To See and Be Seen: Why Representation Matters In Advertising
Eyes4Research
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When brands make the effort to be authentically inclusive in their advertising, it can pay dividends in terms of customer loyalty as well as for their bottom lines.
Well ahead of the racial justice protests that took place in the summer of 2020, there was a consumer-driven push for brands to be more intentional about addressing representation in their advertising. Advertising has the responsibility to reflect society as it is, while also having the power to shape it into what it could be. As brands felt pressured to align themselves in support of the Black Lives Matter movement on social media, consumers began to hold them accountable for the lack of representation in their advertising (as well as on their senior leadership teams, which often results in a lack of diversity in customer-facing assets).
The continued evolution of social media means the platforms have become an unsolicited, real-time focus group for companies, giving consumers a direct line of communication to speak their minds about what brands are doing, even when it comes to their advertising practices.
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People let their spending habits do the talking as well, and as is specifically the case with younger consumers, they only want to spend their money with companies whose brand stories are in line with their worldview. That perspective includes the experiences and life stories of everyone, and consumers are becoming increasingly vocal in their demands for brands to be more aware of inclusive casting and messaging in their advertising. When people feel consistently excluded, or underrepresented in a brand’s advertising, it can lead to the development of negative feelings about that particular company.
The failure of brands to make the effort to authentically prioritize diversity in their advertising broadcasts the message that they only value and want the loyalty of certain groups of people. That is a message that can be hard to shake off once it has been established.
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2yAwesome article written by our very own Jennifer Smith Tapp about a very important topic. Couldn't agree more with this point: "Fostering genuine inclusion should become a clear objective as a way for companies to do business, both in the boardroom and in customer-facing endeavors, and should not be embraced just as a means to fortify their bottom lines"