{"id":12395,"date":"2019-06-26T15:42:50","date_gmt":"2019-06-26T15:42:50","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/thesocialelement.agency\/us\/?p=12395"},"modified":"2019-06-26T16:11:19","modified_gmt":"2019-06-26T16:11:19","slug":"brand-purpose-woke-washing","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/thesocialelement.agency\/us\/brand-purpose-woke-washing","title":{"rendered":"Brand purpose or ‘woke-washing’ ?"},"content":{"rendered":"

One of the stories to come out of Cannes this year is Unilever\u2019s CEO\u2019s assertion that brands are in danger of\u00a0 \u201cpolluting\u201d their purpose messaging with \u201c<\/span>woke-washing<\/span><\/a>\u201d.<\/span><\/h2>\n

For those that don\u2019t know, \u201cwoke\u201d is shorthand for becoming aware of areas of social injustice. It\u2019s used both by people discussing social justice issues and by those who go out of their way to mock them.<\/span><\/p>\n

Unilever\u2019s CEO argues that some brands are so concerned about <\/span>appearing<\/span><\/i> to be on the right side of various societal debates that the messaging around their brand purpose suffers (something we wrote about on <\/span>LinkedIn <\/span><\/a>on Monday).\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Genuine purpose or wokewashing?\u00a0<\/b><\/h3>\n

Purpose was definitely a big theme at Cannes<\/a> this year. But it\u2019s more than a buzzword. A study by <\/span>Accenture<\/span><\/a> found that 63% of consumers \u201cpreferred to purchase from <\/span>purpose-driven<\/span><\/a> brands.\u201d Edelman\u2019s Trust Barometer report found that a brand\u2019s reputation, and the consumer\u2019s trust in the brand, has a significant impact on buying decisions (it found that <\/span>67% of people<\/span><\/a> agreed with the statement: \u201cA good reputation may get me to try a product, but unless I come to trust the company behind the product, I will soon stop buying it\u201d).\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Research has shown that consumers crave authenticity from brands, with one study reporting that <\/span>90% of consumers<\/span><\/a> said that authenticity was important in deciding what brands to support.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Brands are getting the message loud and clear. Purpose matters. Cue lots of brands suddenly appearing to care about climate change, equality, social justice. Rainbow flags flutter over logos during Pride month. Ads are recast to show diversity. \u2018Woke-washing\u2019 becomes a thing.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

People aren\u2019t stupid. They can tell when a brand is blatantly using social issues to sell products (remember the <\/span>backlash<\/span><\/a> against the Kendall Jenner Pepsi ad in 2017?). So purpose has to be genuine, not just part of a marketing campaign.\u00a0<\/span><\/h4>\n

That means being able to point at what you\u2019ve done, not just what you\u2019ve said, as part of that purpose. What action has the business taken? Are its teams as diverse as its advertising? How does it support equality, or create a culture of inclusion? What action is it taking to reduce waste, or carbon emissions? Once a brand has acted on its purpose, only then it can communicate it.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Real purpose takes real commitment, and a real desire to create change. That desire starts with a brand\u2019s leadership, and runs all the way through the organisation, not just the marketing department.<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

One of the stories to come out of Cannes this year is Unilever\u2019s CEO\u2019s assertion that brands are in danger of\u00a0 \u201cpolluting\u201d their purpose messaging with \u201cwoke-washing\u201d. For those that don\u2019t know, \u201cwoke\u201d is shorthand for becoming aware of areas of social injustice. It\u2019s used both by people discussing social justice issues and by those…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":46,"featured_media":12400,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"episode_type":"","audio_file":"","transcript_file":"","cover_image":"","cover_image_id":"","duration":"","filesize":"","date_recorded":"","explicit":"","block":"","filesize_raw":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[],"yoast_head":"\nBrand purpose or 'woke-washing' ? - The Social Element USA<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"In her latest post, Tamara Littleton looks at the rise of \u2018woke-washing\u2019 in brand purpose Brand Purpose Marketing - The Social Element\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/thesocialelement.agency\/us\/brand-purpose-woke-washing\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Brand purpose or 'woke-washing' ? 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