Sustainability is not just about slapping it on.

Attitude marketing is a hype topic. But why? Companies could also advertise with the product benefits. Ines Imdahl, psychologist and founder of rheingold salon, gives answers on how to do it – and how not to.

An interview by Juliane Paperlein – first published here on horizont.net.

Purpose marketing is booming. Why is it so exciting for advertisers?
Purpose has become a huge hype topic in companies since the beginning of the crises. Many people have been concerned with finding meaning, with questions such as: Do I still enjoy my job? Is my employer still properly aligned? This wave arrived at companies under the name Purpose and led to them occupying topics such as diversity, sustainability or body positivity. But these are just as little purposes for a company as growth. It's a hygiene factor.

What is purpose in the narrower sense?

Purpose is simply the company's purpose. And in Germany, that must not be to make money, but to offer customers added value. For example, if someone develops a device to hammer nails into the wall and calls it a hammer, this company creates added value because the hammer makes people's everyday lives a little easier. This applies to hammers, instant soups and perfumes. Perfume, for example, makes people's everyday lives easier by making them feel more comfortable in their skin. When we go into companies today, many employees can at best name the brand positioning, but no longer the added value they deliver to people.

Actually quite simple. Where do the sustainability topics belong then?

They are corporate goals. Companies are not on the planet to be sustainable, but to offer something that brings people added value and meaning. They have to differentiate themselves in the competition and that's where sustainability is often pushed to the fore. It becomes difficult if sustainability is just slapped on, because I can only sell what is there. If the outside and inside do not match, people notice it immediately - both those in the organization and those outside. We see that clearly in our research.

So rather be careful with attitude in advertising?

Not necessarily. Attitude advertising pays off in the long term if I consistently stand by my values, my meaning, even in sales. The UN has defined a total of 17 ESG goals, from health and education to clean energy and gender equality. It's about finding the right thing for your own company.

As soon as you show a clear edge, the next shitstorm is often just a few clicks away. For example, Budweiser, who worked with transgender influencer Dylan Mulvaney in April and ended the collaboration when a storm of outrage broke out among conservative users.

Was that attitude or pandering? I would say clear pandering. It is more of a typical example of how attitude advertising does not work. It seems as if Budweiser arbitrarily picked out a topic that moves society without being able to establish a connection to the actual corporate purpose. Attitude marketing didn't work here because it had nothing to do with its own attitude. You have to be able to tell a good story. Hanging on to a trend somehow is not an attitude. By the way, attitude can also mean being uncomfortable, taking opinions that do not correspond to the mainstream.

Anheuser-Busch's profit and market share fell massively in the second quarter of 2023. You should rather advise: hands off.

Our research shows that consumers unfortunately quickly forget scandals of any kind because people are on the go in a certain form of convenience and want to continue using their products. They want to trust the companies to fix it, that they are the good ones. The last ones left. They no longer believe in politics and want companies to always be one step ahead in terms of saving the world, always a little better than themselves. That's why they don't look so much at greenwashing anymore - because they realize how difficult it is to change their own behavior.

Is there a risk that consumers will tire of the many attitude campaigns?

Yes, very much so. In our last study, we found that people say: sustainability is written everywhere and you don't know what is true and what is not anymore. This also affects the companies where ESG goals are part of the DNA. You have to help the really good companies to prevail. That is my purpose, that is what I want.