Brands as social issue supporters and social media as a tool

Brands today are moving from a simpler, more basic strategy focused on attracting consumers to a more complex strategy which aims to connect with consumers through its values and social impact.

We all remember the understatedly embarrassing Pepsi campaign featuring Kendall Jenner that received a lot of backlash and criticism for trivializing such a serious issue as Black Lives Matter.

This is just one example of a failed attempt for a brand to establish a meaningful customer relationship by entering a difficult conversation.

More and more brands are moving towards establishing genuine relationships with customers that include emotional attachment as they realize that simple brand retention and repeat buying do not have as deep of an impact.

According to the Meaningful Brands report by Havas Media 75% of consumers expect brands to “make more of a contribution to our wellbeing and quality of life” but believe only 40% are doing so and that only 40% produce impactful content.

One brand that has succeeded in doing so is Adobe’s Project 1324 #CreativeImpact by “extending (their) digital media solutions to young creatives who want to use their art for social change.”

Another example is the #WeAccept campaign done by Airbnb for the 2017 Superbowl which quickly became their 3rd largest driver of earned impressions of all time. The hashtag was the #1 used advertiser hashtag during the superbowl generating over 33K tweets during the first half of the game.

The video was ultimately viewed 19 million times and shared 100,901 times; it stands as the company’s most shared Facebook video of all time.

Social media can be a facilitator for brands to enter a meaningful conversation just the same as it can be a detriment as we have seen with Pepsi.

Brands can use social media as a tool to further establish an emotional and valuable connection with consumers.

Coca-Cola is a successful brand and while at its core is associated with broad values like happiness and enjoyment, they are not afraid to support social issues and do so in an attractive way.

A recent Instagram post by Coca-Cola for international Pride Day was successful with engagement receiving over 111 thousand views and over 1 thousand comments. Put in context, their videos receive between about half of those views and comments normally.

Brands that have already established retention and acheived repeat buying should use social media as a tool to establish the emotional connection that is missing. As was mentioned in the Havas media report people believe only 40% of brands produce content that is meaningful or relevant.

As we move towards a world that is searching more and more for meanining brands should be able to answer this demand by aligning themselves with values. People are ever increasingly demanding that brands take a stance on social issues but the key is not simply to jump in because it is a trend, as Pepsi has done, rather it is best to listen to what people care about and show their support.