Beyond the Cup.. The Nescafe Plan!

Ethics are becoming a huge responsibility for companies involved in the social media world nowadays, as consumers are looking to be truthful and honest to. As hard as it is to win consumers’ trust and loyalty in the real world, it is 10 times as hard to win their trust within the online sphere. The reason being that consumers hear hundreds of stories about people being scummed on the Internet and obviously no one wants to fall within that trap. It’s almost as if companies have to prove themselves and show consumers that ethics are very important to them, in order to win their devoted attention and time.

As green ethics and environmental concerns are one of the most popular topics on the planet, it is ideal for brands to form campaigns, or even add a section on their website, about green issues. Of course, not just any company can do that! A global brand, which has achieved this very well is Nescafe. Nescafe developed a campaign called ‘Beyond the cup, the Nescafe plan’. Briefly, the idea of it is to show their customers how pure their coffee is and how respectful it is towards the environment. 

“The first important thing that you need to realise as a business owner is that when you join a social network you are joining a community”, states Michael Craig on his article on Ethical Issues in Advertising with Social Media Marketing. Nescafe are backing the previous quote, as they are forming a campaign that’s definitely an issue of concern to their target audience, which shows that the brand is sympathising towards the audience’s concerns and supporting them by verifying that the brand is ‘good’ to the environment as well as its farmers. From a personal view, this campaign has helped Nescafe with its online presence, as their target audience is of older age they needed to create a buzz online, which would be of popular discussion point amongst their consumers. Forming a concern of ethical matters to their consumers, such as protecting the environment and sustainability, is a way to get the audience involved within the social media, without disturbing their privacy and bombarding them with forced emails, which is one thing consumers don’t want! Michael Craig quotes, “as any community in real life, your business has a place in the community but should not invade one’s privacy. If you are pushy in your marketing campaign, you will fail in your Internet business”. Instead, Nescafe give their consumers the opportunity to sign up online, which is also a great way of measuring the success of their campaign amongst their target audience!

Nescafe seem to be ticking all the online media boxes, with keeping their website up to date and posting articles regarding their ‘beyond the cup’ campaign, keeping their audience informed and updated. So, if you are a little curious or interested to see what Nescafe do beyond the cup, check out their website on their sustainability page http://www.nescafe.com/sustainability-uk/Pages/default.aspx !