Ethical Marketing Agency in Dublin
Business, ethics, and marketing
Plenty of people say, “I hate being marketed to” but still see marketing as a necessary evil. What if we told you that marketing can be honest and straightforward, without bullshit claims or dodgy promotions or suspect business practices? Have you considered what marketing a company could look like if it didn’t rely on surveillance tech, third-party platforms, and the hard sell?
You don’t have to be a charity or non-profit to take an ethical stance when it comes to marketing. You can be a furniture shop or trades person or accountant and still chose to run your business in a sustainable way (like we do) that doesn’t contribute to surveillance capitalism or hyper-consumerism.
Our approach to marketing ethically
Impact without compromise
Consumers of every generation are prioritising values such as sustainability, fairness, and social responsibility. This shift is driven by global issues like climate collapse and human rights, with many people now demanding that businesses align with their ethical standards. Integrating transparent and responsible practices into your operations, from sourcing materials sustainably to ensuring fair labour practices, is a communications win-win.
It’s all about choosing what’s right for your company. We’re not saying, “All ads are evil.” We’re simply asking, “Are Instagram ads right for THIS business?” We’re having conversations with clients about topics such as data privacy, packaging, big tech, materials, supply chains, and market segments.
Our ethical marketing services
Conversation ⇢ If this concept is new to you, let’s start with a relaxed chat about what ethical marketing means.
Alternatives to ⇢ Ask us if you want guidance switching from a particular service you have ethical issues with.
Content marketing ⇢ Invest in the one marketing tactic that is proven to get long-term results without pissing people off.
SEO ⇢ If you have any kind of website, SEO will help it get found. We only practice ethical (white hat) search engine optimisation.
Contextual ads ⇢ Unlike tracking ads, contextual ads put relevant, content-based campaigns in front of people.
Ethical strategy ⇢ We’ll help you develop an ethical marketing strategy for the whole business, based on owned channels and data.
Changing the status quo, making better choices
Rejecting surveillance capitalism & attention capitalism
Google and Facebook ads are a tax on small business. These tech companies have given SMEs the impression that if they run ads, they will be successful. That’s not the case. In fact, automation changes on all ad platforms are taking control away from clients and making it very hard to even measure success.
By feeding the ad robots and other forms of tracking, SMEs are contributing to the commodification of audience data, diverting revenues away from legitimate publishers and towards big tech (most of Google’s revenues come from ads). Tracking also represents a massive data breach that is enabling fraud and disinformation on an unprecedented scale. Welcome to surveillance capitalism.
Lots of organisations are making money from the way things are, but not SMEs. For many of us, it’s no longer good enough to hear “but your data is anonymised” because we just don’t want to be tracked at all! Meanwhile, social media is considered by many to be a public health crisis and the root of catastrophic levels of mental illness, isolation, and cognitive dysfunction.
A growing number of brands are looking for ways to be less reliant on big tech. Companies like Lush have closed down social media accounts, while Patagonia boycotted Facebook ads back in mid-2020. And they aren’t alone.
More and more companies – of all sizes – are choosing to use their own platforms and data to communicate with their audiences. It may sound scary, but, by taking back control and considering the ethical implications of their marketing actions, they are starting to see big rewards.
Ethical marketing is a proactive mindset where a business takes equal responsibility, alongside its customers, for the cycle of consumerism. It’s about much more than ads or social media, though.
Why does marketing need to be ethical?
Differentiate your brand & build trust
Google and Facebook make it easy to get up and running, and accounts are free, so it seems like a no-brainer to use these platforms. But remember the saying, “If you’re getting a product for free, you are the product.” Your data, and the data of your customers, is feeding the big tech monster, or Big Other.
We believe that if something is worth doing, it’s worth doing right. That means less focus on vanity metrics and more on concrete results. Taking a longer-term view will bring you a better return on investment. If you are already taking steps elsewhere in the business – such as reducing your carbon footprint, eliminating the gender pay gap, tackling racism, etc. – an ethical marketing strategy is the obvious next step.
We’re not here to push a particular agenda, but we do think the time has come to have these conversations and to own our decisions afterwards.
One-off organic marketing packages
Looking for a quick, low-cost way to start? Pick a one-off package and book a session. Larger or ongoing projects are always tailored to your needs and quoted for after an initial call.
Who we’ve worked with
Enterprise Ireland · Health Service Executive (HSE) · Clinique · UCD Professional Academy · L’Oréal · Henkel · Local Enterprise Office · Digital Learning Institute · Spark Innovation Programme · Design, Print & Packaging Skillnet · see more…