We all felt the societal alignment and “coming together” at the start of the COVID-19 pandemic. Michael LeBlanc, a pronounced Canadian retail strategist, described a shared “mission” that emerged across Canada: to simply do what’s best for people and take care of each other1.
As we leave the pandemic-era and start to enter the post-COVID reality, there has never been a better time for retail brands to authentically experiment with what this caring looks like long-term and how it fits into their brand experience.
ENLIGHTENED & ENGAGED
In fact, there are increasing expectations from consumers that retail organizations will use their position to have a positive social impact in the world. This is well illustrated by the increasing presence of brand activism in business, and exemplary retail responses have been pioneered by the TOMs Shoes, Patagonias, IKEAs, and Ben & Jerry’s of the world.
The responses to the largest civil rights movement to date in the summer of 2020 for Black Lives Matter is perhaps one of the strongest testaments to this. With an outpouring of solidarity for BIPOC, retail brands were motivated to demonstrate their humanness in their communication efforts through conscious participation too; such as posting the black square on their channels, denouncing police brutality, using appropriate hashtags, and engaging in conversations about anti-racism.
CASE STUDY: BEN & JERRY’S
With over 600 scoop shops worldwide and a product available in any major grocery store, Ben & Jerry’s typifies strong brand activism with a clearly-defined ESG (Environment, Society, Governance) strategy. They are well-known for taking a stance on a myriad of social issues including environmental sustainability, anti-racism, cannabis, the justice system, and more.
“It matters to more and more consumers (GenZ and Millennials, looking at you) that companies take a stance and add value to our global community via their action2,” explains Christopher Miller, Ben & Jerry’s head of global activism strategy, in a Harvard Business Review article earlier this year.
They are driven not by a goal to sell more ice cream, but rather to make sure their messaging and actions are rooted in their organization’s core values and beliefs.
At the same time, consumers are paying attention. Brands are more digitally engaged with their customers than ever, through social media, influencer marketing, and targeted online advertising. In fact, pre-pandemic, a study done by Deloitte identified that “...75% of in-store retail spending was digitally influenced during the shopping journey3.”
Not surprisingly then, as Brands demonstrate shared values with consumers on the material, light-hearted aspects of life, so should they share in the social values of the consumer by engaging in harder conversations around political and social issues of the day.
Sherry MacDonald, partner at Madstone Consulting Group, describes how brands must be aware of these dynamics, while also warning about the idea of consumers potentially punishing brands that demonstrate negligence.
“Consumers have increasing amounts of power and an unprecedented audience size to voice their concerns through social media”, she says. “If retailers are not paying attention to their social impact in a meaningful way, they will struggle to stick around4.”
LEADERSHIP CHAMPIONING CHANGE
Many of the behaviours and trends discussed in this paper are rooted in fundamental societal shifts happening via consumers. In addition to influencing conversations around the dinner table, it’s also brought the question of ESG to the table in the boardroom. Most organizations are not clear on how it will impact the business strategy and planning agenda.
In addition to that, “[e]merging leaders and CEOS are far more reflective of the new generation of consumers who think differently,” explains MacDonald. “They’re taking a page out of the Tech industry’s book to seek ways to take significant risk, fail fast, and iterate. They also come with a different grooming on the concept of ROI that include social values and costs, and with an overall increased level of consciousness that will support their organization in making sure their brand has lasting relevance5.”
Consumer-centric leaders recognize their impact on the world, are individually motivated to take part in creating that positive impact that consumers desire, and know it’s “good for business”. As the a recent article in the WSJ articulated,
“When a corporate leader does an earnings call with analysts, or appears in a TV interview to discuss economic conditions, or holds an all-hands employee meeting, that leader now can be expected to be asked about the Black Lives Matter movement or voting rights, not just about business conditions. Dodging such questions may be an option, but also not a good look6.”
