DIGITAL MEDIA DIGEST: JUN ‘20
A monthly look at the world of digital from NORTH’s point of view
Black Lives Matter
By Nicole Bell, Media Director
I was really hoping June would be the turning point for 2020. Little did I know it would be the catalyst for so much more. This month’s Digital Digest is going to take a different approach. Typically, we write about digital trends and the correlation to media. With everything that happened this month, we simply couldn’t stay silent — no matter how anxious and uncomfortable we are to write this. As you read through this article, I ask for a little patience and grace. This is a hard conversation for our agency, and we likely won’t get it all right but we’re trying now whereas before, we weren’t.
Up until recently (literally June 2020) racism was just there, always present in our society but ignored because it is 2020 and we’re evolved humans. It was seen as “solved” or not really a brand or agency’s place to take a stance on. That changed this month. The murder of George Floyd at the end of May reignited the Black Lives Matter movement for non-Black people, and that included decision makers at brands and agencies across the country.
Summarizing Black Lives Matter In June
Protests erupted across the world, and social conversations went from COVID-19, to Black Lives Matter.
Major brands like Target and Nike immediately pulled back on paid advertising in early June.
The music industry came together to take a stand against racism to support Black voices. It started out as #TheShowMustBePaused and quickly evolved to #BlackoutTuesday, a virtual protest where just about every Instagram user posted a black square with the intention to take a step back and let Black voices be heard. There were mixed reactions to this movement, but it did one thing: the entire world was talking about Racism.
As part of the advertising industry, agencies have a responsibility to both demand change, and use their unique position to guide brands on navigating Civil Rights situations. For agencies, there was a call-to-action from 600 & Rising to commit to change the industry, and start with hiring Black people. Agencies across the country released diversity data, including NORTH.
Collectively, our agency started to think about how we can act in a meaningful way that will truly inspire change. We observed Juneteenth as a day of reflection and education on Black history, the Black experience and our commitment to amplify Black voices. Other companies did the same.
June is passing the torch to July with a call to Boycott Facebook. Something tells me this will be the focus of our Digital Digest next month.
Digital Activism in the Time of Coronavirus
By Izzy Kramer, Media Planner
As reference in Nicole’s article, the Black Lives Matter movement is gaining more traction than ever. Support for the movement increased by twenty-eight points among registered voters, compared to nearly two years ago. Bail funds and racial justice organizations have received so many donations that they have had to turn away donors, encouraging them to send their money to another worthy cause. Participation in online petition signing has seen an incredible lift over the past month with the George Floyd petition on Change.org breaking records. The hashtag #BlackLivesMatter has been used on over 22 million Instagram posts and it has been trending on Twitter since early June.
But what makes this time different? No two ways about it, it’s because we’re in the middle of a pandemic.
Right now we’re all seeping in a concoction of increased screen time and endless restlessness as we shelter in place. The fatigue of staying at home for three — going on four — months has us eager to get up, stretch out limbs, and do better. While there are large crowds marching in the streets, a decent percentage are staying home to understandably limit risk in exposing themselves and their loved ones to the Coronavirus. This means many people have turned to digital media to listen, educate themselves, and advocate for BIPOC (Black, Indigenous and People of Color.) All of that is to say, the increase in digital media usage due to the Coronavirus pandemic has turned into an increase in digital activism. Let’s revisit how the media landscape has changed since March 2020:
- Streaming video usage is up: Nielsen reported 161.4 billion total minutes spent streaming video, which was up from 69.8 billion minutes one year ago.
- Social media usage is up: There has been a 29 percent increase due to COVID-19 in time spent on social media, with Instagram and YouTube experiencing the biggest lifts.
- Podcasts and streaming audio usage is up: Nielsen estimated 8 in 10 Americans are spending either the same amount of time or more with audio media and they have deemed audio as a “comfort food” during quarantine.
- eBook and audiobook usage is up: Statista reports a 25% increase in people reading more books/eBooks and listening to audiobooks.
What this all means is the digital media landscape was primed and ready for an influx of digital activism.
From the Washington Post: “The hashtag #BlackLivesMatter was shared more than 8 million times on Twitter on May 28, up from 146,000 on Dec 4, 2014, the peak in the wake of Eric Garner’s death. But what’s different now is how many new platforms they have at their disposal, along with a deeper understanding of how to use existing ones — allowing online activism in the wake of George Floyd’s death to take all sorts of creative forms. On June 7th, 22,000 people around the globe who couldn’t take to the streets in person gathered on the popular, quarantine-boosted video apps Zoom, Instagram and Facebook Live as part of a series of digital Black Lives Matter protests.”
Digital activism makes supporting causes like BLM that much easier and with everyone sitting at home, there is really no excuse not to participate in some way. This brings up a larger discussion of the public and private aspects of digital activism that I’ve noticed more during the George Floyd protests.
We are all also experiencing a great push and pull between public displays of activism (or as I enjoy calling PDA) and what we’re doing behind the scenes. Work behind the scenes can include non-Black people (particularly White people) taking a moment to stop, listen, and educate themselves or if you are Black, taking a break from the endless education your community has had to spearhead for decades. From the get-go there was a rush to outwardly express solidarity. The issue with rushed public displays of activism, is they mean nothing if there is no support beyond them. Blackout Tuesday on Instagram was a fine example of this. It isn’t enough to just post a square. Those squares need to be accompanied by other forms of activism: sign petitions, donate when you can, adorn a mask and protest, start reading about racism, listen to a Black-hosted podcasts — the list goes on.
North closed our offices on 6/19 in observance of Juneteenth, a holiday that celebrates the true day of independence in America as it was the official emancipation of all slaves in the U.S. Many of my coworkers and I planned on taking this day away from work to read, watch, listen, and learn about racism in America and our part in it. Together we watched “13th”, an “examination of the U.S. prison system [and] how…[America’s] history of racial inequality drives the high rate of incarceration.” I continued reading White Fragility: Why It’s So Hard for White People to Talk About Racism by Robin DeAngelo, PhD. And I naturally turned to my favorite medium, podcasts, to listen to the Juneteenth Anniversary episode of Minority Korner.
Just because you aren’t publicly posting about it doesn’t mean the work isn’t being done. But it is important to do the work. It is also why this time is so different. We have the time to burn during these doldrums called the COVID-19 pandemic. Make your digital media consumption worth it.
Consumers Demand Social Responsibility
By Madelyn Engel, Performance Marketing Manager
In recent months, brands have been overwhelmed by the ongoing health and social crisis as COVID-19 erupted into renewed calls for Black Lives Matter which then rolled into Pride month. Especially daunting, is the task of delivering a response to their consumers. For many, these are unchartered territories, and the stakes are high. The fear of backlash over a lackluster response has kept many brands from making any response at all. However, according to an Edelman Trust Barometer study, a majority of Americans are concerned enough about systemic racism that their purchases will be influenced by how brands respond to calls for racial equality. Nearly 60% of consumers will buy or boycott brands based on how they respond to calls for racial equality over the next few weeks. Obviously, brands cannot afford to remain silent.
One mistake many brands are making is failing to recognize how COVID-19, Black Lives Matter, and June Pride Month are related. In truth, the COVID-19 pandemic laid bare many long-standing systemic inequalities in our social and health systems that put people of color at increased risk of getting COVID-19. According to the CDC, COVID related hospitalization rates were 5x higher among Black persons and 4x higher among Hispanic or Latinx persons. The CDC states that these health differences are the result of inequalities in living, working, health, and social conditions that have persisted across generations. For example, many people of color may live in more densely populated areas due to racial housing segregation, which make it harder to practice social distancing. Racial housing segregation is also linked to health conditions, such as asthma and other underlying medical conditions, and higher levels of exposure to pollution and other environmental hazards, which make COVID-19 more dangerous. Furthermore, the inequalities in employment and pay mean people of color are unable to work from home or to have the savings to forgo work, and are more likely to work at jobs with conditions that have an increased risk of getting COVID-19.
As summarized by Dr. Marcella Nunez-Smith, director of the Equity Research and Innovation Center at Yale School of Medicine, “We know that these racial ethnic disparities in COVID-19 are the result of pre-pandemic realities. It’s a legacy of structural discrimination that has limited access to health and wealth for people of color. African-Americans have higher rates of underlying conditions, including diabetes, heart disease, and lung disease, that are linked to more severe cases of COVID-19. They also often have less access to quality health care and are disproportionately represented in essential frontline jobs that can’t be done from home, increasing their exposure to the virus.”
Similarly, LGBTQI+ people are disproportionately affected by both the health risks and economic fallout of COVID-19 because they live in poverty, are homeless, or work harder-hit industries such as food service. “COVID-19 is a human rights crisis, especially to those who experience pre-existing vulnerability and inequality,” says Alejandro Verdier, Argentina’s representative to the UN and co-chair of the UN LGBTI Core Group.
It was with this backdrop of exposed health and social inequalities that the unjust killings of George Floyd and Breonna Taylor, among others, relaunched the Black Lives Matter movement and marked the beginning of Pride month.
So how can brands move forward in a positive way? Consumers are savvy. They want concrete actions from brands, not intangible messages of support.
Allyship: Standing in solidarity with people experiencing systemic inequalities is a great first step. An Edelman Trust Barometer study found that 60% of all respondents said they believe brands should speak out on racism and racial injustice; 56% believe brands have a moral and societal obligation to take a stand on the issue. However, this cannot be the only step that brands take.
Impact: Consumers want more than a powerful statement, they want action. 60% of respondents for an Edelman Trust Barometer study believe brands must acknowledge the problem and invest in addressing the causes of racial inequality. Brands should use their platforms to support the cause and to amplify voices. Many large brands and corporations are showing support by donating funds to organizations fighting inequality or supporting Black-owned businesses and Black communities, as well as matching employee or consumer contributions. Furthermore, instead of marketing and creating noise, some brands are taking a step back and cancelling events. For example, PlayStation canceled their PlayStation 5 event saying, “While we understand gamers worldwide are excited to see PS5 Games, we do not feel that right now is a time for celebration and for now, we want to stand back and allow more important voices to be heard.” Alternatively, some brands and influential people are offering up their platforms to amplify Black voices. For example, celebrities are using their social media influence to amplify Black voices under #ShareTheMicNow, an initiative that elevates the voices and visibility of notable Black women.
Accountability: Consumers are holding companies accountable as they look to support BLM with their wallets. Consumers are using social media to encourage people to shop based on a company’s actions. For example, according to Mintel trend data, social media users are rallying behind Lowe’s after the company donated $25 million to help minority-owned businesses reopen, while calling for boycotts of the company’s competitor Home Depot, whose co-founder donated to the Trump campaign. Furthermore, brands are being called on to show employment equality in their organizations, particularly at higher levels. 64% of respondents in an Edelman Trust Barometer study believe brands must set an example with their own organization. For example, Pull Up for Change is a digital campaign that has challenged brands to publicly release the number of Black employees they have in their organizations at corporate level/leadership roles. Brands are holding themselves accountable by making their shortcomings and goals public, which increases their likelihood of achieving them.
“The results are unequivocal: Americans want brands to step up and play a central role in addressing systemic racism. This is a mandate for brands to act, because consumers will exercise brand democracy with their wallets,” CEO Richard Edelman wrote about the study.
It is imperative that brands make a statement about the systemic racism brought to light through COVID-19, the resurgence of Black Lives Matter, and the celebrations of LGBTQI+ Pride, and back that statement up with action and transparency. Looking forward, brands cannot afford to remain in a reactive state. Brands need to be long-term allies. Brands need to create long-term impact, which requires not one but many actions. Lastly, brands need to hold themselves accountable, to turn these mission statements into reality, and communicate their progress with their consumers.
