Welcome to the Age of Brand Activism and How to Implement it Successfully

In my experience, marketing performance is generally measured and driven by impressions and sales with recaps consisting of the typical KPI's (Key Performance Indicators): sales revenue; cost per customer; impressions delivered; store and digital traffic; conversion rate, etc. All of these metrics are invaluable in knowing the effectiveness of inbound marketing. Let's be clear, no company spends money on marketing that isn't driving revenue. There is a paradigm shift occurring though with brands leveraging socio-political and environmental issues to drive their messages and even deciding to be activists.

What is brand activism? Wikipedia on activism states - “Activism consists of efforts to promote, impede, or direct social, political, economic, and/or environmental reform or stasis with the desire to make improvements in society." In other words, activism is a form of marketing. It leverages campaigning and direct engagement with targets to drive KPI's. The differentiation is the socio-political and environmental missions of traditional activism versus brand goals.

Nike's campaign with Colin Kaepernick recently got significant publicity, but there are plenty of others. In 2016, Ben and Jerry’s announced support for Black Lives Matter and LGBT Equality. During this latest U.S. government shutdown, several outdoor clothing brands including The North Face, Patagonia, and Columbia have called for the reopening of national parks. Some brands even took shots at President Trump's policies. On the border wall in a tweet, The North Face stated: "Walls Are Meant For Climbing." In Gilette's new campaign "We Believe: The Best Men Can Be" they embrace #MeToo, posting at the end of their commercial "It's only by challenging ourselves to do more that we can get closer to our best."

In my experience, brands were never supposed to state their stances on controversial issues risking alienation of consumers, rather than striving for universal likability. So, why have brands decided to delve into activism and to proclaim socio-political and environmental goals?  It's not because the decision-makers miraculously care more about the issues. It's the consumer.

According to a 2018 Edelman report, Brands Take a Stand,  1 in 2 people are belief driven buyers, meaning they choose, switch, avoid or boycott a brand based on its stand on societal issues. Of these buyers, 67% bought a brand for the first time because of its position on a controversial issue and 65% will not buy a brand because it stayed silent on an issue it had an obligation to address. Also according to the report, age, income, nor geography were significant factors.

So how did brand activism emerge? According to The Marketing Journal - "It’s a natural evolution of the Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) and Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) programs that are transforming companies across the world.  Brand activism emerges as a values-driven agenda for companies that care about the future of society and the planet’s health."  When companies set their values it becomes the foundation of their branding.

When initiating brand activism, companies must be careful and prepared. There are significant steps to take.

Set core company values - This may be rudimentary, but some companies don't have them. Values are the foundation for everything the company does and how from leadership to entry-level. They give employees and consumers a purpose for the brand and why they should be passionate about it. As Cedric Charbit, the CEO of Balenciaga stated "A product can no longer be only and purely craftsmanship plus creativity and heritage: we need to add values and emotion to it. Products need to be meaningful." 

It must come from the top down - The CEO's have to be the main stakeholders instituting brand activism from their company values. This can't emerge from marketing or middle management because there is a risk of other functions not embracing the campaign. The entire company must be prepared advocates because when speaking with clients, partners, or anyone they need to cite why this approach makes sense. Also, the CEO should be the main spokesperson as a servant-leader prepared to discuss the issues.

Be authentic - The Journal of Consumer Psychology defines brand authenticity as “The extent to which consumers perceive a brand to be faithful toward itself, true to its consumers, motivated by caring and responsibility, and able to support consumers in being true to themselves.”  The reasons for brand activism have to be perceived as genuine, so consumers have trust advocating for it. Inauthenticity can be significantly detrimental like when Pepsi pulled their infamous ad Police, Protesters, and Kendall Jenner while Black Lives Matter protests were heavily in the news. The overwhelming reaction was it seemed insensitive and marginalized the cause.

It must be important to your core consumers - All brands need to be consumer-centric, starting and ending everything from the perspective of their core consumers. The causes they support have to be important to the vast majority of the company's consumers or they are taking a risk without the return. This also elevates brand perception with empathy because the core consumers feel that companies are listening to their calls for action and utilizing resources.

Be prepared for the backlash -  There will be a backlash from some consumers and the general public. This is the expected downside that companies have to be prepared for with their CEO's out front responding to the tough comments. After Gillette launched its aforementioned campaign, several consumers and celebrities took to social media vowing to never use their products. Journalist Piers Morgan tweeted "I wasn't aware that all men are presumed to be horrible human beings until they get shown a better way of behaving by @Gillette."

In the Edelman survey, 46% of consumers believe brands have better ideas for solving our country's problems than government and 53% believe brands can do more to solve societal ills. As a result, I feel belief driven buyers are here to stay as they view brands as powerful change agents. With brand activism, companies are accepting significant responsibility for their communities and their consumers will reward them with loyalty. When done right it is a low-risk/high-reward proposition, but which brands will take the risk and can any afford not to?