Too many major brands are coming late to the party and/or delivering paper-thin token gestures in their ‘show’ of support for causes, says Ciara Garratt of global brand experience agency Sense. 

Have you noticed how every brand is trying to prove a point at the moment? How every product you pick up in the supermarket now boldly states its protein content? Or, how the shampoo you bought the other day is suddenly ‘gluten free’?

Perhaps awareness of even a simple form of marketing is heightened for us marketers, but in a society where everything is under scrutiny, and where consumerism is at its peak, it feels like brands are more self-aware than ever before.

In 2008, Heineken brought us the ‘Walk-in Fridge’, racking up millions of views on YouTube. The ad highlights the different values of men and women, as stereotyped in society a decade ago, as a couple show their friends around their new home. The woman shows her walk-in wardrobe to her female friends, while the man reveals a walk-in fridge full of beer to his mates. Both result in enthusiastic screams from their same-sex friends. The advert played on traditional stereotypes in a humorous way – presumably to appeal to what it thought was an all-male audience.

As society has changed, brands have had to adapt to a more nuanced view, which we can see in Heineken’s 2017 #OpenYourWorld ad. Heineken brought together people from different cultures, backgrounds and sexual orientations in a ‘social experiment’, exploring the benefits of finding common ground – Heineken beer and reasonable discussion. The message was raw, empathetic and forward-thinking, which, in the current climate of thriving equality and liberalism, was well-received.

Of course, we expect brands to evolve with the times – they need to stay relevant to the changing attitudes of their audience. But the way in which brands manage that change is critical. Heineken achieved a 180-degree pivot; from clumsy sexist stereotypes to jumping on the equality bandwagon – without irritating the public. Because it was a proactive effort, even though the principle isn’t exactly original, it comes across as relevant and authentic. We’re all entitled to change our minds once in a while (even if it takes the best part of a decade).

What’s more concerning is when real world issues are side-lined, only to later be exploited by brands looking for a hot-topic-of-the-moment.

Plastic no longer fantastic

For example, despite scientists sounding the alarm for years over the impact of plastic on the environment, it seems like brands have only recently started to take action, capitalising on the opportunity to be seen in a positive light.

Do they feel a genuine corporate social responsibility or is it just another tactic to make headlines? It’s particularly galling when the brands in question are category leaders – surely major powers on the world stage should be leading from the front, rather than playing cautious catch up, or only acting when they’re caught out?

Greenpeace has made a number of protests shaming Coca-Cola for its contributions to plastic waste, although coverage of this has been all too scarce. However, when Coca-Cola ‘heroically’ announced that it will recall and recycle 100% of its packaging to help clean up our oceans, it made the news. Shouldn’t we really be celebrating Greenpeace, for acting when it mattered, rather than a huge corporation that showed up late to the anti-plastic party?

Where Heineken has made a positive shift and potentially contributed to changing people’s perceptions, other brands have been less proactive and instead demonstrated a lazy approach to jumping on the bandwagon. A prime example of this is when McDonalds turned the trademark ‘M’ upside down to show support for International Women’s Day. They’re hardly a brand who you would expect to be active on such an occasion, but perhaps like Coca-Cola they were only responding to external pressures.

Brands should be careful about how they portray acts of ‘good’ and must try to avoid looking exploitative. Instead, they should be proactive; earning respect by taking action, instead of just nodding in agreement like McDonalds. What Heineken have done is much more believable and empowering – instead of caring about how they look to consumers, they have focussed on getting the consumer to think about the bigger picture themselves, and hopefully make their own contributions to change.

It’s easy to say “better late than never, Coke” or “at least you’re doing something, McDonalds”; but the reality is that if these brand leaders were more proactive in the first place, they wouldn’t need to jump on the brandwagon. They’d be driving it – and making a real difference along the way.

Ciara Garratt is Account Manager at global brand experience agency Sense.

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The Advertising Association is today launching a new report, Advertising Pays: World Class Talent, World Class Advertising, and a campaign aimed at protecting the advertising and marketing industry post-Brexit by championing access to global talent and to celebrate the immense contribution of international talent to the UK.

The new report, in partnership with LinkedIn, reveals that a diverse international workforce is central to the UK’s position as a global advertising and marketing hub.

Analysis from a pool of 328,000 LinkedIn members who work in advertising and marketing in the UK gives detailed insights into how international talent plays a pivotal role in the UK’s creative success. It also demonstrates that the UK is a key source of talent for other advertising hubs worldwide.

With widespread uncertainty around talent moving to and from the UK post-Brexit, the Advertising Association is warning that the UK’s creative crown is in jeopardy.

The proportion of the current advertising and marketing workforce in London that has migrated here from abroad in the last 12 months is three times higher than the corresponding figure in New York; it is also higher than in Paris and Amsterdam. More than a third of this talent comes from within the EU, with many others arriving from the United States and Australia.

Unsurprisingly, London is a hub for advertising and marketing talent – in fact 6% of LinkedIn members in the London area work in the industry. However, despite London’s global reputation for advertising, more than half (57%) of the industry’s UK workforce is based outside of the capital. Manchester is the largest of the city hubs.

The UK also supplies a huge amount of talent to other international advertising hubs. The UK is the number one source of international advertising and marketing talent in New York, Paris and Amsterdam and has provided more than a third of recent migrants to Sydney’s advertising sector.

James Murphy, CEO of adam&eveDDB and Chairman of the Advertising Association says: “The UK ad industry is a world-leader because we’re open to the world. It will be catastrophic to the long-term success of the sector if we can’t access the right talent quickly and easily. Global brands want to work with the best talent and the UK has it. As an industry that delivers £120 billion of GDP per year for the country, anything that knocks advertising will dent the economy.”

Josh Graff, UK Country Manager at LinkedIn, adds: “I have experienced first-hand what makes the UK such a creative powerhouse – the people. We’re a wonderfully diverse and international workforce that enables brands and their agencies to create campaigns which resonate across international, cultural and socio-economic boundaries. I hope that this report, informed by LinkedIn‟s powerful data, can not only help employers make better decisions about their talent pipelines but that it will also inform policy makers and educators on what’s required to ensure the sector continues to thrive.”

Created by the Association in collaboration with agency adam&eveDDB, the ‘A Great Advert for Britain’ campaign is based on photo portraits of individuals from overseas working in advertising, with a message that they are ‘A Great Advert for Britain’.

The ads will appear on posters, online display advertising and in the press, in media space donated by media owners in support of the campaign.

Stephen Woodford, CEO of the Advertising Association says: “Our new report, informed by LinkedIn’s powerful dataset, highlights immigration as the most important area for Government support to maintain the UK’s position as the world’s leading global advertising hub and drive growth domestically. Our new campaign, ‘A Great Advert for Britain’, brings this important issue to life. We have been working closely with the relevant Government departments on measures to safeguard and promote UK advertising internationally, as well as stimulate further growth in the regions among SMEs. We will continue to make the case to Government for funding and support in these areas.”

Alongside its campaign, the Advertising Association has met with the Migration Advisory Committee, an influential non-departmental advisory body, to share the report findings to help inform plans for access to talent post-Brexit.

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