Do you remember 2020? When tons of little black squares flooded social media in “solidarity”? When the world collectively went silent and shared their outrage at the murder of George Floyd on Black Out Tuesday?
Image credit - Taken from this brilliant post from Every Day Racism’s Instagram Profile
According to Forbes, over 28 million Instagram users participated in #BlackoutTuesday — collectively posting empty black tiles. For the first time in decades, brands, organisations and individuals collectively took a stand to drive change.
2020 is arguably the year of the 21st Century for global activism and honestly, it seems to be a great thing. The last year and certainly events in recent months have left me wondering … does activism have a place in business?
I’ve seen this managed successfully by some of the bigger brands and dismally by others.
Brands like Dove, Nike and Heineken for instance, have taken a public stance on social issues from the environment, politics, gender issues, racism and in the case of HSBC even Brexit.
But what does Brand Activism mean?
Brand activism is when a brand takes a stand to help drive change to help solve the most urgent problems facing society (social, economic, environmental or political) — based on its own beliefs, purpose and values. It isn’t a new concept, however with the rise of conscious consumerism, companies are noticing that by stepping away from the fence, they can broaden their reach and drive sales.
We’ve seen this nearer to home too. In the wake of Marcus Rashford’s child poverty campaign, smaller independent businesses and charities were galvanised to provide free school meals to struggling families last year. It led to overwhelming consumer support for participating restaurants & charities during lockdown and eventually a U-turn from the UK government on it’s decision not to fund holiday feeding schemes.
Do consumers care?
According to Sprout Social, 70% of consumers feel it’s important for brands to take a stand on public issues, a sentiment that’s grown 6% from 2017.
Edelman’s Trust Barometer also finds 81% of consumers say they expect brands to do the right thing, and 71% say that placing profit before people will lose their trust forever. Generation Z are voting with their wallets for businesses that are authentically purpose driven. Gen Z Believes in it’s own power to make change and are expecting companies to lead the way.
Generation Z uses social media not only to learn about issues, but to make a meaningful difference. 91 percent say they use social media to learn about and participate in issues they care about
BBMG and GlobeScan asked more than 27,000 people across 27 international markets to share their experiences over the last year and the report highlights that young people under age 30 are more likely to reward brands when they take meaningful action.
They’re looking to their peers. Think about the impact of historic moments led by US Olympic gymnast Simone Biles, Grand Slam Tennis champion Naomi Osaka, and Climate Campaigner Greta Thunberg to move the world to a different way of taking action.
Believe me when I say that I’m not advocating that businesses should all grab their megaphones and publicly share their views on issues. Instead can you share your values in a way that is effective and that will bring about real change?
MY TOP 5 TIPS TO BUILDING BRAND AUTHENTICITY
Consumers can see through activism that is performative. Brand activism needs to be authentic and businesses need to ensure they are not ‘purpose washing’ or ‘jumping on the bandwagon’ of a cause that appears popular and trendy. The odd comment, like or share on your social media does not translate as brand activism.
My advice to business is to make sure that your business values align with the purpose and causes you support. It is not an easy thing to address, but here are some strategic steps to explore beforehand:
1. Start internally
Think about the key social issues you care about and how it fits or does not fit with your stated corporate values. Involve colleagues, co-workers and, if you are a sole trader, your friends and influencers in discussions to make sure your internal values are aligned to your public statements.
2. Define your purpose
Do not try and tackle everything at once, you’re bound to drop the ball. Start by choosing one cause you’d like to focus on, and from there, you can then expand as you gain credibility.
3. Air your dirty laundry
In other words, be authentic. Admit when you’ve been wrong in the past. It’s better to reflect on when you’ve done wrong and have a plan to change than to cover it up with performative activism.
4. Research. Research. Research.
Understand the complexities. Team up with a charity or not-for-profit organisation, work with them to understand the complexities that exist surrounding the issues you are compassionate about. By doing so, you’re able to identify which area, within the cause, you want to channel your activism. This can focus your attention and help you to define your area of impact.
Don’t forget to be strategic in your approach and identify the potential risks. Do your research so that you are clear about the factors that will impact your ability to facilitate change. Anticipate mistakes and put in place feedback facilities so that you can quickly respond. Keep doing this, so that your approach evolves along with your business practices.
5. Show some results
Turn your purpose into action. Empower Others, Not Yourself! Remember that business activism around social change is not about gaining press coverage or increasing profits. The impetus should be influencing change for your wider community and the world at large.
One way you can do this, is to work with people of influence, people of extensive knowledge in the area - staff, colleagues, board members, associates, partners, consumers - ensuring you come together with aligned values and share a commonality in what you’re trying to achieve.
ITS OKAY TO BE NERVOUS
Again, brand activism may not be for everyone, but statistics have found that when consumers think a brand has a strong purpose, they are 4.1 times more likely to trust the company.
When brand activism is done well, it becomes a genuine and authentic extension of the company culture and business values are not only advocated by leadership teams, but wider employees too.
I personally think that activism does have a place in business. It helps to attract talent, attract partnerships, attract investment and attract sales. For it to be sustainable, it requires real commitment from the top down to infuse the essence of the cause into every facet of the organisation, including marketing.
It empowers every part of the organisation to do their part in making right, even in a small way, some of the horrible injustices of this world.
It isn’t about political correctness or “woke”, it’s about being braver and making genuine connections with your customers.
People already care and it’s our job to make it easier for them to do so and take action.