Want to Do Good in Advertising? The UN Has a Plan for That

The 17 sustainable development goals can connect brand purpose with global change

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Our planet, and the people living on it, can’t afford to wait. To build a better world, we urgently need unity, clarity and momentum. That’s where the United Nations comes in.

I know what you’re thinking: The U.N. is a complex, bureaucratic organization, plagued with allegations of power and corruption abuses. But for all its shortcomings, the U.N. has become adept at engaging with businesses, building all-important bridges between corporations and civic organizations.

In particular, the U.N.’s 17 sustainable development goals (SDGs) are a triumph. Developed in 2015, they’re the world’s plan to end extreme poverty, reduce inequality and protect the planet by 2030. As a communication tool, they’re simple and easy to understand, with a recognizable visual language that elevates the ideals these goals embody.

Not only has the U.N. integrated these goals into the structures and language of our industry, but they’ve proven to be a fantastic way to connect individual brand purpose with a global mandate for change.

The power of tech innovation

As part of its commitment to the fourth SDG, Quality Education, Samsung established an Innovation Campus, providing programming and AI education to students and unemployed youth. Additionally, the tech brand created Solve for Tomorrow, a global platform with freely available online courses.

Samsung has also worked with young innovators to develop the Global Goals app, which educates users about the SDGs and allows them to pledge support for the goal of their choice by donating directly through Samsung Pay or by viewing in-app ads. Advertisers can buy premium, high impact inventory on the app, making it an easy way to ensure your advertising actively supports the goals.

The role of media representation

Convened by U.N. Women, the Unstereotype Alliance is an impressive initiative seeking to eradicate harmful stereotypes from advertising and media. Its recent report, The Impact of Intersectionality in Advertising, found the majority of women agreed with the statement, “I rarely see myself in advertising.” Meanwhile, the group worked with Kantar to unequivocally prove that progressive gender portrayal drove 1.7 times higher brand affinity and 1.3 times higher purchase intent.

To promote the fifth SDG, Gender Equality, the Unstereotype Alliance worked with Dove and Getty Images to launch Project #ShowUs, an expanded gallery of images depicting women at the forefront of sustainability and STEM fields.

To push advertising forward, the group has developed the Unstereotype Metric, an open access tool that all advertisers can use to ensure their work presents progressive characters.

Finding brand synergy to support clean water goals

British health and hygiene giant Reckitt’s “One Brand, One Goal” methodology ensures each of its respective brands has a purpose aligned with one of the SDGs.

For example, for its cleaning brand Finish, the focus is naturally on the sixth SDG, Clean Water and Sanitation. Its latest campaign, “#SkipTheRinse,” is a global effort to stop wasting water by pre-rinsing dishes.

Tackle inequalities through brand briefs

The Conscious Advertising Network (CAN) is an international voluntary organization that has been doing important work in partnership with the U.N. to understand the intersection of human rights and advertising to tackle the tenth SDG, Reduced Inequalities.

The group has questioned the way advertising continues to monetize ideas that marginalize and even harm people around the world. CAN co-chair Jake Dubbins has addressed U.N. officials, and the two groups recently collaborated on the “#StandUp4HumanRights” campaign.

To ensure a brand is advertising responsibly, marketers can become a member of the Conscious Advertising Network and start embedding its principles into all RFPs.

One word, one goal

Advertisers and the U.N. are, on the surface, strange bedfellows. But since the U.N.’s inception, corporations have amassed significant cultural capital, and the ability to transcend national borders makes them an important agent for change.

The problem is, we’re an industry with a short attention span, designed to be antagonistic as brands fight to differentiate. As an advertiser today, there are a multitude of ways you can work with the U.N. Brands can create thought-provoking research, inspire and award a generation of creatives, use tools such as the Unstereotype Metric and challenge and redistribute the flow of ad dollars to sustainability-minded agencies.

The opportunity to rise above competitive market forces through a rainbow of simple, actionable goals is a gift we must not take for granted.