We live in conflicted times as employees, employers and global citizens. And no, this is not a COIVD-focused discussion… there’s lots of that available elsewhere for your doomscrolling fix. Consumer culture has existed since the dawn of the Industrial Revolution and only seems to be magnifying.
Capitalism – the economic basis of the society in which we live – is primarily focused on constant growth and financial gain. For the privileged, there is a lot of good that has come from this. Rising living standards, increased life expectancy and further development of scientific endeavours to broaden our understanding of the world all help. For others, of course, capitalism has its downsides.
There are “ ‘necessary’ compromises capitalism requires that impacts human rights, safety and the environment in the name of the bottom line and an unsustainable growth model.” This line is shared from Kelly Small’s recently published book, The Conscious Creative: Practical Ethics for Purposeful Work.
We’re All Conflicted with Ethics
Many of us reading this enjoy the relative stability, wealth, health and opportunity that is unmatched in history. But we can’t dismiss – at least to some extent – that we’re a part of the problem.
As marketers and business leaders, we have a unique vantage point in which to view the world. We also have a disproportionate ability to persuade and impact the behaviour of others.
This paradox is at the heart of this discussion with Kelly Small, who uses the gender neutral pronoun ‘they.’ Kelly’s book was published at what is, arguably, a perfect point in history. This rigorously researched investigation delves into how ethics and marketing can and must intersect.
Conflicts in Business With Ethics are Inevitable
After years of creative leadership across several prominent marketing agencies, Kelly began to struggle. There were the implications of contributions to consumer culture, perpetuating harmful stereotypes, and complicity in an industry lacking in diverse talent. Kelly’s role required a near-constant creative manipulation of consumers (or “people!” or “citizens!” as they say). The objective was to persuade them into buying things that they didn’t want or need. Sadly, that often included products that were harmful. Kelly struggled with the basic reality that in a capitalist paradigm, the bottom line is too often prioritized.
“It’s important to ensure that you’re doing right by the people you’re working with and for the consumers audiences you’re targeting communicating with.
If we treat each other as fully formed humans and not breathing credit cards, we’ll be on the road to start incrementally shifting our industry. We can get to a more holistically beneficial approach to work. A lot of that starts with the language we employ.”
An Opportunity for Changing Ethics
Kelly began to pursue a Master of Design degree to focus on the topic of creative and marketing industry ethics. The opportunity was to consider solutions for a new phase of their career with a heavier focus on responsible work.
When Kelly began their research, they found a great deal of investigation had been completed. A lot of books were written about the idea of a utopian creative sector. This means one that is perfectly ethical and leverages community methods like co-creation. And that’s all amazing and meaningful. But what they found was largely the people talking about it were were extricating creative practice from the marketplace more broadly. The challenge is that these authors missed was they were overlooking current reality that we operate within a capitalist paradigm.
Kelly realized there was a lack of resources that existed that provided actionable knowledge and practical ethics for creatives and marketers. So, Kelly set out to research meaningful actions to pass on to those who struggle with the ethical implications of our work.
Most of Us Want to Do Better – So Let’s Do it Together
Part of this comes from something identified when Kelly was in academia. There’s a huge divide between the academic, business and nonprofit worlds. Don’t forget there’s also the world of community organizers who are on the frontlines of activist movements. These spheres exist independently. Kelly argues that increased discourse, understanding and action across these sectors could improve all of our approaches to work. It’s the same way that we’re starting to see the medical community moving toward an integrative approach. Western and Eastern medicine, homeopathic approaches and others can work together to provide holistic approaches to healing. These approaches benefit the whole person and Kelly wants to see the business world doing the same.
Interdisciplinary collaboration, instead of the age-old ‘us versus them’ mentality that we so often fall victim to, is what we need in order to realize meaningful change. It starts with listening – really listening – to the experiences of others. This is one of the early actions in Kelly’s book.
Kelly believes in the power of the collective. That none of us, singlehandedly, will overthrow the dominant economic system or save the world in one fell swoop. That said, incremental change across a critical mass of people can start to make things just a little more equitable. Most of us want to do better. Many of us want to affect change and see a more equitable existence for all people, animals and the planet. Collective, incremental action is a great place to start.
Making the Case for a More Balanced Approach
Some employers may be feeling concerned that this perspective might compromise revenue in large or small ways. And it might in the short term. But there are also significant opportunities to earn revenue in “ways that don’t suck our souls dry.”
In The Conscious Creative, there is a wealth of data that supports employees to ‘sell in’ the business benefits of ethical work.
Readers can learn practical tips on how to make informed choices about the products we’re selling. It discusses how to proactively consider privacy issues and avoid dark patterns in the digital experiences we create. We can learn to develop more inclusive teams that are not just superficial tokenism. Kelly’s book outlines how responsible approaches to business have been proven to make organizations more profitable and with happier talent.
For all its tragic impacts, the pandemic has offered the world a collective pause. The issues that have been present for generations suddenly have this captive audience that it didn’t necessarily have before. It’s understandable: people were so caught up in what was “normal.” Plus, there’s a collective experience that is happening in that it is teaching us all that we are all in this together. As a result, there is more openness to empathy and understanding. This presents an opportunity to historically oppressed communities who have been overlooked and systemically marginalized.
Change Can Start with Self Care
Among the biggest surprises for readers of The Conscious Creative is the incredible impact we can all make with a commitment to self care. Kelly explains that there has been longstanding “social theatre” in the office. This is where our value as a professional has been directly related to observable things. These include how late each day we stay working, our client rosters, the amount of revenue we’re bringing in, our net worth, our luxury vehicles. What can happen is that the pursuit of these aspects of professional life can compromise our connection to ourselves, our families, our wellbeing and more fundamental priorities.
This seemingly simple section of the book indicates clear benefits for people who create time to take care of themselves. To stop and breathe and do what it takes to have good mental health and good physical health. Finding time to read diverse and challenging stories, to exercise, to take their medication. To do all the things that they need to do to stay well. Folks who take this time and space to be mindful and intentional tend to be in a place where they’re able to afford more empathy to the people around them. This is because they’re not just struggling to cope through every day. Therefore, a key piece of ethical work is to make sure that you’re taking care of yourself.
You can’t help others if you are not okay and this is why before every flight we are told “in the event of a loss of cabin pressure, secure your mask before assisting others.”
Ethics as the (Profitable) Way Forward
A great way for businesses to win is to make ethics your competitive edge. Show it off. Celebrate it and make it the foundation of your brand. That relates to who (and how) you hire, how your employees are treated, and factoring in more than simply the bottom line of your financials. It’s no secret that top-tier brands are considering new factors, including social, inclusivity, and environmental justice initiatives in addition to their economic imperatives. Need proof? Kelly’s research aligns with the work of former Bank of Canada Governor Mark Carney who continues to advance these conversations globally with increasing resonance.
The Conscious Creative reinforces that the opportunities for each of us to participate in creating a more inclusive, just, environmentally sound sector without a total lifestyle or professional overhaul is entirely possible. Not only that, but there is a legitimate business case to be made. Diverse teams (and especially leadership) across race, gender, sexuality, size, and ability have been proven to result in in more just and profitable companies. Inclusive and universal design approaches are rapidly becoming the foundation of many products and services. Corporate social responsibility has become a non-negotiable imperative for major corporations in order to keep shareholders happy.
There is a human, environmental and real business imperative for a more ethical world of marketing. Plus, if we’re going to get all capitalist about it, providing opportunity for and reflecting all people means we create as many brand loyal customers possible.
It’s win/win and who can turn that down?
In Partnership With
Kelly Small (they/them) is an awarded executive creative director, designer, and author with deep roots in communication design, marketing, and advertising, and a special focus on ethical and inclusive practice. Kelly is an affiliated design researcher and recipient of the Governor General’s academic gold medal. They hold an interdisciplinary Master’s degrees in design where their research focused on creative industry ethics, social innovation, and sustainability. Kelly lives in Toronto with their spouse, Dahlia, and bonus kid, Evan. Kelly’s book The Conscious Creative: Practical Ethics for Purposeful Work is available anywhere books are sold, but Kelly urges those interested to “get it from an indie!”
Tim Bishop, CM (he/him) is a multi-disciplined executive with a proven record of optimizing strategic efforts to expand the influence of leading organizations, such as the Canadian Marketing Association, Cineplex Entertainment, Lavalife.com, IMI International and Northstar Research Partners. In Partnership With is his latest focus to curate Canadian marketing experts to celebrate the power of strategic partnerships in a perspective-based content series.