Brand (In)Action in the Age of Social Justice
By now everyone is in some way, shape, or form familiar with the outcries over social and racial injustice erupting across the globe. This movement has serious momentum, calling for change to come to society via our collective cognition, our political systems, our economic systems, our work spaces, and just about any facet of life. Historically speaking, brands have gone back to the same old, same old, but have we now hit a tipping point where enough is finally enough?
Racial inequality has existed in our society, politics, and economy since the the inception of the US, laying the groundwork for it to seep into every nook and cranny of BIPOC’s lived experience. The pervasiveness of racial inequality in our country is so expansive, understanding the full breadth of it as a non-BIPOC is essentially impossible. It exists, often invisible, but very much present and lingering. In the past, the veil of ignorance protected people with privilege, but our racial injustices are now front-and-center in such a way that they are unavoidable. Phrases and concepts such as “pipe-to-prison pipeline,” “prison-industrial complex,” and “school-to-military pipeline” are becoming more commonplace in our discourse as educational resources are spread and shared.
None of these are new concepts; racism is not new for our country and society. What is new is that we see it now thanks to technology, and we are able to easily share thoughts and ideas with each other with a few button clicks. We have an incredible amount of exposure to different voices, viewpoints, perspectives, and experiences because of technology. More people are joining in on conversations regarding race and racial disparities. Just as racial inequality hovers above us, so too do these conversations. One simply needs to make the effort to seek them out.
The difference now, too, is white people have finally woken up. Thanks, COVID?
Photo taken by me.
The Consumer Perspective
It isn’t only individuals who are getting involved in these conversations about race.
Brands are jumping in, whether internally through company memos and cultural restructuring, externally through social media, emails and podcasts, or a combination of both internal and external means. But today’s consumers are savvy, and the rise of conscious consumerism is a testament to the increasing value consumers are placing in brands putting actions to their words. The days of it being enough for companies to jump into hot-button topics for the sake of it are gone. Consumers see through brands’ performative words and actions — that is, behaviors which are done solely because “we have to” — and are demanding more than just hollow promises, or frilly words. They do research to identify which brands they will be confident in putting monetary support behind, as is evident in the cropping up of companies such as Intentionalist, which seek to make the identification process easier for the consumer.
As individuals bring a critical eye to the inequality and inequities baked into our systems, they are turning their gaze towards business, expecting brands to do their part to challenge discrimination and oppression.
Photo by Sebastiano Piazzi
I liken the treatment of the current racial justice movement on the part of brands to their approach to LGBTQIA+ people, coined “rainbow capitalism.” Pride has ventured so far from its original purpose over the years, partly because companies recognized the economic opportunity in slapping a rainbow flag on their logos, or organizing a group to march in a Pride parade and calling it a day. Consumers are frustrated with these tactics employed by brands (a good read for differing perspectives on rainbow capitalism), and that sentiment was echoed on Blackout Tuesday, where brands felt posting a black square on Instagram was taking action. Just a month ago, it seemed like brands had no idea how the racial justice movement would blow up into what it is today. There was a disconnect between consumer sentiment and brands’ recognition of that sentiment.
Speaking from a strictly short-term perspective, COVID laid the groundwork for the consumer sentiment of discontent towards performative actions on the part of brands. That sentiment has hit a head with the added issues of racial injustice. At the onset of COVID, brands would put out messages saying “we care about your safety” and may have truly meant it, but what were they doing? This is what consumers wanted to see from brands for COVID, and it is what they want to see now in the context of race: concrete, progressive action.
The company coming to mind which handled these conversations well during COVID is Delta because of the consistent and clear messages which outlined new sanitizing practices and changes to re-booking policies. The messaging and action were both there, working in tandem with each other.
Marketing during a pandemic and a concurrent social justice movement is a massive undertaking. Brands are still reeling from uncertainties brought on by the pandemic, and are already working in overdrive to keep up with a changing economic and psychological landscape, but it is not an excuse for a brand to poorly handle — or flat-out ignore — the conversations surrounding race.
The demand for society to change is strong, and it is no longer an option for brands to stay silent in regard to racial disparities. Marketers need to be sensitive towards the larger picture of what consumers are feeling, and be wary of injecting their brands into conversations with messaging which runs counter to the company’s actual practices.
Remember the infamously tone-deaf “Live for Now” Pepsi commercial which became a PR nightmare? Yes, that one. A result of Pepsi not doing due diligence in understanding the sentiment behind the Black Lives Matter protests, the ad received swaths of outrage and mockery from consumers.
Let’s not glaze over the hypocrisy of Amazon’s recently released statement calling for the “inequitable and brutal treatment of Black people in our country” to stop, either. The brand has already been on shaky ground from its treatment of employees during COVID; the actions Amazon are taking to mitigate those frustrations register more as band-aid fixes than genuine concern. Plunging into the conversation about race with messages attempting to take the moral high ground which are in direct contradiction to the company’s actions is not a good look.
The lesson here is having good intent does not equate to a free pass for failed execution. Consumers will pick up on it.
The Result
We are seeing an interesting shift happen in the world of business.
Whereas we are accustomed to consumers boycotting companies, companies are now boycotting other companies. The ever-growing list of companies walking away from advertising on Facebook is a testament to the strength of consumers during this movement; brands are feeling pressure from consumers to take action. Consumers understand that money is the lifeline supporting racist or otherwise oppressive systems, but now brands are embracing that knowledge and acting upon it because consumers demand it.
This shift is not only limited to paid media — Periscope wrote a Declaration of Independence from their parent company, Quad, and the entire company has walked out over Quad’s resistance to Periscope saying “Black Lives Matter,” and for the parent company allegedly misreporting diversity statistics. As both a consumer and marketer, I want to take a moment to appreciate how badass that is.
These are the actions consumers want to see. These are the actions which bring change because they distill overarching systemic injustices down into more digestible, manageable parts which can be acted on.
For a brand to successfully dive into conversations surrounding race, there needs to be a fundamental recognition of consumer sentiment and where it stems from. Doing homework into the demands for larger societal change is essential for understanding the consumer perspective, so that brands can avoid inadvertently triggering and contributing to frustrations. Let Pepsi serve as an example of what not to do, and Periscope of what to do.
