Responsibly Different™ Ventures
Measurable Real World Impact through Storytelling
Understanding how stories stimulate us
Connecting through shared values
Closing the value action gap
the divergent power of one story — told two ways
Given the same raw story materials, two storytellers are likely to tell the same story very differently. And no matter how interesting each version is, one is likely to have a greater impact than the other.
It’s our job to understand the impact we want our story to have—factoring in both our and our client’s values—and to assemble our story in the way most likely to reach our shared objectives.
Historically, advertising agencies worked from the same script, applying commoditized methods to distinguish commodity clients. In the spirit of “50% of advertising works,” sometimes those efforts paid off, and sometimes they didn’t. But at the end of the day, features and benefits rarely shared the stage with values and principles—and the only impact deemed worthy of measure was bottom line corporate performance.
With Responsibly Different™ Ventures, we don’t see advertising as a blunt instrument that misses as often as it hits. We see it as an opportunity to harness storytelling, aligning brand success with principled, focused, powerful movements that share common interests, and serve the common good.
Where it Started
How it’s Going
Where it Started
A paper towel manufacturer (let’s name them “Towlz”) wants to win market share. On the advice of Good Old Ads agency, they launch a broadcast TV campaign, putting ads in high rotation to stimulate brand recognition—and create the impression that Towlz is a unicorn among commodities.
How it’s Going
Recognizing that the production of their paper towels has an enormous environmental impact, Towlz aligns with the Forest Safety Council to sponsor and produce a content piece highlighting the importance of reforestation and sustainability.
Working from their tried-and-true bag of tricks, Good Old Ads creates display advertisements touting the features and benefits of Towlz, then initiates a high-cost, high-frequency media program to bombard unengaged customers until Towlz messaging breaks through and catches their attention.
In an effort to lead prospective consumers by example, Towlz produces display ads that drive customers to a website where they can donate to the FSC to support reforestation, and offset the impact of their personal paper towel use. The site displays real-time contribution statistics, creating an instant feedback loop that highlights their role in the collective impact of the larger initiative. This immediacy encourages positive behavioral change, replacing traditional feature/benefit content with a data-driven story celebrating the power of the consumer and the collective movement they’ve joined.
Towlz organizes a sampling/couponing event with a local retailer. True to the Good Old Ads playbook, the event focuses on educating passive consumers on Towlz features and benefits, still focused on breaking through to consumers on the unscientific hope that repeated impressions will eventually install Towlz as consumers’ preferred brand. The event involves plenty of waste, with a high volume of coupons, demonstration towels, and product wrappers eventually finding their way into the waste stream.
Towlz promotes and hosts a local tree planting event in targeted local communities. The product is used during event cleanup, showcasing its utility and durability, and digital coupons are distributed to encourage purchases—and reinforcing Towlz effort to reduce unnecessary paper use.
In an effort to differentiate Towlz from their competition, they’ve placed a small logo on each package to tout their support of reforestation efforts. Value driven consumers will likely miss the logo in their search for the lowest priced option. Thus far, they feel no loyalty to the Towlz brand.
Towlz adopts packaging and POP displays that co-brand the FSC, again reinforcing the brand’s commitment to reforestation. Consumers who identify closely with the cause are willing to buy Towlz at a premium to support their personal commitment to environmental sustainability.
Good Old Ads fancies a blunt instrument approach to campaign measurement, gauging success on traditional measures like sales volume, cost control, and key performance indicators like clicks, and video completion rates. Any focus on the environment is an afterthought—producing no positive impact on the planet or the sustainability of resources consumed in Towlz manufacturing.
Due in part to Towlz co-branding efforts, demand for FSC-certified paper towels begins to reshape the entire industry. Other manufacturers, recognizing consumer response to Towlz efforts, clamor to join the movement. Meanwhile, the Towlz team measures campaign performance on results: reforestation of more than 400 acres of degraded grazing land with native and endangered tree species, and protection of an additional 108 acres of forests.