Brand activism: too risky or worth the risk?

It wasn’t long ago that it was taboo for brands to publicly engage in politics or take sides with social issues. With the changing tides in demographics and growing cultural wars, however, these old rules are being shelved and replaced with new ones. As a combined voting block, Millennials, Gen Y and Gen Z now outnumber voters from the Baby Boomers and Silent Generation. This younger, influential group expects brands to take a stand on social causes and demand change. A Toluna marketing survey of 1,000 U.S. adults found that millennials are the most inclined age group (49%) who seek out brands that support causes more than any other generation. According to Sprout Social, 65% of consumers feel it’s important for brands to act on political issues.

In our last blog post, we examined purpose-driven brands. We wanted to take a closer look at brand activism and in particular -- Nike. A new controversy erupted recently when Nike decided to pull a sneaker bearing the Betsy Ross flag. Nike’s Just Do It brand ambassador and football star Colin Kaepernick, however, asked the company to revisit their decision. Kaepernick’s request was based on the flag reflecting a period in time when slavery was widespread. Unfortunately, just as the Confederate flag reflects support for slavery and has been widely adopted by white supremacists, the Betsy Ross flag has also become co-opted by white nationalists and other hate groups that object to America’s growing racial diversity.

Brand purpose
Nike’s commitment has always been crystal clear well before this latest controversy. “Purpose Moves Us. We are committed to creating a better, more sustainable future for our people, planet and communities through the power of sport.” 

Like Patagonia, REI, Starbucks and others, Nike is willing to take on social issues, noting that they are unafraid to use their voice to take a stand for global challenges like inequality and climate crisis, cultivating a culture of inclusion. In a statement, Nike noted that it pulled the sneakers “based on concerns that it could unintentionally offend and detract from the nation’s patriotic holiday.” Politics aside, their decision to pull this sneaker was also aligned with their brand and core values.

Approaching the one year when Nike first unveiled its selection of Colin Kaepernick as the face for the company’s 30th-anniversary ad campaign, many thought it was too risky and a bad move. Over the long term, the jury is still out, but so far, Nike’s bold move has seen its sales on a tear. Revenue from Nike-branded goods in Apparel & Accessories, Shoes, and Sports and Outdoors categories increased 32.3% in the month after the campaign launched, compared to the same period last year, according to Rakuten Intelligence. The research company also found that online shoppers show an affinity for these brands, with 19.1% of category buyers choosing Patagonia, Nike, or REI over the past year. Despite the risk, these brands may be taking for social causes brand activism is winning the dollars of more younger buyers. Of the 5.5 million shoppers that Rakuten surveyed, 91% tend to buy from one brand, and 76.2% buy Nike alone.

A Fuze Marketing survey on social activism and cause marketing revealed that 85% of Gen Z believe companies have an obligation to help solve social problems. And after learning a brand supports a social cause or is socially responsible, 85% of Gen Z respondents are more likely to trust the brand.

It’s likely that many companies today are still hesitant to begin adopting and embracing social issues and causes, perhaps thinking that this is reserved for select brands. Not so. Just this week more than 200 companies took a public stance in support of LGBTQ rights, signing on as a ‘friend of the court’ brief to the Supreme Court, pushing for existing laws that cover sex discrimination also protect LGBTQ workers. These companies included the likes of Amazon, Apple, Adobe, Ernst & Young, General Motors, Procter & Gamble, Microsoft, Salesforce and Xerox to name just a few.

So when and how should a company revisit their core values to start supporting social causes? They need to first really understand their core values and really understand their customers. The causes they decide to support need to be brand-aligned. And companies need to be authentic in their commitment. They also need to do more than lip service or some occasional charitable donation. They need to demonstrate a genuine effort and ongoing, long-term commitment, which can blossom into a number of innovative, forward-thinking programs that help underscore other aspects of your brand and core values.

It’s important for companies to remember that the purchasing power of Millennials, Gen Y and Gen Z will only continue to grow, underscoring the need for companies to begin taking steps now along a path of corporate social responsibility. Further, consumers are looking to connect with brands that elicit emotional reactions and help them align with similar values and beliefs as their own. As in the case of brands like Patagonia, Nike and others have found, taking a stand is proving to be worth the risk.

Purpose-driven companies: why your brand should be bigger than just your product

Patagonia recently made waves again based on a new corporate policy they recently began implementing. Over the past few years, the must-have wardrobe garment that has swept the financial sector is the ubiquitous fleece vest. Dubbed the Midtown uniform and increasingly lampooned in social media, the zip-up vest is popular garb with VCs and Silicon Valley’s tech set.

Selling like hotcakes, these vests were on track to hit approximately $100 million in 2018. Companies were ordering them, co-branding their logo on the opposite side, and giving them out to new employees, customers, and conference attendees. According to Rakuten Intelligence, Patagonia was the number one brand of men’s vests ordered in the U.S. between July 1, 2016,  and June 30, 2018, securing almost 60% market share.

In December 2018, Patagonia changed its mission statement to the following: “We’re in business to save our home planet.” This change made it the first company to essentially clang a 5-alarm signal calling attention to the planet’s acute stage caused by our climate crisis.

Their new mission led Patagonia’s divisions to take a hard look at existing practices and triggered a policy change around who they will sell their co-branded vests to going forward. Contrary to reports, Patagonia will continue to supply existing customers with the dual-branded vests ordered through its Corporate Sales channel.  However, it will limit new group orders for co-branded garments to B corporations (which meet high environmental and social standards), or companies that are members of the nonprofit 1% For the Planet, co-founded by Patagonia’s founder, Yvon Chouinard. With this change, the company underscores its support of select companies that place a high commitment around environmental and social standards. To date, Patagonia has donated more than $100 million to the nonprofit, with proceeds going to the preservation and restoration of natural environments.

Patagonia not only walks the walk but continues to deepen its values embodying its brand. In doing so, Patagonia adds new layers of meaning and connects more deeply with its customers and extended community. From day one, the company has baked its brand values and principles into its DNA. Patagonia’s values are antithetical to the larger industry, which exhorts consumer consumption, relies on sweatshops, and adversely impacts the environment.

According to an Accenture 2018 Global Consumer Pulse study that examines the rise of purpose-led brands, 66% of respondents reward brands that deliver on their promises and another 66% prefer to buy from brands that are transparent, explaining fair employment practices, safe working conditions, where they source materials, etc. Instead of hyping its merchandise, Patagonia has historically emphasized extending the life of its products by encouraging the fixing of zippers and holes, promoting its 5 Rs Common Threads Garment Recycling Program (reduce, repair, reuse, recycle and reimagine), and even advertising on Black Friday not to buy their jackets. When it comes to transparency, Patagonia is an open book. Visiting their website, customers and constituents will find an extensive library about the brand’s commitment and methods across its entire supply chain from the environmental assessment of materials sourced to its social and environmental responsibility and sustainability principles.

The rise of brand activism
As illustrated by Patagonia, we’re increasingly seeing the rise of brand activism. In today’s world, traditional ads and over-the-top gimmicks no longer move the needle, but brand-building is more important than ever. Consumers increasingly are voting with their wallets. Brands that speak out or take a genuine stand on issues that customers are passionate about are being rewarded. Accenture’s study found that approximately 60% of Gen Zers and Millennials believe it’s important for companies to take a stand on issues.

Calibrating your brand’s moral compass
It used to be taboo for brands to talk politics. With the 2016 presidential election, that notion went out the window. Is it risky? Some say yes but data proves otherwise. Just look at Starbucks’s stock. The coffee company has been boycotted several times for hiring refugees, standing up for same-sex marriage and expanding their Christmas-themed cups. Patagonia again broke the mold when it publicly endorsed senatorial candidates who represent their values to protect the environment around clean air, clean water and preservation of public lands.  

Moreover, consumers are waiting to see what a brand says, what it does, and what it stands for - just as they’re waiting to see if it stays silent, on the sidelines, trying to play it safe. Increasingly, consumers are assessing action or lack thereof in how they value brands. Accenture’s study also found that 53% of consumers who are disappointed with a brand’s words or actions on a social issue complain about it. Purpose-driven brands that stand for something bigger than their products are increasingly resonating with existing customers while winning over new ones.

Noted Yvon Chouinard, the founder of Patagonia, “Every time we make a decision that’s right for the planet, it makes us more money.”

Growing your personal brand with bold leadership: ready for takeoff?

Image by SpaceX/Youtube

In our previous blog, we shared ways on how to start building your executive brand and took a closer look at one of the boldest industry leaders in the market — Elon Musk. So let’s assume you’re all in. You’ve nailed what your personal brand represents. You’re ready to take a page from Elon Musk, and become a bold industry thought leader. Now it’s time to create brand awareness with your very own content marketing strategy that emphasizes thought leadership content.

Five steps to grow your executive brand

1. Create a unique point-of-view
Begin by establishing what your personal brand will stand for. What is your unique point-of-view? This involves weaving in your company’s core brand values and determining the theme and topics that you want to hone in on, and which you can speak to with intelligence and fervor. Make sure you know your target audience, their unique personas and concerns, and determine in advance your unique spin on the opportunities and challenges facing your industry. Here’s where a good public relations agency excels. A strong public relations agency can collaborate to define your thought leadership strategy and help identify the most salient perspectives vis-a-vis what it trending in your market, topics where your competitors are gaining traction, and the broader market landscape.

2. Develop a content marketing calendar that incorporates thought leadership content
In order to ensure a consistent flow of quality content, you’ll need to document and specify which topics you will cover, what angles you will take, and when you will publish. Best practices suggest that you publish at least once a week to build momentum and stay top-of-mind. There’s a lot more science to building a strategic content marketing calendar but incorporating executive thought leadership is a must.

3. Determine a content amplification strategy
While blogging is one popular way to distribute content, it’s by no means the only way. You should also incorporate a mix of videos, podcasts, articles, presentations and ebooks. Determine how you can get the most from your thought leadership content by repurposing it in different formats to reach your audience on their preferred channels.

4. Build your social media presence
The top B2B content marketing tactic is social media (92%). Where are your customers, partners and investors, and what’s the best way to package your content for your key social channels? Be creative. Include interactive content, such as infographics or live surveys. Ask questions to generate conversation. Building your social media presence is also important to growing your executive visibility.

5. Measure and improve
Make use of analytics tools to measure the impact of your thought leadership content. How much was your content shared via social media? Has your content accumulated authoritative backlinks to drive your content higher during organic website searches? If not, this is an important area for improvement. Is it performing well by driving organic traffic to your company’s website? How well does your thought leadership content drive organic content versus your top competitors’ content? Know what you’re tracking for, and make use of analytics to measure and calibrate your content marketing efforts accordingly.

To be recognized as an industry thought leader, you must go beyond challenging and inspiring employees to create a great brand that provides a valued product or service. You need to be willing to put yourself on the line, willingly talking to a variety of audiences about the opportunities and threats presented by a given technology, laying out proposed solutions, and articulating your company’s end-game. Bold leaders do not shy away from difficult people or topics. Instead, they put their stamp on the subject, letting the world know where they stand. They won’t be right all of the time, and they may be controversial, but, like Elon Musk, they do not go unnoticed. Especially if they have a solid content marketing strategy in place to ensure their voice is heard.

So even if you’re not planning on launching a starman into space on a Tesla Roadster, we encourage you to share your passion or expertise with your tribe! Seize the opportunity to express your beliefs and vision. Sharing you unique point-of-view is valuable information that provides an excellent window to champion the company’s core values and distinctions to your employees, customers, partners, target audiences and extended community.

How to build your personal brand like Elon Musk when you don’t know the first thing about rockets

"Elon Musk" by JD Lasica is licensed under CC BY 2.0

For multiple years running, startup founders rank Tesla and SpaceX CEO Elon Musk as their most admired tech leader. In fact, with 23% of the vote, he’s blows Amazon’s Jeff Bezos, with a distant 10%, right out of the water. These two admired leaders also have their fair share of critics, landing them in other executive rankings as overrated CEOs. Regardless, the truth about bold leadership is not being afraid to rock the boat with your opinions, actions and vision.

Musk is a wildly controversial guy who’s a huge risk-taker, looking to colonize Mars, send tourists around the moon, build a transportation fleet powered by solar energy, and dig a vast underground network to fight gridlock. He’s as audacious, ambitious and bold as they come, and his grandiose ideas regularly make headline news. While most C-level execs are neither in the billionaire club nor looking to build Mars-bound rockets, they can learn something from Musk’s bravado.

How to build a bold, personal brand that elevates your reputation as an industry thought leader

1. Go out on a limb
While thought leaders should be industry visionaries, there’s a tendency to “play it safe”. Everyone is saying artificial intelligence is the next big thing. If you are a player in this space, you need to do more than spout forecast numbers. What will AI do to the automotive, retail and restaurant industries? How will the technology’s advancement impact safety and jobs? According to Musk, the advance of AI will be a detriment to the U.S. workforce: “What to do about mass unemployment? This is going to be a massive social challenge. There will be fewer and fewer jobs that a robot cannot do better [than a human].”

This kind of statement is not sensationalism. It’s opinion grounded in reality and industry knowledge. Don’t be afraid to make bold predictions. Remember, you are an expert in your space, and your opinion makes you interesting and a great resource for viewpoints that go well beyond the “bits and bytes” stories.

2. Take a seat at the table
If you want to be heard, you need to take a seat at the table. It’s not always your ideal company, but – like voting –.if you don’t cast your ballot, you don’t have a voice. Lots of CEOs would prefer to keep their heads down, work on making a great product or service, avoid distractions, and stay off the radar. Earlier this year, Uber’s CEO made this choice when he stepped down from Donald Trump’s Advisory Council following backlash from consumers who took his participation as tacit endorsement of the president’s immigrant ban. Musk, on the other hand, opted to have a seat at the table to engage and discuss business policy. In that seat, he hopes to influence the new secretary of state on the carbon tax, denounce the ban on immigration, and push forward more of his own agenda. “Attending does not mean I agree with actions by the administration,” said Musk. “I believe at this time that engaging on critical issues will on balance serve the greater good.”

3. Offer solutions
Bold thought leaders don’t just forecast the future, executive leadership means offering possible solutions to real-world problems. What infrastructure improvements need to be made for fully self-driving cars to become a reality? How can we curb the downside of automation? How can we fight traffic? Musk is so sure that automation will displace millions of workers, he’s suggested a universal basic income, wherein everyone gets a certain amount of money annually. What about traffic congestion? He proposes a vast underground network containing as many as 30 levels of tunnels for cars and high-speed trains. Are these ideas far-fetched? You bet. But he’s willing to put himself out there to propose his viewpoint and ideas to solve real problems.

4. Don’t be afraid to be a nay-sayer
In the process of building their personal brand, many executives don’t want to criticize existing ideas, for fear of coming off as negative. There’s nothing wrong with having an intelligent discussion that disagrees with other ways of solving a problem. Musk’s proposal to dig thousands of miles of tunnels sounds preposterous to most, but he points out that other ideas, like Silicon Valley’s go-to traffic solution of flying cars, are equally outlandish. “Obviously I like flying things,” he says, “but it’s difficult to imagine the flying car becoming a scalable solution.”

5. Share your vision and unique point-of-view
Oftentimes companies are very “stealthy” about their product plans and roadmap, afraid to give anything away to the competition. That’s valid, but what a CEO can do is skip the near-term and intermediate details, and go straight to the company’s master plan. A CEO should be willing to spell out his vision for the company, and what success looks like. Musk has famously told his employees he plans to “die on Mars” after he helps a million people move there on his rockets at $500,000 per ticket. Leaders make bold predictions, and that’s something that Musk excels at in spades.  

In our next blog post, we’ll apply these tips and show you five key ways you can use content marketing to build your personal brand.

How to build your executive brand like Jeff Bezos

$188 billion dollars!!

Even though this sounds like a quote from Dr. Evil of Austin Powers, it’s actually Jeff Bezos’ current net worth.

Before Bezos hit the Forbes Top 5 list of billionaires and Amazon became the $1.66 trillion multi-industry powerhouse that it is today, he and the company had a multitude of naysayers.

Yet Jeff Bezos is the perfect example of a visionary thought leader. Since the early years of Amazon, he has confidently shared his opinions on ecommerce, retail, on-demand cloud computing and more, while boldly predicting what to expect in the future. Notably, Bezos is willing to discuss his forecasts and reasoning publicly, and provide context to help others connect the dots. Today, he trailblazes and actively drives the conversation about both traditional and emerging markets such as in-home smart devices, space exploration, drone delivery, news publishing and online music. Here’s a short video and great write up by Fortune’s managing editor and best-selling author Adam Lashinksy on Bezos that spotlights his [visionary leadership]1.

You’re no Jeff Bezos…

The good news is that you don’t have to be Jeff Bezos in order to begin building your executive brand! In fact, you don’t have to be a spectacular success like the founders of Amazon, Apple, Facebook or Tesla either. Does it help to have a proven track record? Absolutely. But there’s a lot you can do right now, whatever your market presence or lack thereof, to begin building your executive visibility and become recognized, as an industry thought leader.

. . . but you’re already an industry expert

There’s an endless array of talented, proven entrepreneurs and industry executives with incredible insights into their respective business and market. Because founders and CEOs operate in the trenches, such industry players have deep experience and understand of what’s going on in their market sector better than anybody else. Their unique points-of-view aren’t being heard, however, because they don’t proactively talk to their market, customers, or stakeholders. We get it and know that you're swamped wearing a bunch of hats, closing big deals, working with customers, overseeing product development, growing the company, etc. And while building your personal brand does take time, taking the first steps to get started doesn’t require having to move mountains either. Chances are that your competitors aren’t speaking to the market either. Herein lies a great opportunity for CEOs and executives to embark on a content marketing strategy to start building their executive brand and sharing their unique point-of-view with their key stakeholders and target audiences.


How to get started with your thought leadership strategy

To begin your journey toward becoming a recognized visionary thought leader, you need to asses what is happening in your industry from multiple perspectives. For example ask yourself: what are the key market drivers that are changing or likely to affect the landscape over the next year? What about the next 5 or even 10 years out?
 Next, look at key aspects of your respective market and industry such as:

• Innovation
• Regulations
• Shifting customer patterns and preferences
• Competition
• Technology advancements
• Product developments
• Supply chain
• Global factors
• Pricing


Once you’ve identified key market drivers, identify your vision for how things will unfold. It’s critical to discuss how customers will be impacted. Try to come up plausible scenarios and provide more context for your unique point-of-view even if it might be anecdotal.

• What are the opportunities?
• What are the challenges?
• How is your company addressing or planning to address these?
• How will the shifting landscape impact the status quo, customers, entrenched competition, etc.?
• What new innovations or technology advancements, regulations, or consumer habits, for example, are likely to emerge? Make sure to provide context around your unique viewpoint.
• From a market standpoint, which companies are likely winners and losers of these shifts?

• Why should customers care? How will these market forces and events impact your customers? Will it improve their lives, save them time and money, or have some other effect? What is keeping them up at night?

  “Good business leaders create a vision, articulate the vision, passionately own the vision, and relentlessly drive it to completion.” Jack Welch


Too often, we hear from executives who float out a single idea that lacks substance. Merely saying, “yes, (fill in the blank) is going to change the world,” isn’t meaningful. A compelling and unique point-of-view must have more meat on the bone in order to gain buy-in from key influencers, stakeholders and your target audience. A visionary thought leader looks at different data points, lends their own insights, inspires others with their unique perspective, and is willing to put a stake in the ground and predict what they see ahead.

A visionary thought leader must be willing to go out on a limb and make gutsy calls. While not a requirement, it helps immensely if you can back up your perspective with solid data, customer insights, market reports, or other supporting evidence. Just be sure that your efforts to prepare supporting evidence don’t interfere with the timeliness of sharing your perspective. With this in mind, plan ahead and pull any evidence together at the same time that you are putting together your key messages.


And remember, even if you get it wrong, you likely won’t be penalized for it. After all, you’re offering your opinion and no one is ever going to be right all the time. Also keep in mind that the market is especially forgiving of startup founders and small business owners. The risk when you might be called out on it is if your company is one of the big market gorillas, and you’ve been particularly adamant about a prediction that goes against the odds and doesn’t come close to unfolding as you proclaimed.



Ways to share your executive perspective

To begin a thought leadership campaign involves a well researched and planned content marketing strategy for delivering your unique point-of-view with consistency. You’ll want to consider the many options you can pursue to elevate your executive presence by talking to your stakeholders and target audiences. This should include any number of the following:

• Company blog
• Panels / presentations
• Social media marketing (Facebook page, LinkedIn, etc.)
• Video content marketing
• Podcast participation or a regular podcast
• Enewsletter to enhance inbound marketing
• Public relations campaing to secure guest blog posts
• Public relations campaign to secure media interviews
• Public relations campaign to secure industry analyst interviews

Benefits of executive branding

Over time, there are great benefits to building your executive brand as a visionary thought leader:

• The media views you as a knowledgeable go-to-source for insights.
• You build credibility for both your executive and company brands.
• You create momentum and build greater awareness of your company.
• You receive more invitations for media interviews, podcasts, panels, and presentations.
• An excellent way for link building so your company gains more organic, in-bound traffic to its website.
• You successfully capture greater market mindshare.

Note, we mention ‘over time’. It’s important to note that becoming a recognized industry leader does take time and won’t happen overnight. 
 In the words of Jeff Bezos, “attention is the scarce commodity of the late 20th century.” So why not try to capture some of this mindshare for yourself? If you sit on the sidelines, there is always the possibility that your competitors might just step up and seize the opportunity.