Advising customers to give your store a miss may seem like a contradictory advertising campaign. Yet, last week it proved to be a great success for Tesco as their campaign supporting local pubs received widespread praise in a move that is symbolic of a rise in values-driven marketing. 

Environmental, social and governance (ESG) factors have been central to corporate messaging for much of the last decade. However, companies have often focused on environmental initiatives that have left social projects as the poor cousins of the ESG family. 

Tesco’s ‘Pop into your local if you can’ campaign, which was run across several national newspapers, represents a corporate-wide levelling of this imbalance as they encouraged customers to avoid their stores and visit reopening pubs that had ‘had it tough this year.’  

As an essential service that has remained open while others have been forced to close, Tesco has been one of the biggest winners of the pandemic. Yet, the campaign suggests a humility within the company to help those that have not been as fortunate. 

While not direct rivals, it is easy to see how the return of pubs and restaurants is likely to cause a drop in Tesco’s food and alcohol sales. However, the advert altruistically presents the reopening of venues as a positive event, rather than making a grasping attempt to keep hold of customers that have spent more in the supermarket during the pandemic. 

It reflects the growth that values-driven marketing has undergone over the last year as the pandemic has heightened customers’ care for others’ wellbeing. Campaigns such as Burger King’s push to promote local restaurants or Deliveroo and Uber offering discounts to NHS workers have shown companies shelving immediate profits in favour of goodwill and being praised for their endeavours. 

Going forwards, impactful social and governance initiatives will be just as vital to a business’ success as environmental programmes since customers are showing a greater determination to judge companies not just on their products, but their values. 

This will require clear communication from companies of how their positive societal and environmental impact sets them apart from their rivals. If your business can achieve this, it will go a long way to building consumer trust as you build back from the pandemic and, as Tesco have found, may encourage customers to come back, even if it means telling them to give you a miss.