“You can show your support but show people how you are going to put action behind it,” says Steve Canal, co-founder of One Venture Group, whose services include helping brands tap into culturally relevant topics. “Plan it out, don’t be in a rush to put out a comment.”
Donations might not be enough
Plenty of brands, including Levi Strauss & Co. and YouTube, have already pledged donations to social justice organizations. But money alone is not enough, suggests Islam. “There is an opportunity to take a more innovative, proactive approach to how to create change as opposed to just writing a big check,” he says. He cites Peloton’s response as a pitch-perfect example. In an email to members on Sunday, CEO John Foley pledged a $500,000 donation to the NAACP Legal Defense Fund. But he also said Peloton was developing an “anti-racism plan to ensure that our organization can be the best version of itself, from the inside out,” while committing to “sharing more about our efforts as they take shape. Please know that we will move quickly and that our actions will be sustained.”
J. Walker Smith, chief knowledge officer, brand and marketing, in the consulting division of Kantar, advises brands to get involved at the local level. “It’s not just about making contributions to the right organizations, or making statements of commitment to these kinds of values,” he says. “Consumers are looking to companies to take steps to do positive things in their community,” he adds, noting that every city across the nation right now is a different place undergoing different stages of unrest.
Look internally
Nike drew plenty of praise for its “Don’t Do It” ad, which was released on Friday evening and spoke against racism in blunt terms. But the ad also opened the sportswear giant to criticism of the racial makeup of its leadership team. Cindy Gallop, ad industry veteran and equality rights activist, tweeted a link to the company’s website showing 10 top executives at the company, all of whom are white. A Nike spokeswoman responded that Melanie Harris, a black woman who serves as the company's VP of strategy and development, is also part of the team, while adding that the company will “continue to sharpen our focus on hiring more black leaders across all levels at the company.”
But the reality is that marketing leadership teams at most companies remain overwhelmingly white. A recent report from executive recruiting firm Spencer Stuart shows that only 14 percent of chief marketing officers come from diverse backgrounds. Only 1 percent of CEOs in the S&P 500 Index are black, while African-American directors comprise only about 1 percent of board members and 37 percent of boards didn’t have a single black member, according Bloomberg News, which cited analysis from Black Enterprise magazine.
“If the face of your company, your entire leadership team, the majority of your staff, is all white, it’s difficult as a brand to say that we embrace diversity and we stand with people of color,” Islam says. “So start to make those changes to your culture.”
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June 02, 2020 at 05:48AM
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How brands should respond to protests and rising racial tensions - AdAge.com
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