Out with the Old, in with the Corporate Allies
Once upon a time, brands could slap meaningless eco labels on their packaging or donate to a charity here or there and that would satisfy their corporate social responsibility quotas. Those days are long gone. Our political climate has created a culture in which consumers vote with their dollar and they’re no longer content to support companies and brands that don’t stand with them.
As brands struggle to navigate the choppy waters of today’s turbulent times, one thing is clear: when it comes to social issues, neutrality is no longer an option. Declaring a stance and actually acting on it is the new standard of today’s “conscious economy.”
So how can brands shift their strategy to embrace today’s consumer? It starts with authenticity, as always. While it used to be a battle cry that’s still deeply relevant, so is building a track record with audiences to prove where your priorities lie. As a brand, taking a stance can be scary, but gone are the days of doing so being taboo. In fact, it is now a requirement that can and should be a calculated risk. While the fear of alienating audiences is real for many brands, it pales in comparison to the possibility of turning loyalists into activists which is exactly how brands will adapt and survive long enough to see the next wave of this conscious economy.
As evidenced with the Pepsi debacle, consumers know when brands are jumping on the bandwagon versus leading a conversation, delivering a message they intend to stand behind versus peddling forward something convoluted but “powerful.”
Advertising has come a long way since the very first branded goods like flour and soap in general stores. Brands have gone from selling services and performance to embodying their customers’ values, a complex process of pseudo-personification that has played out over the last several decades. While today’s consumer craves a corporate ally, we can only expect the strategies above to shift as our political and economic climates do. As the saying goes, the only constant is change.