Look Ma, My Fav Brand Just “Woke Up”
1) A leading tea brand (full disclosure: my preferred brew) encourages the society to be more inclusive and dreams of a world where neighbours truly break the shackles of conservatism over a cup of tea.
2) A leading detergent brand asks men to be more mindful of their responsibilities at home and pull their own weight (don’t be a Joey Fatone to use a 90s pop reference) by lending an equal hand in washing clothes
3) The world’s biggest shaving brand too joined the conversation by questioning the idea of masculinity and what it means to be a man
Are we truly living in an era where doing your job well (offering the cleanest shave) is not enough to win the share of wallet?
Am sure you get the drift; as a marketing professional and brand junkie, have been following the rise and rise of this phenomena closely. What follows is a double-click of my exploration and thoughts on the subject!
The Oxford Dictionary defines “woke” as
adjective: woke: “alert to injustice in society, especially racism. Ex. “we need to stay angry, and stay woke”
Wikipedia adds a little more nuance to our understanding by setting more context on the provenance of the term.
“Woke as a political term of African American origin refers to a perceived awareness of issues concerning social justice and racial justice. It is derived from the African-American Vernacular English expression “stay woke”, whose grammatical aspect refers to a continuing awareness of these issues.”
However as used in our urban vocabulary it has come to stand for a conscious liberal set of values with a broad interpretation.
The 700 pound gorilla in the (corporate) room which begs an answer is
“What explains the astonishing rise and adoption of this school of thinking/culture by brands and marketeers?”
Why do we see brands tripping over themselves in a rush to out-woke others and go one up on the field?
Is there a real consumer centric proposition at the core of this positioning or is it empty virtue signalling?
Will this be a flavour of the season (a Limp Bizkit circa 2000 to use a rock allegory) or actually have the staying power to be the new normal.
Let’s understand the themes and forces which brought us here
A) Saturation in category from an evolution point of view: So on a scale of brand propositions which extend from the rational/functional (Maggi 2 min noodles) to truly evolved/meta propositions (Cadbury Shubh Aarambh) we increasingly see brands drifting towards the latter end of the spectrum. More a situational necessity; it’s difficult/rare for a leader or challenger brand in sneakers to truly come up with a break through innovation or technology; last several new launches by a shaving brand has been a razor which has N+1 blades! So as time goes by this feature/product expectation becomes table stakes or hygiene for the category.
B) Disruption by E-commerce: The rise of these powerful platforms in a winner takes all market has redefined retail. Every category is prime (no pun intended) for commoditization. In most cases these behemoths have a retail brand which is more powerful/equal in stature to the product brand. With scale comes ability to win the pricing battle; so brands are forced to be more distinctive to drive intent!
C) Social Media and Arm Chair Activism: We like to sharpen our silhouette & personal brand on social platforms by espousing causes that we “think” will make us seem more intelligent, caring, empathetic, etc. (Think of a guy on a first date) Views are catalysed by the “echo chamber” effect driven by algorithms optimized to increase stickiness at all costs. This projected image is largely a socially acceptable chimera! For all the bravado and bluster; the operating principles in real life are very different. (Yes I am looking at you: Men who love “Share the load” campaign by a popular laundry detergent brand but will not even dream of going in the vicinity of a washing machine). Brand content which helps you add more nuance/solidify this projected self is shared instantly
D) Emergence of New Media Formats: (Let’s break this down from both the demand and supply sides)
Supply Side: The conventional “30 sec” spot on TV had to establish the core brand proposition in an idiot proof manner which maximized comprehension. This made layered messaging difficult (Of course! There have been brands who have crafted beautiful and memorable content despite these constraints) The luxury of a native subtle plug; in a content piece which brought alive the brand persona, just wasn’t an option. With the rise of content consumption enabled by social networks and cheap data; there is much more flexibility of media formats (especially of the longer formats) which can be used for richer story telling. Positive second order effects include a sharp decline in production costs (enabled by tech advances).
Demand Side: Addiction to social networks meant a longer time spent thumbing through content in search of the next dopamine hit. This coupled with point C meant significantly higher levels of receptivity to brand messaging which was not in your face. Which automatically favoured stories rooted in the zeitgeist. “Shareability” of content became a critical success metric for evaluation (tail wags the dog)
E) Brand/Agency FOMO: Call it peer group dynamics or the new toy in the room! But with every brand that crumbles to the wave; it adds to the pressure on the rest. If X, Y and Alpha have done it; then there must be a strong reason why we too must follow no? Case studies get written and helps (orgs) with the awards too (LinkedIn profile on steroids) Looks like no one has used the “Brother + Sister = Gender Equality” template yet. Let’s show how X brand (with 95% all male senior management) cares about this and encourages brothers to tie sisters a “rakhi” this “Raksha Bandhan”. Sustenance idea: Swap your Insta profile pic with your sister’s to show solidarity!
F) Karma Points/Self Actualization: On a lighter note, let’s agree that no one aspires as a kid to be the brand head of the most loved toilet cleaner in the world! Or for that matter sell a cola which is depleting the ground water table, chips causing a spike in childhood obesity and heart disease, etc…you get the drift. This wave of “Wokeness” has given marketing teams a rare sense of hope that their brand is actually solving complex societal problems ;)
These are some factors (IMHO) which have resulted in a deluge of brand content with virtue signalling and associating with causes. The golden principle of life, an ex-professor of mine, was fond of stating, is “regression to the mean” and am confident that we shall see a restoration of balance in the near future. Until then don’t forget to share the latest video of your favourite fast fashion brand which believes in the power of democracy, encouraging you to go and vote! (never mind the “Made in China” label)
P.S: The COVID crisis has served as a great wakeup call and reinforced the fact that consumers care or think about brands even lesser than how little we historically estimated. We have seen established national brands lose in excess of 30% of their base in some cases, as consumers have seamlessly switched to private labels/regional brands basis availability!
