Brand Marketing
Are you building an inclusive brand?
In order to gain respect, brands need to take a stand and be inclusive
Marketing has always been about talking the language of customers to appeal them to your products and services. Since the beginning of time, marketing and branding strategies has been forced to evolve with the changing and ever evolving belief systems in the society.
Customers Rebel, Marketers Settle
What is Marketing today, it’s definitely not what it was a decade or let’s say 5 years ago. In his book Marketing Rebellion, Mark Schaefer takes us through this journey of how marketing was forced to evolve and be better. Technology has made the world smaller and more interconnected where information spreads like fire. He cites relevant examples with data to highlight the growing rebellion against brands and forcing to be more human. The below infographic is a brief overview of Marketing Rebellion — a must read for all Marketers and Brand managers
Fourth Rebellion
2020 definitely has been the beginning of 4th Rebellion. Mark Schaffer’s podcast The Marketing Companion he interviewed Brooke Sellas on how “Pandemic may re-wire consumer behavior and marketers should pay attention”. Challenge still lies, can marketers provide the same brand experience for the present at-home consumers. Some industries like travel and hospitality have already been impacted. My blog on “Getting back to Stadiums again!”, I have shared my perspectives on how Event Management Industry needs to change to provide pre-covid like experiences.
But more than the pandemic, this year has been something more. This year has a clear voice. This year also stops the intolerance and demands equality and inclusivity at every level. After #MeToo, Black Lives Matter amidst the pandemic, has been another movement which saw participation ranging from youths, to community-based activists, to administrative assistants and to celebrities. The society is demanding change, the society is demanding fair inclusion at all levels and the society is demanding everyone to have a voice and take the right stand. The paper Talking About Black Lives Matter and #MeToo is a good read that discusses the similarities and differences between the too movements.
What does this mean for Marketers?
Brands are more stretched than before. Beginning 2020, brands were judged on their ability to be resilient, on their ability to curb the health crisis and support healthcare workers. Black Lives Matter wave, initiated on Social Media platforms quickly gained the power of the masses. How did the brands respond to this? Facebook was pushed to take a stand but it decided not to do anything. For the first time under the #StopHateforProfit campaign, Facebook ads are being boycotted by many big brands. Not responding has not only hurt the brand but is hurting their profits too.
Following are some examples of brands that came up with creative ways to support the cause and many are grappling to correct old biases:
- Most companies colored their logo and websites Black
- Netflix shifts $100 million to Black-owned banks
- Twitter turned Black Lives Matter Tweets into billboards around the country
- IBM announced that it would stop selling facial recognition technology to customers including police departments
- Mercedes F1 team popularly known as Silver Arrows, for 2020 season world champions will be switching their car colors to black
- J&J, HUL and Loreal has announced that they will remove words like lightning, whitening and fairness from all skin care products
To summarize the beginning of this decade has set the stage for a Fourth Rebellion — End to Inequality and accepting differences in all forms. Its no longer a choice but a need for Marketing and marketers to listen more, to learn more and get more human.
