We Like Brands Who Care
Valencia Street, San Francisco 2018
We like, support and shop brands who care. Simple as that. Or is it all that simplified?
The first thing to recognize and realize is the answer to the question, “Do you stand for what I stand for?”
Brands in its own right are influencers. On the other side you have the influencer as a brand.
ph: Getty Images / Forbes.com
Both sides have to connect with culture and the human condition. Undoubtedly, this is the world we live in now and what’s on the outside speaks for itself.
do brands that take a side for the greater good, have a better chance at survival? do they deserve to?
Maybe we’ll see in a few years or even sooner that it could be a survival of the fittest, which brands has the most compassion and will outsell from its competitors. Retail giants like Costco and Walmart whose majority of consumers choose to shop there, because it’s a matter of economy. Bulk savings vs conscientious consumerism. In a survey featured in Fast Company it asks will brands without social purpose thrive? In the article, according to Accenture Strategy’s annual Global Consumer Pulse Research survey nearly two-thirds of consumers expect companies to create products and services that “take a stand” on issues that they also feel passionate about.
illustration by Sara Andreasson
We like to think of this as not a trend in consumerism, but the new order. We’ve seen in fashion brands and in the food industry how transparency, authenticity and thoughtfulness is making an impact in how people not only purchase items, but share with friends, families and co-workers the personal experience and quality of that product or service.
In our eyes, retailers like Everlane, Reformation and Patagonia are at the forefront of this movement and proving to big box retail that when a brand or company speaks honestly and with a personal voice, it reaches the consumer faster and with a deep loyalty.
In 2018 we saw major players such as Nike risk their whole brand identity with taking a stand behind high profile activists and other brands voiced their involvement with environmental causes, women’s rights and gun control. Our writer Alexandria Yip commented that it’s, “important for brands and the media in general to express an opinion in politics if they feel strongly about it and are spreading a positive message. Nikes endorsement of Kaepernick simply spreads the message of unfair violence in black communities and it has definitely started a conversation.” We’ve reached the era where no taboo is not open for discussion.
Then there were the natural disasters. When scrolling through your Instagram or Twitter feed and notice that a brand hasn’t posted content in an authentic, compassionate manner about a tragedy, does that make me not want to shop that brand? Yes. I want to see that you’re in it with us, even though you are a company with a board of directors, I want to know that you support the survivors and victims of that tragedy. And I would love to know if you as a company can help in any way. As a consumer, that’s what drives me to shop with you.
Like it or not, a brand has to be more human in 2019.
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