The rise of brand activism in business

Jessie Macneil-Brown, Senior Manager International Campaigns and Corporate Responsibility shares her views on how brand activism can lead to positive change.

Activism is in our blood at The Body Shop and we have always campaigned on issues close to our heart, raising awareness and being a catalyst for change. My first interaction with The Body Shop was when I travelled to Melbourne from my country town in Australia to buy a bag of soaps in the shape of endangered animals. Walking into the Bourke St Mall store, I loved learning all about The Body Shop campaigns and the many issues around the world needing help. Fifteen years later I joined the International Campaigns team here at The Body Shop to work on the Stop Sex Trafficking of Children and Young People campaign which is our most successful campaign to date.

I joined The Body Shop because I believe passionately that business should be a force for good. That was an unusual concept back when our founder, Anita Roddick, first presented her ideas. But now it’s much more commonplace and it’s wonderful to see so many brands taking action for important causes. I was particularly inspired to see several American brands standing up to their government earlier this year. This shift in brand activism really reflects a change in consumer expectations and I hope it also reflects a change in business as more and more of us are prepared to call out the poor performance or inactivity of our governments.

Most businesses have a reach and influence that most campaigners can only dream of. The Body Shop has an audience of 30 million customers globally every year. With our new campaign, Forever Against Animal Testing, we’re aiming to engage with our audience to inspire change on an unprecedented scale.

Since the 1980s The Body Shop has been campaigning against animal testing in cosmetics with our long term partners, Cruelty Free International. It’s an issue where we know we can make a difference and where our customers and colleagues want to see us campaign. Our campaigning strategy has always been to gather support through petitioning because we know that unity and strength in huge numbers has the power to invoke discussion, which is exactly what we have done in the past and hope to do with our newest campaign. Launched today, our aim is to take eight million signatures to the UN to achieve an international convention against animal testing in cosmetics.

So please, join us and sign our petition. Take a look at what we are doing and perhaps you can influence your colleagues to work on a strategy for activism that’s right for your brand.

I believe we can all strengthen the relationship between our businesses and our customers to positively shape the world around us.