Marketing commentators have suggested that the negative publicity may damage the brand in the eyes of consumers who are more interested in trainers' performance quality. It is also likely to undermine Reebok's apparent attempts to position itself simultaneously as a socially responsible organisation. For example, Reebok promised to donate 50 cents for every pair of G-Unit trainers sold to charity. It also recently hosted a meeting on corporate social responsibility and honours young human rights activists for their contributions to human rights through non-violent means in the Reebok Human Rights Awards, which were established in 1988.

Corporate social responsibility (CSR) is becoming a hot topic. The number and range of ethical products are steadily increasing, as are consumers' concerns about ethical consumption. Political interest is also building and CSR looks set to find a place on the election agenda. The Government is seeking to promote ethical business through a CSR Academy, which it established recently. The leader of the opposition party, David Cameron, was recently reported to have criticised "irresponsible marketing" of unhealthy products in our obesity conscious society and praised brands that have instigated social initiatives.

The concept of CSR is based on the inevitability that organisations have social as well as economic consequences and so cannot dissociate themselves from social responsibility. Chris Marsden, a practitioner, teacher and writer in the field of business in society, argued that the key determinant of CSR was how an organisation conducts its business operations and earns its profits. In other words, it is about the whole business activity, not simply donations or community investment.

Reebok's banned advertisement was criticised because it did not handle the more controversial aspects of its celebrity's past in a responsible way for its intended youth audience. McCracken identified two groups as being particularly receptive to the meanings communicated through celebrity endorsements. These two groups are young people transitioning from one age group to another and individuals joining a new culture. Both groups are more likely to seek out brands rich in meaning as they construct new identities. Given that Reebok's intended youth audience was one of these particularly susceptible groups, the banned advertisement appears to undermine the attempts by the organisation to represent itself as socially responsible.

So whilst Reebok's reputation is unlikely to have been damaged among its young consumers, the longer term effect is that it might hamper Reebok's credibility as a socially responsible corporation. Not only might this impair its standing among other consumers, but also affect its ability to attract employees. This demonstrates the dangers of focusing on one target group to the possible detriment of the wider organisation.

Further Reading
Who is the Celebrity Endorser? Cultural Foundations of the Endorsement Process
Grant McCracken
in Journal of Consumer Research pages 310-321, Volume 16, December 1983

Strategic Brand Management: Building, Measuring and Managing Brand Equity
Kevin Lane Keller, published by Prentice Hall

Making a positive impact on society
Chris Marsden
in Corporate Social Responsibility: partners for progress OECD Publications

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Content last updated: 26/10/2005

About our columnist

Fiona Harris is a lecturer in management in the OU Business School. Her research interests include social marketing and marketing ethics. She is currently working with colleagues in the Institute for Social Marketing on research into tobacco control, evaluation of a European anti-smoking campaign and the impact of alcohol marketing on adolescent drinking.

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