Why inclusive branding matters
It’s more important than ever to make space for inclusivity in branding. We take a look at why inclusivity matters in your brand’s journey and where it should start.
Branding Before Breakfast Ep 127 \ Why inclusive branding matters
Hi, everyone. I’m Jodie. I’m the MD at tiny Hunter. And today, I want you to be thinking about inclusivity in branding. Now, inclusivity has become a really hot topic over the past few years. Probably, because people can take to social media and voice their frustration.
People are demanding change. They’re demanding to be represented. They’re calling out brands that aren’t doing the right things. Now, it would be great if brands were leading the way, but nevertheless, change is great and we will take it. So what is inclusivity? It’s really ensuring that a diverse range of people, all kinds of diversity. Gender, race, abilities, flexible needs, whatever it may be. Diverse range of people feel valued and respected.
They’ve got the same opportunities they’re represented in media and in social discourse. So, thinking about your branding and wanting to be inclusive, the thing is, you really need to start internally first. So, the company, what are its values? What are its policies? How is it approaching the way that it does business and the way that it engages with people. If inclusivity starts at the inside, it will naturally flow out into language and marketing and messaging and more importantly, then it will be authentic.
So, there was a study done in 2019, around advertising messages, and it really looked at the fact that there’s stereotypes that play often in this world. So, women were overrepresented in terms of the advertising that was sent to them in terms of household products and things like that. They were underrepresented in automotive. But, what they found was that if they had more progressive advertising that was more inclusive and less stereotyped, it performed better regardless of who it was being shown to. So, it shows that this is really important. People want to see the world that they live in reflected back at them.
They want to see that a brand is behaving in an inclusive way. So today, I want you to think about if this is important to your brand, which it should be, but, is it happening on the inside first before you start thinking about what you’re projecting on the outside because you don’t want it to feel token, it needs to be genuine. That’s it from me. It’s time for Brekkie.
That’s it from me. It’s time for brekkie.
Written by: Jodie de Vries
Published: October 5, 2022