or the people that you use do business. You should find out about their environmental practices, about their diversity, about how they treat their staff and the communities around them. By only working with other ethical companies you will encourage more companies to be ethical.The more companies demand their suppliers to be ethical the more reason there are for those suppliers to try.
3. Check advertisement style  
4. It is becoming more and more important that you keep a close eye on the  brand safety and make sure that where and how the advertise matches the ethical viewpoint the organsiations wish to portray the  company as having. It is no longer acceptable to sell yourself as an ethical company if you do not pay attention to where you are advertising. Customers and clients expect the companies they do business with to not appear in places which may be viewed as controversial at best.It is important that you make these considerations when the industry have to advertise as more and more where you advertise is seen as a reflection on the way that you do business. Brand safety has probably never been as important as it is now so this has to be considered when moving forward.
5. Engagement
   One of the most important things you can do in marketing in general is know your client base. When you talking about marketing it’s a great idea to have some kind of dialogue with that client base to see what it is that they’re looking for from you and to build up a relationship. Without that kind of dialogue it’s very difficult to maintain the closeness with customers that is important to create the longevity of any company. There is also the opportunity to try and help both your customers and the community in how you do your marketing.You could also look at helping your local community in other ways such as sponsoring events or even giving your services: all of this helps both the local community and also helps to market yourself as a caring and ethical company. Doing what you can for local or national causes is also a great way to gain both publicity and respect for doing the right thing. Engagement on all levels is important in business and more so if you’re trying to be ethical. Creating this link with your customers allows them to speak to you directly about what may be some of the issues  about your business, and also allows you to speak to them about ways in which you could improve. They can speak to you about ways in which you could appeal to them more, all of which can help you to gain more customers in the long run as well as helping to solidify your reputation as a company who listens and cares about its customers.
6. Be environmentally friendly
   This is another one which is probably quite obvious but where at all possible look out for the environment. This is one of those things it can be done in so many different ways – in small ways and in large ways. It can be as simple as fitting sensors to switch the lights off when there’s nobody in the offices, to minimise packaging , to using petrol and diesel less within your transportation.To focus more on the new coming up thing as EV - in many forms of life. It can be a unique selling point that you do something in an environmentally friendly fashion when others in similar situations do not. It can be something that you use to show people how serious you are about future generations and it can help to build your legacy.Even companies who are not necessarily known for having the best ethical viewpoint are now beginning to see that creating environmental programs can help not only with the supply chain but with public perception. People expect their ethical companies to have ethical viewpoints and so the treatment of the environment is one of the most important in the eyes of many customers.

My suggestions on the above six steps , one can definatey improve on the lapse on the marketing ethics.Even it will help improve on the public relationship &  Brand Safety.