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As brands continue to try to navigate a world of awakening and change, it's clear that they're on a learning journey. With numerous opportunities to learn from women's rights, climate change, homelessness, immigration and now racial equality. It is impossible to be against one of these problems. Why do brands need to say the obvious?

Mark Ritson writes in a devastating and powerful MarketingWeek article: “We marketers live in a brand bubble of our own creation. We think brands are important. That our brand is important. We think advertising is important. We think others take care of it. And with each passing year, our brand bubble seems to be becoming less and less transparent. An increasing proportion of marketers are losing touch with the consumers they are supposed to get their coordinates from and fall in love with the shit that their brands and their communications make a difference to society as a whole – and that these effects are a crucial part of theirs Job. "

I think brands are very important. But I also think that actions speak louder than words or low-cost GIFs that can be launched in seconds and published on social media with little effort and even less accountability. Let's look at a few examples:

Amazon joined a chorus of brands, declaring that "the unjust and brutal treatment of black people in our country must stop" and promised to "show solidarity with the black community – our employees, customers and partners – in the fight against systemic racism and injustice. "But what about the time when you fired a black contractor because he asked about the corona virus? Or you tried to smear a warehouse organizer as" not smart or articulated ".

A vice article reports how Uber's CEO Dara Khosrowshahi tweeted something similar, saying the company was "in solidarity with the black community and with peaceful protests against the injustice and racism that have plagued our nation for too long". To that end, he announced a $ 1 million donation to two racial justice think tanks "to help their work improving America's criminal justice system for everyone." In the background, however, Uber is fighting against laws that would reclassify its workforce and entitle them to benefits such as health insurance and minimum wages. How solid is this solidarity among a large number of minorities that make up the workforce?

Ritson's article in MarketingWeek contains numerous examples of our most valued brands: Apple, Nike, Adidas, Spotify, L & # 39; Oreal – each of which has expressed a strong focus on the racial justice movement and has even donated money to related purposes Leadership remains white. Riston explains: “I am not saying that companies generally have to have black people in their management teams. However, if you believe what you are telling the market about black voices, you should first swap some of your white executives in your upper levels for color executives. Not because these people are bad. Not because you need to encourage more diversity in the boardroom. But because you claim to be concerned with black issues and black representation, you are doing something useful. "

In a tweet, author and brand strategist Vikki Ross tells how she answered one of her customers who asked, "Should we change our logo?" with a series of targeted questions worth reading, internalizing and thinking about for a while:

• Do you support the cause? Or do you want to look like you?
• Do you always support the cause? Or do you support the cause if it is trendy?
• If you change your logo to support the cause, when do you change it back?
• If you change your logo again, you no longer support the cause?
• If you can change your logo again, when will you do it?
• What happens if another cause is in trend? Are you changing your logo again?
• How can you keep up with support for every thing? What if you miss one?
• If you keep changing your logo, what is your logo?
• Should you just always do what feels right? Assume that your company is always doing the right thing, regardless of whether or not it advertises the company through the logo.

Yes, these are challenging times. #blackouttuesday would have been better if brands had just gone dark and listened and thought about the changes they would or would not make before hurrying to deliver content and news. We know that there are injuries and we know that most people on this planet want to do something to reduce the injuries. But we have to remember that actions say more than words.

Brands have to be like people the change they claim to want to see. Take a close look at your brand from the perspective of your customers. This is the easiest way to identify contradictions.

The Blake project can help: Avoid contradictions. Think about it in the Brand Positioning Workshop

Brand Strategy Insider is a service from The Blake Project: A strategic brand consultancy that specializes in brand research, brand strategy, brand growth and brand building

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