Brands and corporations are pursuing “brand activism,” which is defined as “effort to promote impede, or direct social, political, economic, and/or environmental reform or stasis with the desire to make improvements in society.” In a world now full of pushes towards reform and improvement, companies are joining society in the steps towards betterment.
The most recent example of this has been Nike’s recent ads, such as the 30th anniversary campaign featuring Colin Kaepernick, and their Mexican campaign towards gender equality. Both of these campaigns appealed to the goal of more equalities.
However, Nike is not the first nor only company to do this. Airbnb also look a stand with a commercial to air during the 2018 Super Bowl. It came shortly after the presidential order to temporarily close borders to refugees, and Airbnb launched their “We Accept” campaign, showing that they accept people of all nationalities and backgrounds to stay in any of their locations.
Current generations are big on change, and companies who take a stand on supporting some sort of change receives the support of the younger generation, which is a huge market segment. When “brand activism” is done correctly, it comes off as sincere and genuine, which is important to uplift the brand and maintain its image.
There are many ways to become involved in brand activism, but it is important to know your audience, and what they want before promoting a campaign that may negatively impact your corporation due to lack of knowledge on social, political, and environmental issues.
The Sustainable Development Goals are an appropriate tools to design and execute your Corporate Social Activism strategies.