Marketing Tips and Takeaways for Retailers & Brands

On November 4, the day after voting closed for the US 2020 Election, Gap’s marketing team posted a tweet that was fully intended to promote unity following one of the most divisive political campaigns in recent history.

“The one thing we know, is that together, we. can move forward,”

said the big retailer, also including two emojis: a blue heart and a red heart to represent Democrats and Republicans, respectively.

Without question, this social media post was well-intended and many big brands have social media horror stories.

Unfortunately for the Gap, election night closed without a clear result and as votes are tallied and legal actions are taken to ensure a truly free and fair result, the message was not well received. 

A Likely Scenario

For the most part, major retailers have a process that makes it difficult for them to do anything that isn’t planned.

When it comes to marketing, there are content calendars that are decided and approved, often a month or more in advance of a social post’s publication. There is room for timely posts, however, the nature of most retail marketing messages is seasonal, promotional, and intentional. 

In this case, it is safe to assume that Gap’s marketing team expected to learn of a final, or at least very clear, presidential outcome by Wednesday… the day immediately following the election.

The reality is that mail-in voting and the unique processes and procedures that differ in how voting is managed from one state to the next fully complicated things this year.

Given that both candidates in aggregate attracted the highest voter turnout in history and noting that the turnout has proved to be extremely, almost perfectly equally divided, tensions remain extremely high. 

Gap could not have anticipated this and they likely set-up and triggered this post to automatically publish at least several days in advance.

An Unfortunate Result, Despite Good Intentions

Within minutes of posting, an army of Twitter users launched an offensive, calling the tweet “tone-deaf” among a wave of backlash that spawned from the election chaos. As you can imagine, some tweets were much more civil than others. 

Approximately two hours after the tweet went live, the Gap’s marketing team removed the post, and their spokesperson promptly issued this apology:

“From the start we have been a brand that bridges the gap between individuals, cultures and generations. The intention of our social media post, that featured a red and blue hoodie, was to show the power of unity,” the spokesperson shares. “It was just too soon for this message. We remain optimistic that our country will come together to drive positive change for all.”

The question here is: “did Gap’s team really have anything to apologize for?”

As we sit back and watch the American democratic process play out as it is intended to, why should the Gap feel bad about the reality that we have a system that has processes and procedures to ensure a free and fair transfer of national leadership?

Even as the Trump campaign contests the outcome in several states, they are doing this peacefully and through a legal process: not with guns and brownshirts. In the United States, this is something we celebrate every 2nd and 4th year and we’ve done this for almost 250 years. 

For any sensitive message, it’s always good to have a system in place to approve a post before it goes live. That process should measure the temperature of the situation and make a Yes or No decision immediately following that.

In this case, it seems that there was no final check or perhaps, someone misread the room.

An army of Twitter trolls attacked this message of “unity.” The trolls were mostly from users that seemed to either support the Biden campaign or those who simply had nothing positive to say at all. In the extremely heated political and sociological world that Americans live in, there seem to also be foreign influences that use social media to attack and stifle any moves toward American unity.

Domestically, we see this with rioting and threats lead by the Antifa extremist group. Their presence online and in-person is unmistakable as they commonly attack pro-American, unifying messages and institutions whether they come from the political Left or Right.

If that sort of influence is loud enough, whether it be through Twitter bots or actual human users, there isn’t really any sort of positive message that any brand or person could successfully promote.

How To Keep Your Brand Safe

If your brand wants to survive and thrive, the reality is that irrespective of your own politics, if your price and quality are on par and your service or product is convenient, marketing survey data shows that consumers will be happy to buy from you.

While it is true that consumers prefer to buy from those brands that align with their political and ideological beliefs, price and convenience are the biggest motivators.

At Agency Partner, we recommend that companies focus on promoting excellence among their quality of product or service, and ensure fair hiring practices, and positive community involvement. These things together will help any brand overcome negativity, whether that negative attention is warranted or unwarranted.

If so, then you’ve come to the right place. Give us a call today at (214) 295-5845 or click here to Get a Free Quote to speak to a member today.

Marketing Tips and Takeaway for Business Leaders

According to a recent survey conducted by market research firm, Morning Consult, 56% of American consumers said they “pay close attention to brands’ ethical or political stances,” per data shared with Agency Partner. In the lead up to the upcoming election, we can agree that people are becoming increasingly polarized by the day.

For a company, this makes it difficult to understand what role they should play when strong political and social questions hit the table.

So what’s the takeaway for business leaders? How do you go about taking a stand without completely alienating part of your customer base?

The fact is that there is a way to do what you feel is right without turning anyone away. First, let’s turn to the data. So far, the data is telling us that consumers in the United States have changing expectations about what a brand should or should not do in terms of its involvement with things including corporate social responsibility, political activism, and social issues.

Gone are the 1980s and 1990s when consumers really only cared to see a brand ensure that products and services were ethically sourced and fulfilled. In 2020, consumers are expecting a lot more! 

2020 Emphasizes a Demand For Brands to Align With Social Concerns

At an increasing rate, the American public wants to see brands use their power and influence to positively impact politics and culture. Morning Consult projects that more than 54% of American consumers believe that companies should make an effort to drive change and progress on important social issues.

This means taking actions to operate in an environmentally friendly way, promote fairness and equity, ensure a safe and positive work environment, and show more concern for the stakeholders even if it’s slightly to the detriment of the company shareholders.

ln a nutshell, here is a list of items, in order of priority, that consumers feel companies should have some level of influence in:

1. Environmentally friendly
2. Ensuring safe and fair elections
3. Championing economic opportunity for average Americans
4. Driving progress on important social issues
5. Changing American’s attitudes about cultural or social issues

On the other hand, there is a special distaste for companies that do the following:

1. Working to get specific politicians elected
2. Influencing public policy
3. Getting legislation passed 

Unfortunately, far too many companies fail to successfully walk the fine line of what is okay and what is not. When the political climate is most hot,  this is when many companies fail miserably, and we’ll get into that shortly.

As brands work to promote positive change and fairness, they are generating heightened levels of trust and more often being viewed as charitable, responsible, and accountable. 

Interests & Top Issues for Consumers Around the 2020 Election

For the most part, a company will remain in good graces if it makes clear and obvious actions to promote free and fair elections. Noting above that consumers do not care to see the companies that they buy from directly endorse a political candidate, the idea is that businesses should promote fairness, access, and integrity.

This has been increasingly difficult as the integrity of information sharing is strongly under review following inconsistent censorship by our social media platforms such as Twitter and Facebook, as well as by the mainstream news media. 

Politics aside, there is strong bipartisan support for issues including:

• Equal pay for men and women
• Goods that are made in America
• Actions that help create more jobs
• Charitable donations to good causes
• Environmentally responsible practices
• Support for the US military & its veterans

The bottom line is that the survey data indicates that 56% of Americans are paying attention to what companies are doing to involve themselves in ethical and political discussions. Notable is that a majority of this focus is directly on what company CEOs are doing and saying. 

How Politics Can Influence a Company

There is definitely some risk involved when you mix politics with anything. The biggest risk is in taking a position and then being exposed for doing something that directly contradicts that position. 

We have seen this time and again from companies including Nike, the National Basketball Association, and Uber to name a few.

With all of that being said, more than half of Americans will still buy from a company that offers convenience, quality, and most importantly: it sells products for an affordable, low price. Perhaps that is why Nike is currently valued more today than it ever has been.

If a brand is really looking to turn business away, here are some things that will do so:

• the CEO vocally, loudly supports a political candidate that the customer base despises
• the pricing of products or services goes up dramatically without any value-added
• the quality of products or services goes down 

The things that generally have little effect in harming a brand include:

• donating to a political campaign
• donating to a charitable organization
• releasing a public statement supporting an issue

So who carries the greatest risk in managing the power and influence of a company?

If you guessed “CEO,” then you’re right on. The data shows that consumers expect CEOs to not only lead their company but as top-level leaders, they should also be a driving force for change in the communities that they do business in. There is overwhelming support for this as 76% of those surveyed expect CEOs to lead American society.

In cases where the CEOs get it wrong, so many times we have seen the public make the demand: “off with his head!”

Recently here in Dallas, that was the case when advertising staple, Stan Richards of The Richards Group made racially sensitive comments that lead him to “fire himself” and allow new leadership to take over and dictate the future of the company and its image.

Similarly, Uber’s founder and former CEO Travis Kalanick was pushed aside by its board after a culture of sexism and gender discrimination was allowed to persist. The theme here is that when issues like this hit the headlines, a new captain is almost always called on to right the ship. 

What To Be Ready For On and After Election Day

The data shows that 83% of Americans are paying at least some attention to the 2020 election.

The economy proves to be among the highest of concerns in terms of priorities in this election cycle and most voters are concerned about taxes, wages, jobs, unemployment, and government spending. Of course, the coronavirus is right up there! Companies should be taking safety precautions to ensure that employee health and safety is paramount. Voters have covid in full view this year. 

So what is the role of a company throughout all of this? While this won’t boost your revenue, it will earn you some favor. On election day, give your employees the time and space they need to go and vote. The American public favors companies that promote free and fair elections.

As an employer or manager, do not try and indoctrinate your employees or chastise them if they hold obviously different political views. Be a good neighbor, support their decisions, and encourage a truly free and fair outcome.

Once we get past election day, focus on promoting safety and on growth.

As an employer, do everything you can to retain employees, ensure that they are bought into the effort of delighting your customers, and make an active effort to hire people that you typically would not hire by leveraging tools such as CultureIndex or OptimizeHire.

Once you have hired your team and the business machine is humming, take action to ensure that your workplace is truly promoting growth. 

Focus on Your StakeholderS

At Agency Partner, we have learned that a truly diverse, inclusive team makes for a much higher quality standard of service. It facilitates more creative and innovative problem-solving, and frankly, it’s the right way to run a business.

Today, American consumers want to work with brands that are more engaged in their communities and less stingy when it comes to bottom-line, owner-centric value creation.

Companies should find ways to invest in their communities and employees without discouraging diverse thoughts and backgrounds. The long-term value that is being created will be measurable via better, faster decision-making. 

Give Us a Call Today!

Do you want to revamp your current marketing strategy to survive and thrive during COVID-19? Are you searching for ways to improve how your brand connects with the market?

If so, then you’ve come to the right place. Give us a call today at (214) 295-5845 or click here to Get a Free Quote to speak to a member today.