A Brave New World for Brand Activism
On February 7, 2017, Under Armour CEO Kevin Plank sat down for a routine interview on CNBC’s “Fast Money Halftime Report” to discuss his impressions of Donald Trump as a member of the president’s Manufacturing Jobs Initiative.
This seems like a fairly innocuous response, given the interviewee is a CEO describing a meeting about business on a show concerning financial market analysis.
Not in our current political environment.
Over the next few days, #BoycottUnderArmour rocketed up social media “trending topic” charts, and Under Armour’s most recognizable endorsers, including Stephen Curry, Misty Copeland and Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson, each publicly criticized Mr. Plank’s remarks. “I agree [that he’s an asset],” said Curry, “if you remove the ‘-et.’”
About ten days after the interview, Under Armour placed a full-page ad in the Baltimore Sun to apologize and clarify its values.
The expectations for brand engagement with political or social issues have shifted dramatically. Under Armour is but one example: New Balance, Starbucks, Uber, Yeungling and many others have found themselves on the wrong end of impassioned public criticism because of the way their political advocacy — or perceived advocacy — was interpreted by consumers.
What does this all mean?
In a keynote presentation at this year’s Engage For Good conference in Chicago, I discussed a few key considerations for brands when they decide to engage in issue advocacy. Here are my top four takeaways:
1. You will be asked “The Question.”
For many brands, watching stories like Under Armour’s play out likely makes them hesitant, or entirely opposed, to engaging in political or social advocacy. Some may think it best to keep their heads down and wait for the moment to blow over, or keep their fingers crossed that they won’t be pulled into the fray. They’re thinking: “Our product isn’t even political, anyway! We can sit tight and wait this out with no harm done, right?”
Brands may choose to do nothing but at their own peril. Consumers, media, current and prospective employees — most if not all of your critical audiences are going to want to know where you stand on the issues of the day. These audiences want to connect with you on a deeper level, one that demonstrates an alignment of values.
Not being prepared to answer “The Question” (i.e. “Where do you stand on [insert important issue of the day here]?”) is possibly worse than having a more polarizing answer. if you’re unwilling to speak or take a stance on an issue, you run the risk of your position being defined for you in the public eye. You’re unlikely to win over hearts and minds and it will be difficult to withstand criticism if you did not have a clear, well-communicated stance to begin with.
Your goal can’t be to please everybody in this environment — you won’t. Instead, you must be prepared to take a position consistent with your internal values, and act on that position consistently.
Remember, your audiences are being asked the same questions they are asking of you. They are looking to companies to help them signal their own values, either by engaging with brands or critiquing them. Brands continue to have a major role in helping define consumer identity — but in a much more sensitive environment.
2. Advocacy is distinct from Corporate Social Responsibility
Advocacy means taking a public stance on a social or political issue that helps inform your identity as a brand, whereas CSR is generally focused on supporting social causes that are universally good, avoiding a political stance.
Gone are the days when a simple CSR campaign and a “Giving Back to Our Community” landing page served as meaningful demonstrations of values. CSR actions are low-risk and meticulously controlled by internal teams. This is part of what limits the authenticity and relatable “identity” of those efforts.
Advocacy, on the other hand, is a response to external factors — media, politics, activism — that is often out of your control, and requires a clear and potentially controversial stance. While marketing, public affairs, or CSR ultimately works in service of business goals, advocacy, when done correctly, is a reflection of the beliefs that are integral to your brand’s identity.
Companies are still learning how to engage in advocacy. There is an opportunity here to understand and position your brand in a political engagement effort that makes you stand apart and engenders loyalty among consumers.
3. Advocacy Without Consistency is Just a Word.
You must be consistent in the communication of your identity. If you brand your product as feminist, advocate publicly in the name of feminism, and then treat your own female employees unfairly, you will be doubly criticized and perceived as dishonest for advocating in bad faith. Your identity and actions must be in line if you aim to engage in advocacy effectively.
This also means that advocacy cannot be siloed into a particular department and left to run its course. Advocacy must be consistent across your leadership’s communications, marketing efforts, product design, supply chain — integrated throughout all of your brand’s actions.
4. Understand Where You Fall on the Advocacy Spectrum
No two advocacy actions are the same. Identical efforts from two companies with very different brand identities and histories will be perceived differently by consumers. With that in mind, before diving into issue advocacy, a company should ask itself the following questions:
· What are the core beliefs that your brand is willing to publicly reflect, and why?
· Are those beliefs in line with your brand’s heritage and values, as exemplified by your current and past behavior?
· How does authenticity look to your brand and its audience?
· What’s in it for your brand?
These questions are not easy to answer, and the answers will be different for every brand. But this is the right place to start in understanding how your brand might fit into the broader context of the political and social conversations taking place today.
This is the moment to define a clear brand identity by advocating for your values, because eventually all of your most relevant audiences will demand it of you. In an uncertain political world, people are turning to brands to provide certainty of values and meaning — now is the time to seize that opportunity.
Latia Curry is a Principal at RALLY, a communications firm that works to influence the way people think about and respond to political and social issues.
