Last year, the death of George Flloyd – and the global protests that followed – made it pretty clear that brands and companies could no longer be silent, to sit on the sidelines and pretend the outside world has nothing to with them. Hashtags and periodic tweets were no longer satisfactory. Across the world, young people from all backgrounds demanded that brands do more to help further important social causes.
Words and statements no longer tick the box. Audiences – and more importantly, customers – care about your actions, your deeds and your intentions. Failing to communicate properly – or worse, not communicating at all – could cost a brand its reputation, people and money.
So, as a marketing wizard for a brand or organisation, you’ve got a pretty big job – but with great power comes great responsibility, right?
To help you navigate the challenges of communicating your brand’s stance on important social movements, we thought we’d put together this thought piece with contributions from our UJ creatives and young people across the country.
Plus, if you’re looking to engage diverse audiences on this issue, to get the messaging right, we’re only a phone call/email away. So, call us, okay?
Know Where You Stand
First things first: know where you stand. On important social issues, brands and companies need to communicate a stance. Yes, you may have concerns about being too political or of delving into topics considered ‘controversial’ – but on Black Lives Matter and other social issues, brands and communicate a clear stance without wading into politics.
First, you need to take a clear stance. There’s no flipping and flopping on important social issues. And yes, we get it, having to take a clear stance on certain issues – especially in the “heat of the moment” – can be tricky. To get it right, you’ll need to identify the key messages – and the key people to deliver that message.
Say what you mean and mean what you say
With the endless wave of statements, tweets and press releases from companies, what you want is to be clear, to say what you mean and mean what you say. Sorry, but there’s no faking it. Gen Z’s have long memories – and increasingly, deep pockets, meaning they’re able to separate the real from the fake, the genuine from the wave riders.
To say what you mean and mean what you say, you have to be clear in your messaging. Bland messages won’t do. Consumers want key, clear messages, backed by action points.
To make your statement meaningful, highlight the work you’re doing – and more importantly, need to do – to further social equality and justice. Admitting mistakes, highlighting corrections and pledging to do more allows your brand to get it right, to say what you mean and mean what you say.
Amplify your own people
No, we don’t mean endless tweets and statements saying you “stand with” Black employees and those oppressed. And no, we don’t mean scrambling to find the Black or diverse faces in your organisation, either.
Instead, you should work to highlight the work your company is doing on diversity and inclusion – and the ways you’re contributing to actual change. Yes, senior people must talk – but it’s more important to drive the message home using the voices we (emerging audiences) recognise, trust and respect. Content which amplifies your own people – from internal blogs, videos and articles to external promo – is critical to driving the message home. Utilising a network of creatives and influencers can help disseminate your message, creating awareness.
We Can Help
To help you get it right, we’ll utilise our team of UJ creatives, pulling in partners from our networks – from large mentoring groups to social enterprises – to help. We understand our audience because we are our audience.
Using your brief, we’ll come up with the best ideas, using our experience of working with the target audience and our knowledge of the subject matter to do so. Then, we’ll work with you to identify key messages and audiences, utilising our experience of various social media platforms to help you create and disseminate your message.