7 At first sight, corporate social responsibility may not seem to be of immediate concern to a brand like Fender. How could Fender profile itself with marketing 3.0 and thus appeal to the responsible consumer? In 1948, radio repair man Leo Fender took a piece of wood, screwed another piece of wood to it, and added an electric system. You have heard the rest of the story, even if you do not know it. You’ve heard it in the guitar riffs of Buddy Holly, Jimi Hendrix, George Harrison, Keith Richards, Eric Clapton, Pete Townsend, Bruce Springsteen, Mark Knopfler, Kurt Cobain, and so on. It is the sound of the electric Fender guitar.The Fender company, in full Fender Musical Instruments, is the world’s largest manufacturer of guitars. The Stratocaster, which came on the market in 1954, is still one of the most sold guitars. The cutting sound of the Strat stands for everything that is rock and roll. But in 2022 the heart of rock is no longer beating as it once did.A Stratocaster is expensive; it is just not one of the first necessities in life for most people. But Fender suffers from more than its price alone. The company is also plagued by the powerful guys that make the money move on Wall Street. In 2012, almost half of Fender was in the hands of the venture capitalist Weston Presidio, who wanted to sell his share for a nice price. The economy was in bad shape, and he hoped to get some of his investment back. However, the IPO went no further: investors were not convinced by the possibilities that the Fender brand could offer. After the withdrawal of the public offering, Weston Presidio sold its stock to the private equity arm of Hawaiian automotive retailer Servco Pacific, which in turn sold a portion of its stake to San Francisco’s TPG Growth