The true cost and suffering caused by using paraffin as a domestic fuel cannot be quantified. If this was a culture more inclined to litigation (such as the USA) and the South African oil industry had to be held accountable by genuinely recompensing citizens for the damage caused by distributing its products with hitherto little concern for public safety, it would be bankrupt.
The SA government is also implicated in this suffering and mortality in that they have failed to supply safe, clean electricity to 80% of the population. They have sanctioned the widespread use of aviation fuel - a volatile, highly explosive substance - to be used in the homes of the poorest of the poor, with only marginal efforts to find viable alternatives or to educate, inform and address the very real hazards. The resulting poisonings and fires are traumatic for families, whilst untold pain and suffering is caused for entire communities. In addition enormous pressure and expense is created for already overburdened state health systems.
Faced with this outrageous information Shell’s brilliant Consumer Division Marketing Manager -John Longworth, ably assisted by his equally determined, feisty Marketing Assistant Lesley Hutchinson - lobbied senior management tirelessly, recommending that Shell spend its marketing budget addressing the real issues honestly and constructively. A logical step was to introduce the country’s first child proof closures, accompanied by a campaign to educate communities as to how to use them and why, using cartoon characters for universal ease of comprehension. Shell executives were eventually persuaded that they would gain unprecedented market share in every sector, including retail petrol sales. People who were at last having their problems addressed were going to choose Shell over other oil companies when it came time to refuel their vehicles.
People may be existing or potential customers, but no matter their education level or income group they are individuals just like you and me. They have relationships, commitments, hang-ups, assets, deficiencies, triumphs, disappointments, advantages, problems, dreams, needs and desires. A new approach is needed that considers underlying principles and allows them to inform strategies: * What are you saying about your company when you create and distribute any form of advertising or packaging? What paper and inks are used, what is their life span, what waste mechanisms are in place to collect and dispose of them responsibly? * All promotional material and packaging should be managed from cradle to grave (or even better, recycled back to cradle again).
* All promotional resources should be fundamentally ethical - designed to be useful for the health and wellbeing of customers, the wider community and its surroundings, embodying solutions to social and environmental
