I went to a Ventura County Blackout protest here yesterday. It was awesome! Thousands of people of all ages, races, colors, beliefs, you name it, were there to support the Black community and say that police violence toward Black people must end now.
This may seem like an odd way to start a blog post about why brand activism is important for your business, but it’s relevant.
By showing you my politics, I am demonstrating what I stand for. I am sharing with you, my customers, subscribers and blog post readers, what matters to me. These values are reflected in the way I run my business and the organizations I support.
It is up to you to decide whether my values line up with yours and whether you want to continue to support and work with my business.
Yes, this can work for and against you. However, more and more people are making it clear they want to support businesses that profess the same values they do. They’re also making it abundantly clear that they won’t support businesses that go against their values.
What Is Brand Activism?
I’m going to be honest here, I’m not quite sure either. But there is a book on it. And the folks who wrote the book give this definition:
Brand Activism consists of business efforts to promote, impede, or direct social, political, economic, and/or environmental reform or stasis with the desire to promote or impede improvements in society.
– Brand Activism: From Purpose to Action
This usually involves causes and beliefs that the company supports and are in line with the company’s brand in general.
The rest of this post is going to be about what I‘ve read about and seen as brand activism, and how you can use it to attract the “right” customers to your business. People who share your values and support the same causes you do.
Please note: I use the word “right” in quotes because there are lots of “right” customers for your business. Not all of them will share your beliefs, even if they do business with you.
Why Does What You Believe Matter to Your Customers and Subscribers?
I’ve written several times in my Thursday subscriber exclusive emails about why your beliefs matter to your customers and subscribers.
It all comes down to trust. People want to “know” and like the people or companies they buy from. It’s why many companies have spokespeople or characters that represent their brands.
Like the Verizon guy, “can you hear me now?” For years, we all associated Verizon with his face and that catchphrase. (He’s since become the spokesperson for Sprint.)
Those of us of a certain age remember Dave Thomas, the founder of Wendy’s. He was the commercial face of Wendy’s for a long time and that brand became more popular during those campaigns.
The My Pillow guy is another example. We all got to know him through his commercials. We felt he was a friend, so we bought his products.
Influencers are another example. You probably follow one or more influencers on social media and feel like you “know” them because they share pieces of their lives with you. Again, this is a way of building trust and rapport. We do this with our friends in person. Brands do this through marketing, so they can build that same trust with customers.
My point is, when you share your experiences with your customers and subscribers, you’re building that relationship. You’re getting your customers and subscribers to know, like, trust and appreciate you and your company, which will lead to more sales.
What Does Brand Activism Look Like?
I’m sure you’ve seen brand activism in action. For example:
- REI chooses to give their employees the day off on Black Friday and encourages everyone to get outdoors and enjoy the day.
- Patagonia has a “self-imposed Earth tax, 1% for the planet” that they use to support environmental nonprofits.
- Target donates millions to local community projects and provides grants to various organizations. (I know this works because when I was a touring musician, one of my shows at a library was funded by a Target arts grant.)
- Companies that offer a volunteer day for employees to work with organizations like Habitat for Humanity or Feed My Starving Children.
You can also see it in your purchasing options:
- Various coffee companies encouraging the purchase of reusable cups to save the environment.
- T-shirts and other clothing items promoting Pride, Black Lives Matter and other organizations at major retailers.
- Companies that donate a percentage of all purchases of certain products to charitable organizations.
These companies are all proudly displaying their values to their audiences. People with the same values will support these companies, because we all want to support causes we believe in. By spending our money with companies who support those causes, we’re showing our support for those causes and those companies.
Can’t Brand Activism Backfire on You?
Absolutely!
To use the earlier example of the My Pillow guy, when he revealed his politics, I know a lot of people who refused to buy his products after that. Some stopped using the products they had in protest.
There are numerous brands who have made very serious brand activism marketing errors over the years:
- Gucci’s blackface turtleneck fiasco.
- Chick-Fil-A’s support of organizations that are intolerant of the LGBTQ community.
- The founder of Domino’s Pizza contributing to Operation Rescue.
- Starbucks not putting Merry Christmas on their holiday cups.
I could go on for pages.
Each of these actions prompted an outcry from some customers. Boycotts were called. Social media erupted. Pundits gave opinions.
Other customers vowed to support some of these companies even more, because of their stance.
Any time a company makes their beliefs known; they risk a backlash from people who disagree with them. They also tend to get a boost from people who support what they’ve done. (Well, most of the time. Sometimes the mistakes are just too big.)
For that matter, since I revealed my politics in this blog post, some of you may not agree with what I believe.
That’s okay. You don’t have to support the same things I do. (Though I hope you do.)
If you don’t like what I believe, I hope you still find my marketing advice helpful and useful. If what I believe offends you, that’s fine too. There are a lot of other people out there doing what I do and teaching what I teach.
Find someone whose values resonate with you.
This is incredibly important. Not just from my perspective as the business owner and marketer. It’s also important to you, the consumer/customer/subscriber. You’re allowed, encouraged even, to be an activist too and vote with your dollars.
How You Can Use Brand Activism in Your Business
- Talk about your personal beliefs in your regular emails.
- Support organizations with your same values and tell your audience about this support.
- Show your values as part of your marketing.
- Encourage your employees (if you have them) to show their support for the organizations they value.
- Purchase materials or supplies for your products and services from companies that support your values.
You are probably wondering if using brand activism in your business is disingenuous.
If you’re doing it solely to make money, yes.
If you’re doing it because it reflects who you are and what you believe, no.
Again, people want to buy from companies that promote the values they believe in. If you genuinely believe in the values your company supports, you will attract the right customers for your business. Those customers will be happy to buy from you, knowing that their dollars are going toward ideals they believe in too.
If you want to learn more about positioning your business based on your values and building a relationship with your customers through email, please subscribe to my mailing list by clicking the button below.
I appreciate you showing your support for our mutual values.