Brand Activism

A voice that can reach billions

 What is it?
Big Businesses today, employ a majority of the world's population
that is in-tune and reflective of the happenings around them. Their
brands are expected to hold strong values and have a voice for social
and political issues. No brand is exempt from that.
Brands today cannot solely rely on their positioning. They need to go
a step ahead. Millennials, today’s largest demograph, have high
expectations for brands. They live in an ever-evolving world,
struggling to keep up with it's consumption. Degrading available
resources at an exponential rate. They would want their brands to
show concern for the community they thrive in.
Brands do not need to have CSR integrated into their business models
to breakthrough in this new paradigm. They need to have a purposeful
voice, without needing to invest heavily in CSR.
 It’s 2 Faces
• “Activism comprises of efforts to promote, impede, or direct
social, political, economic reform with the passion to make
improvements in society. 
• In coherence with this definition, Brands can move with their
activist strategy in either a progressive or a regressive fashion.
• Regressive: The poster-children for regressive activism are the Big
Tobacco companies, who for years they have denied the harm their
products did, even when research revealed otherwise. Their
promotions focussed on the “virtues” of smoking in ways that hurt
their customers. Companies that lobby politicians for regressive
policies are regressive brand activists.

• Progressive: For brands engaging in such activism, profit-making

and marketing are secondary aspects to their strategies. Developing
a deeper connect with the community by attacking the bigger
societal problems is the key focus.
 When did it become a
thing?
Brand activism is an obvious extension of the corporate social
responsibility and the Environmental, Social and Governance
programs that corporates have been using for years to drive
societal change.

All previous efforts seemed to be

more marketing focused and
corporate driven initiatives. Brand
Activism, however, distinguishes
itself by being a more value-driven
agenda, where companies are
empathetic of the environment and
society. The core ethos for such
kind of brand campaigning pivots
around the sense of equality and
justice for all.
 The 6Ps
It’s essential that businesses know how to strategize their activist strategies.
Very broadly, brand activism comprise of 6 P(s).

• PURPOSE— Corporate values

Business Activism is driven by the values governing your brand and the
things the respective firm cares about.
• POLICY—Tangible Change
Stand in favour of critical policy changes that align with not only the
firms core business but also the community at large
• PEOPLE—Of the Movement
Activist movements scale based on the traction developed at the
grassroots. Hence, for every corporate brand activist movement,
ensuring employees resonate with your themes and motives behind
engaging in activist movements
• POWER—Resources
It is essential that businesses pool all tangible and intangible resources
to engage in activist movements to ensure that the right reach is
achieved with their engagement. Resources can be in the form of
influence on policymakers, media prese3nce or big budgets.
• PUBLISHING—Storytelling
Ensuring that an effective copy is designed for participant acquisition
and onboarding is key to the success of the brand activist campaign as
well as the rand image.

• POP CULTURE—Relevancy
Engaging with the right positioning can reflect well with customers based on
their perception of the positioning. Nike supporting black athletes in a Race
education movement makes sense as such athletes are brand ambassadors and
endorsers and they identify themselves as a race neutral brand. Hence, Black
lives matter resonated well with Nike fans because of it’s relevancy.
A Brand is in trouble because it is seen increasingly by more and more people
as deeply at odds with basic needs and basic values of society and community