Activist Branding: Importance, Approaches With Examples

Activist branding, also termed brand activism, refers to the marketing technique where a firm speaks in unison with society or publicly comes out to express an opinion concerning social, political, economic, and social causes close to the marketer’s heart. This approach has caught on in the past several years because of the shift in consumers’ attitudes and the growing emphasis on corporate sustainability. So, as consumption activities become more selective, activist branding has acquired a distinct strategy of differentiation and bonding. Consequently, this article examines the concept of activist branding focusing on its importance, approach, opportunity and prospect, and difficulties regarding its execution, as well as successful examples of its application.

What is Activist Branding?

Activist branding stands above traditional marketing techniques, where a brand supports individual causes. Companies engage in activist branding by selecting topics such as climate change, justice, equality, and community well-being. This strategy enables brands to appeal to consumers in the same way they appeal to them because of similar beliefs and values.

The Importance of Activist Branding

  • Consumer Expectations: The modern buyer cares much about the brand and values himself or herself. A study shows that 66% of the customers are willing to spend more money on sustainable brands which evidences the need for increased corporate responsibility and; ethical behavior.
  • Building Trust and Loyalty: When several brands are responsive to social issues, they are likely to enjoy closer relations with consumers. Corporate social responsibility is an important instrument for ensuring trust with customers since when organizations are committed to causes, customers are also committed.
  • Differentiation: In competitive industries, activist branding has a place. Through the use of a strong political stance, one can separate himself or herself from other players since one has to be consistent in taking a side on a given issue.
  • Employee Engagement: Activist branding can also increase organizational commitment, and motivation and can be a weapon for recruitment. Employees have always preferred and worked hard for organizations whose value system they cherish and support societal causes.

Approaches to Activist Branding

To successfully implement an activist branding strategy, companies should consider the following approaches:

  1. Define Core Values

Since changing the values practiced in a brand, brands have to define the values that represent them and the causes they want to support. This involves the coordination of activism with the goals of the brand being marketed and making sure that all campaigns formulated have legislative value with employees as well as customers.

  1. Engage in Authentic Advocacy

The problem of activism and branding there was disagreement on serious issues of society but what was even more abhorrent was the lack of authenticity in activist branding. While it is still crucial, to begin with, brands should refrain from creating performativity activism and should include in-depth advocacy that demonstrates the brands’ commitment to the advocacy. This could entail sponsoring relevant charities or assisting in communally-focused activities, to undertaking throwing the sort of advertising campaigns that will foster awareness of certain problems.

  1. Communicate Transparently

The truth as regards comprehensiveness and scope indicates that intention and action transparency are critical in establishing confidence. It is also important for brands to talk about goals and plans, and their actions, as well as work of initiatives, and outcomes of their actions for the supported causes. It enables the buyer to comprehend the brand’s dedication and consequently take part in the conversation.

  1. Leverage Social Media

The activism platforms offer brands an ideal way through which they can share their actions with the audience on social media platforms. Apart from this, the use of # hashtags known to do with certain causes may help in increasing the message and even build a community.

  1. Collaborate with Like-Minded Organizations

One way in which brands can legitimize their ‘activism’ is to collaborate with other non-profit organizations or other brands with similar organizational principles. Partnership leads to the creation of campaigns that address many people in society.

  1. Measure Impact

It is pivotal for Brands to evaluate the effectiveness of their activism initiatives as demonstrated by the following indicators Engagements, Changes in perception scores, and Community response. Thus, it explains impact while also laying grounds for navigating our future approach.

Challenges of Activist Branding

While activist branding offers numerous benefits, it also presents several challenges:

  • Risk of Backlash: People tend to scorn or boycott brands that openly support some causes they fail to see the rationality in and fully endorse. As a result, brands need to expect certain criticism and these challenges are better to be faced with caution.
  • Authenticity Concerns: Today’s consumers are also getting wary of brands that practice what is known as formative activism. Brands need to be real and act in accordance with the mission statements. 
  • Complexity of Issues: Stakeholders, from a social and political perspective, are aware that problems are virtually never black and white. To leave no room for oversimplification or misrepresentation, brands have some homework to do: they must understand these issues fully before taking a stand.

Notable Examples of Activist Branding

Several brands have successfully implemented activist branding strategies:

Nike

Nike has managed to position itself at the top of brand activism after canvassing strong stands on social justice. Nike’s advertisement titled “Just Do It” with Kaepernick during the protest for the African American issue made Nike’s brand support social justice.

Patagonia

Social activism has been part of Patagonia’s ethos for many years. To cut the story short, the company contributes towards environmental causes as a section of its profits and participates in promoting practices that are destructive to the environment such as oil drilling in regions that are protected. Their work embodied mindfulness in consumerism by offering a provocative slogan ‘Don’t Buy This Jacket’.

Ben & Jerry’s

The choice is socially responsible because Ben & Jerry’s has always not only spoken out on social justice causes but has also acted on them with its campaigns as well as policies. Firstly, the brand leverages its communication platform to increase the awareness of these issues to consumers while at the same time reminding its audience of its commitment to change.

Conclusion

Activist branding is a new concept of branding where corporation identity maps and conforms to social responsibility and consumer attitudes. Brand stance insinuates that imperative strategic decisions enable brand and consumer engagement, and consequently distinguish brands in competitive markets. Thus, the companies that adopt the activist branding strategy are likely to reap benefits in an ever-rich sovereign and conscientious customer market. Defining core values, having sincere interaction, being open, using social networks, partnering with other similar organizations, and measuring the result would let a brand build meaningful relationships with the targeted audience and be an actual plus to society. Today, consumers expect brands to do more than just sell products and satisfy their needs and wants, they look for meaningful interaction with the brands they purchase from; activist branding is not a strategy but a necessity of business management in the contemporary world.