Recently brands like Adidas showed their support for #EqualPayDay by participating in the conversation on social. There is a reason for this, outside of the issues itself: consumer appeal.
In a recent data report, Sprout Social found that 48 percent of consumers said all brands should take a stand on gender equality. However, as McDonald’s controversial International Women’s Day campaign showed, consumers will call brands out if they opt for hollow conversation instead of taking action.
Paul Vivant, CEO of social listening company Digimind believes that if brands want to participate in these social movements, it has to be in line with their overall business strategy. Vivant expands on these thoughts to Digital Journal readers.
Digital Journal: How important is the ‘brand’ today?
Paul Vivant: The way brands are communicating with audiences on social is now more imperative than ever. By actively listening to their followers, their reactions to ad campaigns, and the issues these followers want brands to rally behind, brands can effectively communicate with current and potential customers. Brands can gain consumer loyalty in return by engaging with consumers on social media around the issues they care about.
DJ: What makes for a top brand?
Vivant: The brands who come out on top are the ones that are not only listening to what their consumers care about on social, but are using that data to engage in an actionable and meaningful way. Top brands are thoughtful, present, and authentic on social media — and this includes the brand’s leadership. A company’s C-suite should be aligned with brand messaging in order to prove their stances or views are genuine, and that they truly care about the movements in which they are involved.
DJ: What are your thoughts about brands aligning to social movements or popular campaigns?
Vivant: It’s important for brands to engage and be present during current social movements or popular campaigns as long as their messaging is transparent and authentic. It’s risky to take a bandwagon approach — instead, brands must pay attention to the root cause and respond in a genuine way that aligns with their company mission. Brands needn’t jump on every movement that comes across their Twitter feed, but if it aligns with messaging, speaking up is a great way for brands to come out on top.
DJ: Are all brands sincere when latching onto things like gender equality and equal pay?
Vivant: Brands can’t afford to not be sincere when commenting on issues as serious as gender equality and equal pay. As we learned from McDonald’s International Women’s Day campaign, consumers will call brands out if they opt for hollow conversation instead of taking action. It’s not enough to tweet about it on social or create a campaign; consumers want to see those dollars put toward an actionable cause.
DJ: Are there examples of brands that have simply jumped onto the bandwagon?
Vivant: Every brand has likely been guilty of jumping on the bandwagon at one point or another, but if they can prove authenticity in their bandwagoning, it can still be considered successful. To truly come across as genuine, brands should put time, energy, or resources into the cause in which they decide to get involved. If there’s action or money going toward a social movement like gender equality and equal pay, this will come across as authentic and can increase customer loyalty.
DJ: What examples are there of brands that are changing their practices in-line with popular concerns?
Vivant: A great, recent example of a brand changing their practices in a way that’s aligned with popular concerns is Starbucks shutting down 8,000 stores on May 29 for bias training after the Philadelphia arrests. An incident occurred, consumers expressed major concerns with the company’s practices on social, and Starbucks took action.
The company addressed the situation head-on and communicated what was being done to make sure this never happens again. Above all, this is the best approach a brand can take when a crisis occurs. Consumers want to know what a brand is doing to fix a situation and change their practices, and they often want to hear it from the CEO themselves.
DJ: How have popular concerns been incorporated into business strategy?
Vivant: By using social listening technology, brands can detect popular concerns among consumers and use this data to incorporate it into strategy. Social media data is immensely valuable because it garners customer thoughts and feedback from users all over the world and can provide a wealth of information from key audiences.
Paying attention to this consumer feedback is the most effective way to understand if, when, and how your brand should be incorporating it into an improved business strategy.
DJ: What do consumers think brands should be doing?
Vivant: Consumers want brands to take a stand on social, whether that means speaking out on socio-political issues they feel strongly about or creating a social campaign around #EqualPayDay. But above all, brands must back their stance or ads on social with action. In doing so, brands can turn from a popular clothing store or restaurant chain to a leader in social and political advocacy.
