Summary. When a non-profit organization engages in social action, we think of it as activism. When a business engages with society through advertising, we simply call it marketing. Yet, activists exist in all areas of society including companies and they are leveraging their positions to impact the world in positive ways.
Among the leadership of Liberty Mutual there apparently are some people who had the brilliant idea of using advertising as a carrier signal for delivering a positive social message. For example, in radio broadcasting, it’s possible to send an HD FM radio signal with music that also includes embedded data that can provide information about the current song such as artist and song title. In the same way, advertising can tell the public about a product or service, while at the same time conveying a message that is designed to have a positive impact on society.
The Responsibility Project. Liberty Mutual has launched an initiative called The Responsibility Project. Below are videos from their advertising campaign about living responsibly. The general theme is that people who see acts of kindness, generosity, caring, giving, and responsibility, will feel compelled to do the same. What’s really powerful about this advertising campaign is that it offers an almost documentary presentation of the world from a God’s-eye-viewproint in showing how kindness can spread quickly. It’s alarming to realize that stress and unpleasantness can spread just as quickly. The multiplayer effect depicted in these videos demonstrates the impact that each person has in the world.