Consumers increasingly expect brands to be upfront and clear about their values; 70% of consumers say it’s important for brands to take a stand on social and political issues and 66% of those consumers say it’s because they believe brands can create real change. Brand activism has therefore made its way to the top of the agenda for many organisations, particularly in the wake of events like the death of George Floyd or the overturning of Roe vs Wade. While these agenda shifts are a great move for creating societal changes, organisations can be quick to jump on the bandwagon and promote empty claims for the sake of self promotion and marketing tactics. This poses the question around where brands fit on the figurative “scale” of activism and how they can and should participate. As a social purpose agency, we know a thing or two about brand activism and we’d always recommend dipping your toe into activism first, making small changes that ladder up to a genuine shift in behaviour. This tends to be a far more effective method than making one big move that risks losing audiences. This article takes a look at the definition of brand activism, what forms it can take and how businesses should approach it.

Brand activism refers to businesses taking a public stance on what they believe in. The activism could support social, political and/or environmental issues, and is usually more public-facing and activation-led than Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) and Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) programmes which are usually built into internal processes. Brand activism can be both planned or reactive. Reactive activism tends to respond to real-time news stories, current events or a national conversation, whereas planned activism allows brands to integrate the activation into wider marketing activity. Both types create an opportunity for brands to insert themselves into live discussions with audiences and share their positioning on an issue.There are many different places brand activism can take place. Some businesses may choose to take a stand on issues via their products, like Ben and Jerry’s politically charged ice cream flavours. Others will make their stand via a TV-led ad campaign or through social media content, such as a TikTok video or a statement on Twitter.

Now, we take a deeper look at some campaigns for change examples:

Google's recent decision to delete location history of people visiting abortion clinics is a really great example of reactive brand activism. Rather than simply a tweet or campaign, it actively looked to change the functionality of its product to protect its users.The events of Roe v Wade, in which the supreme court ended the right to abortion in the US, caused global uproar. The conversation rippled through the business world too, forcing organisations to navigate their own position on the topic. Society called on the tech industry to protect them against police obtaining sensitive information revealing pregnancy plans. Google took a stance by decideing to change how they handle sensitive information related to abortions - if their systems identify that someone has visited an abortion clinic they “will delete these entries from Location History soon after they visit”. Google’s plan is an example of a tech giant using their position to take action to protect women, and is the first tech company to publicly say how it will handle user data in response to concerns over the court ruling and how it can be weaponized and imposed by law enforcement.

Calvin Klein’s trans-inclusive ad campaign is a great example of working with the LGBTQ+ community to co-create a campaign that takes a stand.Transgender representation in the media is hugely lacking, particualrly in the fashion industry. Calvin Klein launched a Mother’s Day campaign to celebrate motherhood and recognise all family configurations. The Instagram campaign featured female-to-male transgender reality TV star Roberto Bete and his partner Erika Fernandes. The post was captioned: “Today, in support of women and mothers around the world, we highlight the reality of new families”The campaign was met with backlash from a transphobic online community, to which Calvin Klein responded:

“We embrace this platform as an inclusive and respectful environment for individualism and self-expression. At Calvin Klein, we tolerate everything except intolerance-any intolerant commentary will be removed and any account issuing hateful statements may be blocked. We look forward to continuing a positive and inclusive dialogue in partnership with our community.”

This Halifax example demonstrates how small changes to internal processes can have a far reaching impact.Visibility of gender pronouns is becoming commonplace in today’s society, and this visibility is being demanded from a growing number of consumers. Brands have the ability to be seen as thoughtful supporters of the LGBTQI+ community when they respect the concerns of all the members who identify under the acronym. Research shows more than 45% of LGBTQ+ individuals under 35 would align with a brand if they know a brand as an ally.Halifax bank recently introduced gender pronouns on staff name badges and shared the change on their Twitter account with an image of a name badge saying "Gemma (she/her/hers)"(below) accompanied by the tweet “Pronouns matter”.

The tweet caused backlash from the Twitter community to which the bank spoke out and told customers that they can close their accounts if they do not like its values. The response from Halifax stated “we strive for inclusion, equality and quite simply, in doing what’s right. If you disagree with our values, you’re welcome to close your account.”

More than half of consumers (53%) believe brands only take a stand for public relations or marketing purposes. Unfortunately, there are a lot of businesses who jump on the social justice bandwagon, and have caused a rise in woke-washing, or appropriating social activism for marketing purposes. As a result, consumers are a lot more savvy to this type of marketing and will often call out brands who get it wrong; think Pepsi 2017. Brand activism can be risky business, but get it right and the reward will massively outweigh the risks. To avoid woke-washing, a brand's core values and brand purpose should reflect the form of brand activism that a business takes part in - it should always be authentic and true to the organisation's beliefs. According to a survey, consumers say it boosts a brand’s credibility when the issue they take a stand on directly impacts their customers or business operations.This should also be true looking inwards - we recommend working out your internal process first, before making a big public splash, ensuring any involvement in activism feels and is authentic.

Are you looking to define your purpose and take a stand on issues? Our purpose and cause-led brand marketing services can help you articulate your social purpose and activate it in the right way.If you’d like to talk to us about your next campaign, get in touch at newbusiness@dontpaniclondon.com