Brand Activism In An Age Of Bullsh*t
Spending as much time as we all do staring at that glowing screen that has become our new safe space, we have learned a few things about the world and the other people we share it with.
One bright shiny thing that is nearly impossible to miss is the kids’ love of corporate social responsibility. Millennials are mad for brand activism and it’s not enough to just slap on one of those colour-coded plastic bracelets to support the cause of the moment.
If you want anyone under the age of 40 to buy something off you, you’ve got to be loud and proud about the causes that you support --- which is an obvious minefield for brand managers and would-be entrepreneurs.
To get our heads around brand activism, let’s looks at some of the successful company moves and a few from the bloopers reel.
What Brand Activism Looks Like Now
As we cautiously wade out into a new decade that feels a bit murkier than the last one, we’re watching brands desperately trying to look caring and compassionate. Sometimes they succeed and it’s actually pretty glorious. The world feels united and safe.
Remember when the CEO of Twitter gave a whopping one-third of his net worth to help with COVID? You’ve got to admit that is a percentage that demands at least a bit of respect.
Remember when L’Oreal fired a spokesmodel after she tweeted her support for Black Lives Matter… then, three years later, a brand manager tweeted L’Oreal’s support for Black Lives Matter?
In a pre-2020 world, maybe they wanted to avoid getting political? For better or worse, however, that is just not an option anymore. Firing their first transgender model for her tweets left a lasting scar on the brand and, of course, their attempt to throw money at a range of causes continues to be met with cynical eyes.
How To Do Brand Activism In An Age Of Bullsh*t
Suffice to say, it’s easy to create a hot mess with already-jaded customers. Divisive cultural topics can be so nuanced that developing an informed personal stance isn’t always simple. Creating a brand voice that is political, effective, and sincere feels like hunting unicorns for a living.
Luckily, as we’ve all found so many times in our lives, the answer is sitting in the freezer. Crying into a tub of Ben and Jerry’s can fix nearly any problem life throws at you so it comes as no surprise that these guys can fix our business problems too.
Ben & Jerry’s Adventures In Politics
Ben & Jerry’s has a global head of activism called Christopher Miller. With a CV featuring names like Bernie Sanders and Greenpeace, Miller knows about political messaging. But, if you wanted to sell ice cream, why would you hire a guy who raises money to make the world a better place? Can’t the ice cream itself just make the world a little bit nicer? Why do we need ice cream with a message?
Well, according to Miller, every single brand out there should hire an activism manager to address social issues. Sure, that seems like a pain in the arse if you just want to create something great then sell it with no strings attached. BUT this guy does know what he is talking about. As he notes, Ben and Jerry’s has grown every single year without fail for 42 years and they’ve always held their hippie roots near and dear. Their brand voice is consistent and familiar. Most importantly, people love the brand. We literally eat it up by the truckload everywhere from Aruba to Isreal.
How Ben & Jerry’s Makes It Work
Ben and Jerry is often an early supporter of causes because they look for issues that are underfunded and underreported. The brand works directly with the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) to learn about problems getting pushed under the rug.
It’s no surprise that these guys were amongst the first to the Black Lives Matter corporate scene. Their 2016 public support of Black Lives Matter came along well before the movement to fight for freedom became a ‘topic’ for brands.
Illustration: Ben & Jerry’s
While the brand is indeed owned by mega cooperation Unilever, they have maintained an independent board of directors. When preparing their last Black Lives Matter statement this structure meant that Miller could work with his corporate responsibility team and not have to check in with the big dogs at Unilever. The Ben and Jerry’s guys were happy that the statement fit the brand ethos so it was good to go within a matter of days. The marketing team took direction from Miller on how to frame the issue, not the other way around.
Designing Conversation Starters
Press releases will only get you so far. If you need people to sit up and notice you, it’s crucial to utilise design that is truly impactful. Just check out Ben and Jerry’s “defund the police” illustration. It’s a picture that packs far more than a thousand words. With a simple tub of ice cream, they manage to illuminate the darkest corners of the American cultural landscape (which undoubtedly resonates with people of every colour in every corner of the planet).
Illustration: Ben & Jerry’s
I think, at first blush, most of us had this same response to the “defund the police” rally cry: huh? No police? What if I find my ex-lover boiling a bunny in the kitchen? Is it going to turn into The Purge seven nights a week?
As the Ben and Jerry’s illustration sums up so flawlessly, there’s a whole lot of ice cream to go around. Defunding is not the same as eliminating. On top of that, experts have been telling us for a long time that more police doesn’t result in less crime. Despite this fact, police budgets increase, even when all other programmes are slashed. Just in New York City, the police are paid more than $40 million in overtime alone to ensure that public schools have armed guards. Armed guards!? Surely if children and teens need armed guards to be safe at school, you can’t just pay the police then call it problem solved.
But I digress --- and that’s the point. Could you imagine popping over to the Oreo’s website then talking about it the next day? How many of us would visit the Häagen-Dazs site? Amazing sweet treats, yes. Thought-provoking and memorable? Not so much.
As Jay Curley, Global Head of Integrated Marketing at Ben & Jerry’s, says, “For brands to have a real place in peoples’ lives it’s essential to be relevant. People need to know what a brand stands for.”
Why We Eat It Up
Why isn’t it good enough to simply say “Our ice cream is the best. Eat it” and sell a good product that people want? Well, it used to be. Mad Men-style advertisers used to work in an unregulated, uncompetitive space. They told us that our doctors wanted us to smoke Lucky Strikes and that was reason enough for us to light up. Starting a business name with “AA” to get in the front of the phonebook listings used to be smart and effective.
Today there are simply too many companies wanting us to buy too many things. We are left dizzy with a credit card burning a hole in our pocket. They say we can vote with our wallets, but that’s becoming more complicated every day.
The innocent days of buying whatever you need from your neighbour’s little shop are long gone. Today we open a new handbag to find a note from an imprisoned worker who sewed it or buying new trousers might lead you to a letter from the worker/slave who produced them. (There are far too many other examples in our recent blog ‘Lockdown Eases But Have We Gone Cold Turkey On Shopping’)
The conglomerates who own these brands sometimes make us feel like we are living in a dystopia. Of course, none of us want to support these kinds of practices. So we seek out voices that feel honest. We crave products that come from approachable, transparent brands. We want to know that our money goes to making the world a better place. Or at the very least, not making it worse.
When somebody tells us that we can play a microscopic role in preventing human suffering by eating a pint of ice cream in bed, you know we are going to reach for that spoon.