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Introduction
Recently, there has been a sound discussion regarding Gillettes new advertising campaign. A plethora of posts, opinions, and articles that define this campaign as an insignificant action within the scope of the companys corporate social responsibility (CSR) appeared. Then, there is a visible issue with the firms strategic change. It should be emphasized that the reaction and feedback from customers, as well as from many social activists, have caused several problems to Gillette. Keeping in mind that CSR and strategic changes may be perceived as a foundation for the successful and profitable operating of a firm nowadays, these problems were quite expected.
Gillettes new ad was released on January 13, 2019; in the video, the cult manufacturer of skincare products has changed its 30-year slogan (Gillette, 2019). Gillette has updated its old motto to The best men can be. This video shows the so-called male behavior that, according to the authors ideas in it, includes harassment, violence, and bullying. The main leitmotif of the ad is the fight against toxic masculinity. The video itself is an integral part of a new advertising and charity campaign, which might be called a battle against the old customs. The reaction to it was enchanting; it should be noted that many users are already saying that the video in the future may break the YouTube record for the number of dislikes. In such a situation, the word criticize in the framework of this reaction is not suitable as a wording. Because criticism, to put it mildly, does not necessarily make people who have been using a particular product for 30 years to abandon it.
The video sparked a heated discussion on social media with the participation of conservative users and activists for mens rights. The described approach to promote Gillettes products angered feminists as well. Procter & Gamble, which owns brands of both mens and womens personal care products, has been accused of trying to manipulate public opinion to use a painful issue for profit. Feminists are outraged that the years of their struggle for womens rights have turned into a piece of thoughtless advertising.
The reasons why this campaign resulted in the above issues according to a number of publications might be formulated as follows. First, inappropriate behavior may not be unique to men or boys. The idea of men as the only aggressors began to plague viewers from the very first frames of the ad. Second, the content of previous Gillette videos had opposite tendencies, so the sincerity of the message seems questionable. There are many photographs and old videos of Gillette explicitly exploiting female imagery to convey a message of masculinity. The same is characteristic of Procter & Gamble a mother company of Gillette. For instance, in 2013, when P&G launched the My Black is Beautiful campaign, the company demonstrated a double standard due to several reasons. For example, products of its leading brands such as Olay were intended to lighten the skin and sold in several countries in South Africa. All of these mechanisms made Gillettes ads look disingenuous because both men and women find it offensive when a brand with such a history of advertising starts emitting morality.
An essential question here is whether brands should address social issues in such a way or not. There is ample research showing that customers prefer brands that are passionate about social and political issues that hold the minds of a wide audience and are heavily debated by the public. According to Sprout Social (2018), 66% of consumers prefer companies that raise these issues, and more than half said they do not mind doing it on social media. It seems rational to mention that CSR theory also argues in favor of such an approach, and Gillettes strategic change here seems proper.
However, customers also want brands to be honest and sincere. If these brands do not actually participate in any social transformations, but simply create the illusion of their involvement in this, then there is no reason to be loyal. It is apparent that #MeToo is not a movement that can be exploited for profit. Customers unmistakably identify companies that want to obtain incomes founding their policies on dishonesty. Companies should consider not only creating videos but also advertising on television. They need to truly empathize with customers whose feelings are a vital aspect to take into account. Firms have to learn to provide real help and not abuse the exploitation of social issues.
The abovementioned facts are a prerequisite for a reasonable assumption that Gillette has some notable troubles with its corporate social responsibility and strategic changes. Given that the advertising campaign has taken place recently, the situation around it in the mentioned framework seems relevant to discuss. Nevertheless, it should be admitted that Gillette, as well as P&G as a whole, has developed the CSR policy that also has many significant elements that adhere to the best practices in this regard. This paper aims to investigate Gillettes problems with the ad campaign within the scope of CSR and the strategic change, determine the essentials of the latter, and provide recommendations on how the company could overcome the issue.
The Concept of CSR and Strategic Change and its Application to Gillettes Issue
CSR Theory
Corporate social responsibility is a vital element of the business policy of any recognized and significant company. CSR is a concept in which organizations take into account the interests of society, taking responsibility for the impact of their activities on customers, suppliers, employees, shareholders, and other stakeholders in the public sphere (Sechina et al., 2015, p. 1). This commitment goes beyond the law and assumes that organizations voluntarily take additional measures to improve the quality of life of employees and their families, as well as society as a whole. Stakeholders are individuals and institutions within or outside a company that either influence the way a company operates or feel affected by the companys activities (Chen, 2020). These are the state and society, investors, creditors, consumers, suppliers, workers, and managers. In the classical model, CSR is a means of private settlement of non-market relations between companies and stakeholders. For its application in domestic conditions, a third force must be introduced here government.
Only the so-called triple union of workers, employers, and authorities can achieve a balance of interests and social risks. The classical model of CSR is founded on the fact that the economic interests of the organization or the business focus not only on profit, but also on improving its own external environment or habitat (Sechina et al., 2015, p. 1). The latter consists of three dimensions social, environmental, political, and enterprises should voluntarily invest the earnings in them. The effectiveness of the CSR model is due to the openness of the society in which it is used (Carroll, 2015; Saeidi, et al., 2015). In particular, in order to solve social problems, it is essential to have a real labor market the possibility of rapid and cost-effective redistribution of labor.
Therefore, employers that are interested in loyal and skilled workers must ensure that they are attractive to potential workers. Neglecting the interests of the latter has repeatedly been leading companies to social upheavals of varying strength starting from strikes and ending with revolutions that change the social order of states. The mentioned circumstances are capable of resulting in the evolution of the basic principles of the social system towards openness (Lins, Servaes, and Tamayo, 2017; Anaejionu, no date). Moreover, they may establish the fundamental standards of mutual responsibility of business and society.
It seems rational to claim that CSR is needed for the following. Often, the distrust of business owners in society raises questions about why businesses should invest in social projects when these funds can be invested in business development. Corporate social responsibility is an effective tool for the companys self-development, as well as the development of local communities and building a constructive dialogue with various sectors of society. By investing in societal support programs, the company ensures sustainable development in the future (Investopedia, 2020). Implementation of CSR projects increases the companys investment attractiveness, strengthens its reputation, and promotes the hiring and retention of highly qualified employees. Finally, it improves productivity, maintains the success, brand recognition, and trust of the target customers, as well as forms a positive opinion about the firms products.
The Concept of Strategic Change
Strategic changes are the main carrier of a new quality in the development of a company, which is a key element of management in the implementation of not only a specialized policy but also a corporate strategy in general. Their types are as follows; revolution is fundamental strategic changes in the organization that relate to its mission and organizational culture (Johnson.dk, 2019). It is the most challenging type of strategic change, as it affects all aspects of the company. Implementing such changes requires a significant effort and investment of time and resources. The implementation of this type of change occurs in a situation when the activities of the organization change significantly.
Second, there is reconstruction a strategic change that is carried out in situations of radical change in the organizations activities without changing the paradigm. It may be due to a merger with another company, which involves the emergence of new products, the unification of different corporate cultures, and a change in the organizational structure (Doyle, 2016). Then, evolution is a type of strategic change implemented when a company decides to enter new markets or manufacture a new product without significant structural changes immediately. It is mostly related to the production process of the organization and its marketing activities. Finally, adaptation implies the least degree of the reorganization of the companys operations among the listed and most often concerns marketing activities (Doyle, 2016). The purpose of adaptation can be considered to maintain interest in the companys products by applying new marketing tools. Such changes have little impact on the main activities of the organization and affect a small number of employees, which allows them to be implemented quite often and at low cost.
Gillettes CSR and Strategic Change Significance and Issue
It seems rational to claim that Gillette pays attention to its corporate social responsibility practices and coherent strategic changes to a great extent. Its official sites have a separate page that provides the companys solid position that CSR is an integral element of its policies. However, not every Gillettes official site emphasizes this; for instance, while the UK website has such a subpage, the US one does not (Gillette UK, no date, Gillette US, no date). According to Gillette US (no date, para 2), As a brand that encourages men to be their best, we are committed to driving change that matters and promoting #TheBestMenCanBe. This campaign donates in the global development within the scope of getting rid of toxic masculinity. What is more, this transnational corporation demonstrates concern about environmental issues, which is also a vital element of sufficient and significant CSR practices.
Being a subsidiary of P&G, it seems apparent that Gillette fully adheres to its approach to CSR. It should be admitted that P&G has created and follows a significant corporate social responsibility policy. Its latest CSR report focuses on the following essential dimensions human rights, employees and customers satisfaction, sustainable development, and environmentally friendly supply chain (Procter & Gamble, 2018). The corporation also claims that it is always primed to undertake a significant development, which implies the capability of beneficial strategic changes. The latter vary to a significant extent starting from diversity and inclusion and ending with help to developing countries and regions (Procter & Gamble, 2019). According to the mentioned principles and provisions, Gillette acts in a similar way, launching a considerable number of socially important campaigns around the world, which contributes to its brand-enhancing to an exact extent.
Gillette is committed to inspiring people to express their best at any age and at any stage of life. Their vision is to provide superior personal care services while respecting the environmental concerns of the planet. As a leader in the industry, the company recognizes the importance of its heritage. Due to the latter, the firm develops social and environmental programs that are an integral part of everything we [Gillette] do (Gillette UK, no date, para 1). The company aims to be a power for good today, tomorrow, and in the distant future. Thus, Gillette tends to implement an evolutionary strategic change due to such coherency and consistency.
It should also be noted that the current drastic conditions of Covid-19, Gillette takes the challenge of the pandemic. The company takes additional steps to protect the health and well-being of our employees, serving consumers around the world who count on our brands, supporting workers, relief agencies and communities who are on the front lines of this global pandemic (Gillette AU, 2020, para. 2). The described approach allows assuming that Gillette tends to follow the best practices of corporate social responsibility, given the discussion provided in the previous section. However, it is obvious that this company has reduced its significance in this regard by launching the described advertising campaign and movement. Thus, at this point, it seems reasonable to turn to the exploring of Gillettes CSR and strategic changes issue caused by this campaign.
It might be supposed that the primary problem that occurred with at first approximation socially responsible ad is that Gillette got confused with advertising and CSR dimensions. Then, this change in the firms cultural paradigm is rather a characteristic of adaptation than of evolution Gillette tries to realign the way it operates and adapt it the trends (Johnson.dk, 2019). For a third party such as consumers and other stakeholders, the core intention of a firms advertisement will always be of profitable character. Hence, even if Gillette was pursuing noble and societally important aims, for the public, they were blurred by the firms mercantile interest. The critical point here is that a company should be careful while lightening an acute social issue, as well as while switching from evolution to adaptation. The core idea of CSR practices is to support society in addressing this issue, and if the public rejects the assistance, then CSR loses its a great part of its weight and importance. Appealing to adaptive changes might be inappropriate if it is done after the established evolutionary approach.
Gillette tried to say its word in the context of overcoming the problem of toxic masculinity, while the firm was an advocator of masculinity for the entire time of operating. It does mean that Gillette promoted the toxic one in contrast, the company has never aspired to act in such a way. Nevertheless, the contradiction is quite visible and becomes more apparent for the public when a profit element is taken into account. The politically charged issue of gender equality, human rights, and inclusion is essential to address. However, such a language is one of advocacy, not business. It is intentionally provocative (Carr, 2019, para. 6). Especially if this language is delivered in an advertising manner that Gillette implemented. Such a rapid switch to adaptation resulted in an undesirable consumers distrust. Finally, it turns out that the company is not to combine its significant and appropriate CSR practices with a commercial component. Otherwise, this policy will result in many problems that spoil reputation and as a result decrease profitability.
The latter statement might be supported by the following arguments. First, While corporate social responsibility appeals can be effective, corporations must be sensitive to the potential of consumers being skeptical of their motives, or not wanting to be told how to behave by a profit-motivated company (Taylor, 2019a, para. 7). Initially, consumers are aware of the persuasive aspiration of advertisements and their aim to improve profit margins. Hence, given this initial skepticism, a firm should be considerably cautious while launching socially acute commercial campaigns, which Gillette did not follow. Second, CSR-related advertising should focus on relatively uncontroversial causes or problems (Taylor, 2019b). This directly comes from the first argument but allows emphasizing the importance of well-crafted societal messages delivered via advertising, as well as adhering to established strategic changes approach.
Conclusion
To conclude, the above investigation was dedicated to the CSR and strategic change issue of Gillette that took place due to the provocative advertisement campaign. The essence of the corporate social responsibility and strategic changes concepts were discussed. On the described essentials, the significant aspects of Gillettes strategy were presented. Meanwhile, these essentials allowed determining and assessing the core of the companys CSR and strategic changes problem within the scope of the ads consequences. It was suggested that Gillette should not have mixed its CSR activities with commercialization and adhere to evolutionary changes. Below, recommendations om how the firm may improve its CSR practices in the current situation will be provided.
Recommendations
Apparently, the first recommendation will be related to the process of separating Gillettes CSR agendas from its commercialization operations. It was proved that such an approach contributes to an insignificant attitude towards the company, which hinders its smooth and profitable functioning. However, the firm has already launched not only the advertising campaign but also a full-scale movement that it targets to advocate. An appropriate solution here might be within the essence of the CSR concept that was given above. Significant CSR policies imply continuous interaction and cooperation between three dimensions companies, government, and society.
Hence, in order to improve the situation caused by the campaign, Gillette might collaborate with some domestic governmental institutions and international organizations. Authorities support of a firms activities often leads to softening clients towards it (DEmidio et al., 2019). Moreover, cooperation with some global charitable institutions also may result in similar outcomes. The crucial point is that Gillette is to dive into a number of signature partnerships, through which it may partner with charities and causes to which they want to commit their brand (Carr, 2019, para. 14). According to Carr (2019), there are many successful companies that have been adhering to such a strategy in the long run. Alliances alleviate the process of addressing severe social issues especially when governmental power and charitable organizations influence are involved.
It should also be noticed that the above recommendation fits the current aspirations of Gillette within the scope of its CSR policy. The company claim that it is always primed to unite effort with various institutions and companies in order to face challenges of today around the globe (Gillette UK, no date). Moreover, according to Mellat-Paast (2015), strategic partnerships have always been considered as a good option for a firms development and growth. Thus, the described approach might be regarded as a suitable variant for Gillette.
The second recommendation refers to the necessity of the development of Gillettes CSR practices. It seems rational to claim that P&G as a parent company has created a significant and sophisticated social commitment (Procter & Gamble, 2019). Each of its subsidiary brands aims to follow the fundamental CSR principles of P&G. Nevertheless, Gillette does not provide its CSR reports as an independent firm that being a transnational corporation might be considered as a mistake (Christensen, Hail, and Leuz, 2019). Such reports contribute to transparency and loyalty towards a company. Appropriate action in this regard is to start positioning itself as an advanced CSR company more intensively than now. In order to achieve this, Gillette is to provide open-access corporate social responsibility reports that will be available for the general public.
The third recommendation is directly related to the way Gillette implements its strategic changes today. It seems rational to claim that before the campaign, the company demonstrated a significant evolutionary approach in this regard. This campaign as mentioned in the discussion implies that the firm decided to turn to adaptation abruptly. Such an inconsistent action of direction changing often results in a number of various issues (Pangarkar, 2015). Hence, it would be reasonable to undertake a certain drawback in this framework and launch a less provocative advertising campaign. This will align more with the beneficial and notable evolutionary strategic changes of Gillette.
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