Red Gold

I watched a documentary last night titled Red Gold, which showed two sides of an environmental battle. On one side were the salmon fishermen of the Bristol Bay area in Alaska, and on the other side were geologists and corporate men and women who were trying to build Pebble Copper Mine. It was a very interesting documentary, not only because it was very well done--photography, music, characterization--all were stellar, but also because it illustrated the fundamental issue between these two groups was not a financial issue, or even really an environmental issue. The problem evolved because it dealt with two groups of people with fundamentally different concepts of the world and people's place in it.

The fishermen in the Bristol Bay area spend only a few weeks each year preparing for the season and then fishing. The rest of the year they are free to take on freelance, tradesmen jobs, spend time with their families, and enjoy Alaska's vivid landscapes and sporting recreation. While this lifestyle seems almost perfect, one glaring fact remains--these fishermen are living in what the goverment terms 'poverty'. They live on about 11,000 dollars a year, but they never go hungary because they live off the land, which is a practice that has been handed down to them for generations by family and community members.

On the other hand, the geologists and businessmen behind the Pebble Copper Mine know that opening the mine will give thousands in the Bristol Bay area steady jobs and salaries. They have publicly committed themselves to not injuring the environment and especially the fishing industry, and they literally believe that beneath their over 300 billion dollar investment lies a gold mine. They thought that the subsistence fishermen of Bristol Bay would be thrilled with the new job opportunities and increased business that the mine will bring.

However, the fishermen do not see it that way. They have fished for hundreds of years. When the salmon spawn and fishing begins, literally the entire family--even small infants observe from parental perches or nearby cribs--partake in preparing the salmon for the smokehouse. It is their way of life. They lead a financially simple, but very fulfilled life. Family, fishing, and Alaska's great outdoors are the primary objects in these people's lives, and a salary increase of 50,000 dollars, without those components, has very little appeal. One man described his life dream of seeing his grandson fishing with him. And though the little boy is only about 10 months old, we was there fishing, and this man was the happiest he has ever been.

Yet the men and women behind Pebble Mine continue to funnel time and resources into building this mine that has so much resistance rising up against it. They continue to think that once it is there and the money starts rolling in, these people will change their minds, and find a new passion--money. Because in the corporate world, it always comes down to the bottom line. That is why there is so much corruption and so many ethical meltdowns.

I think this is important for us as students in consumer insights but also as business men and women. Because our job is to get in the minds of consumers, no matter what level of consumption they operate at, and understand their fundamental needs and desires. Pebble Mine cannot understand the needs of the fishermen at Bristol Bay who refuse to watch the fishing population die out...along with their livelihood. There are so many different kinds of people in the world, and I think too often in marketing we get into this segmenting mindset (which is a powerful tool), but the danger is that we focus too much on the groups in aggregate and how the majority of people respond, that we forget the power of the minority, and how the strong beliefs of a few threatened can make a big impact.