Encouraging diversity can help your brand succeed. And it's great for society, too.
Posted: Thu Dec 05, 2024 4:48 am
Rodrigo Martins
Aug 4, 22 | 12 min read
diversity success brands
Reading time: 10 minutes
I’ll cut to the chase: If your brand isn’t committed to diversity and inclusion, you’re missing out on a lot . Not only are you missing out on the opportunity to do the right thing to make the world a better, more respectful place. You’re also missing out on business and money.
I'll get into the data soon, but before that I want you to imagine a few scenarios. First, think like a consumer: would you buy a product or service that was made without you in mind? Does that not represent your needs or do you not imagine yourself gaining value among your peers?
Now, think like a salesperson: why do you sierra leone email address think your buyer persona or target audience would buy something from you if you don't bother talking to them, showing them that you can help them and that you care about their problems?
Follow us on the Rock Content LinkedIn page
Marketing is all about having conversations. But throughout history, this conversation has been directed primarily at one type of people:
whites;
heterosexuals;
married;
with two children;
a great car;
middle class life;
etc
I'm talking about standards . Advertising, an important marketing tool, was primarily concerned with promoting these standards.
I'm talking about the Coca-Cola commercial with the “perfect family” at Christmas, the fitness model on TV saying that you would buy whatever she sold to have the same “beauty,” cleaning products advertised by submissive women portrayed as dedicated to taking care of children, home, husband, etc.
Check out these ads from 70, 80 years ago:
.
Have we changed enough today? We will discuss this topic in depth in this article.
People are not the same and do not recognize themselves in advertisements
Try to think of the ads we saw above with today's eyes. These commercials are all about common sense and treating people with different lifestyles, characteristics and genders the same.
But people are different from each other in their traits and desires. And if you think that our marketers and advertisers have evolved a lot, I have some bad news for you.
According to a study by Meta , sexism persists even in 2022:
54% of respondents do not feel represented in advertisements ,
Women are 14 times more likely to appear wearing revealing clothing in these ads;
People with disabilities and members of the LGBTQIAP+ community are almost non-existent among them:
only 1.1% in the first case;
0.3% in the second.
Looking at other media, we see the same problem. According to a report by the World Economic Forum , in the gaming industry — which is now gigantic — alone:
18% of games released in 2020 featured female characters;
4.2% of them had them as protagonists;
less than 3% are of African descent.
In the film industry, according to the same research, the scenario is changing with the arrival of streaming technology:
The entire industry, in general, has an underrepresented 28% of groups as protagonists of films.
At Netflix, this number is 36% . But even companies like Netflix have problems to solve.
The company conducted a study on content released between 2018 and 2019 . While there was gender equality among the main characters, there was only one non-binary person in the same situation. In addition, Netflix still has a long way to go among people with disabilities and the LGBTQIAP+ community: representation is in the single digits for all original films and series released in the period .
People want to see themselves represented in your brand
I’ll talk about the benefits to society of promoting diversity and inclusion soon. But as a marketer, you may be thinking right now: “Okay, but I need to sell. I get paid for that.” Yes, this is one of the main reasons why you should look more into this question!
According to the U.S. Census , more than half of the American population will be part of some underrepresented group by 2042. Yes, you may think of the word “minorities.” But together, they will represent the majority of the population. So, depicting your client as a white, heterosexual, married person with two children may not deliver the results they’re looking for .
Here's more data, research by Google showed that:
69% of African-descendant consumers prefer to buy from a brand that represents them;
The LGBTQIAP+ community is even larger at 71% .
Another big tech company, Meta, researched Facebook ads . The results showed that:
In 90% of cases , diversity ads performed better than traditional ones that have been used since the last century.
71 % of customers said they expect brands to commit to diversity in their advertising.
Another study, now from Adobe , said the opposite is also true:
More than a third of American adults said they would stop supporting brands that don't represent them;
In the LGBTQIA community the percentage is 58% ;
53% among people of African descent;
40% among Latinos.
Be the difference in the world
Now, let’s talk about the best part. Of course, having a true purpose for your brand can help you sell more, as we saw above. But the beauty of diversity and inclusion is another: why not use your brand to help make the world a better place for all of us to live in?
The impact is real. Procter & Gamble conducted research among non-LGBTQIAP+ people in the US. According to respondents,
80% said they support equal rights for the LGBTQIAP+ community;
Additionally, this media exposure made this audience feel more comfortable with having someone LGBTQIAP+ as a family member (72%);
For 80% of this audience, brands should have LGBTQIAP+ people in their ads as a way to empower the community.
How to get started?
I am a Brazilian journalist and marketer, with almost 15 years of experience in digital strategy. Almost ten years ago, I started to feel that some thoughts I had about diversity would also help in my work.
It was the time when Facebook really grew as a big social media platform and we started to see underrepresented groups gaining a voice.
So, I'll share a few stories of how diversity and inclusion helped me achieve success in my content strategy so you understand that it's not impossible to start, measure, and understand your audience.
From patterns to diversity
When I think of any type of media that tries to tell everyone how they should look in order to gain society's approval, one of the first things that comes to mind is fashion magazines. There, you have the fitness model on the cover, and tons of dos and don'ts to make you fit in or out of trends.
If you look back in time, being “trendy” meant dressing, acting and even eating according to some kind of rule.
In 2013, I worked at the largest magazine publisher in Brazil, Editora Abril, as a professional responsible for digital channels, which means audience development and growth. I worked with the editorial and marketing teams of 50 brands, such as National Geographic, HuffPost, Men's Health and Playboy.
Among them, I was responsible for the digital channels of the Brazilian version of one of the most well-known women's brands of do's and don'ts: Elle, Vogue's competitor.
Here in Brazil, the magazine's journalists discussed a lot about empowering underrepresented groups, but this was not clear on our website and digital channels.
At the same time, we were struggling to grow our audience because our audience wasn't showing much interest in some of the traditional content we used to publish on Elle: expensive jewelry, fashion tips, and news about stylists.
We had other big brands in the company, like Cosmopolitan and InStyle. But, an internal brand, MdeMulher, which was used in the past to publish more about beauty and cooking tips, started to discuss women empowerment issues, like sexual harassment, inequalities in the labor market and the right to be yourself, even if you are outside the pattern. Result: the audience traffic was very good.
I have done a benchmark among other Elles and Vogues around the world. I found great results in some of them using this approach, but most of them were still using traditional content on their digital channels. We decided to try different things, putting online what journalists were already discussing in the newsroom: diversity. It was a huge success in our traffic.
These changes led the editorial team to launch the first cover with a plus-size model in 2014 , for example. It gave us a great impact and, thinking about the business, helped the brand gain notoriety and more readers.
But it was even better for the world. You read above that the media helps society accept differences, right? Can you imagine how important it is for people who are not “standard” to see someone like them in a place where they always saw something unattainable?
Why don't you use a photo on your resume?
When I left Editora Abril in 2017, due to my experiments, I was very interested in diversity and inclusion. I am a bisexual person and, during this time, I organized a digital community to talk to people like me. This gave me the opportunity to give a talk at Social Media Week on the subject.
But more than that, I wanted to work for a tech company. Even more: I wanted to work for a tech company that had diversity as a pillar. What did I do? I updated my resume with my diversity experience and inserted a photo of myself wearing a t-shirt that read “Bicha Power” (Bicha, in Brazilian, means gay in colloquial language).
At first, I was worried that no company would call me for an interview. But I was wrong. Better than that: some companies called me because they were trying to increase diversity and were looking for people with the same values .
If you read most resume best practices, they tell you not to use photos of yourself on your resume. But for me, it worked the other way around.
Again: I was testing, measuring, and understanding the audience. In that case, especially, I wouldn’t work at a company where my sexuality would be an issue. So for me, it was also a great way to scare away the toxic ones and attract the right ones.
Aug 4, 22 | 12 min read
diversity success brands
Reading time: 10 minutes
I’ll cut to the chase: If your brand isn’t committed to diversity and inclusion, you’re missing out on a lot . Not only are you missing out on the opportunity to do the right thing to make the world a better, more respectful place. You’re also missing out on business and money.
I'll get into the data soon, but before that I want you to imagine a few scenarios. First, think like a consumer: would you buy a product or service that was made without you in mind? Does that not represent your needs or do you not imagine yourself gaining value among your peers?
Now, think like a salesperson: why do you sierra leone email address think your buyer persona or target audience would buy something from you if you don't bother talking to them, showing them that you can help them and that you care about their problems?
Follow us on the Rock Content LinkedIn page
Marketing is all about having conversations. But throughout history, this conversation has been directed primarily at one type of people:
whites;
heterosexuals;
married;
with two children;
a great car;
middle class life;
etc
I'm talking about standards . Advertising, an important marketing tool, was primarily concerned with promoting these standards.
I'm talking about the Coca-Cola commercial with the “perfect family” at Christmas, the fitness model on TV saying that you would buy whatever she sold to have the same “beauty,” cleaning products advertised by submissive women portrayed as dedicated to taking care of children, home, husband, etc.
Check out these ads from 70, 80 years ago:
.
Have we changed enough today? We will discuss this topic in depth in this article.
People are not the same and do not recognize themselves in advertisements
Try to think of the ads we saw above with today's eyes. These commercials are all about common sense and treating people with different lifestyles, characteristics and genders the same.
But people are different from each other in their traits and desires. And if you think that our marketers and advertisers have evolved a lot, I have some bad news for you.
According to a study by Meta , sexism persists even in 2022:
54% of respondents do not feel represented in advertisements ,
Women are 14 times more likely to appear wearing revealing clothing in these ads;
People with disabilities and members of the LGBTQIAP+ community are almost non-existent among them:
only 1.1% in the first case;
0.3% in the second.
Looking at other media, we see the same problem. According to a report by the World Economic Forum , in the gaming industry — which is now gigantic — alone:
18% of games released in 2020 featured female characters;
4.2% of them had them as protagonists;
less than 3% are of African descent.
In the film industry, according to the same research, the scenario is changing with the arrival of streaming technology:
The entire industry, in general, has an underrepresented 28% of groups as protagonists of films.
At Netflix, this number is 36% . But even companies like Netflix have problems to solve.
The company conducted a study on content released between 2018 and 2019 . While there was gender equality among the main characters, there was only one non-binary person in the same situation. In addition, Netflix still has a long way to go among people with disabilities and the LGBTQIAP+ community: representation is in the single digits for all original films and series released in the period .
People want to see themselves represented in your brand
I’ll talk about the benefits to society of promoting diversity and inclusion soon. But as a marketer, you may be thinking right now: “Okay, but I need to sell. I get paid for that.” Yes, this is one of the main reasons why you should look more into this question!
According to the U.S. Census , more than half of the American population will be part of some underrepresented group by 2042. Yes, you may think of the word “minorities.” But together, they will represent the majority of the population. So, depicting your client as a white, heterosexual, married person with two children may not deliver the results they’re looking for .
Here's more data, research by Google showed that:
69% of African-descendant consumers prefer to buy from a brand that represents them;
The LGBTQIAP+ community is even larger at 71% .
Another big tech company, Meta, researched Facebook ads . The results showed that:
In 90% of cases , diversity ads performed better than traditional ones that have been used since the last century.
71 % of customers said they expect brands to commit to diversity in their advertising.
Another study, now from Adobe , said the opposite is also true:
More than a third of American adults said they would stop supporting brands that don't represent them;
In the LGBTQIA community the percentage is 58% ;
53% among people of African descent;
40% among Latinos.
Be the difference in the world
Now, let’s talk about the best part. Of course, having a true purpose for your brand can help you sell more, as we saw above. But the beauty of diversity and inclusion is another: why not use your brand to help make the world a better place for all of us to live in?
The impact is real. Procter & Gamble conducted research among non-LGBTQIAP+ people in the US. According to respondents,
80% said they support equal rights for the LGBTQIAP+ community;
Additionally, this media exposure made this audience feel more comfortable with having someone LGBTQIAP+ as a family member (72%);
For 80% of this audience, brands should have LGBTQIAP+ people in their ads as a way to empower the community.
How to get started?
I am a Brazilian journalist and marketer, with almost 15 years of experience in digital strategy. Almost ten years ago, I started to feel that some thoughts I had about diversity would also help in my work.
It was the time when Facebook really grew as a big social media platform and we started to see underrepresented groups gaining a voice.
So, I'll share a few stories of how diversity and inclusion helped me achieve success in my content strategy so you understand that it's not impossible to start, measure, and understand your audience.
From patterns to diversity
When I think of any type of media that tries to tell everyone how they should look in order to gain society's approval, one of the first things that comes to mind is fashion magazines. There, you have the fitness model on the cover, and tons of dos and don'ts to make you fit in or out of trends.
If you look back in time, being “trendy” meant dressing, acting and even eating according to some kind of rule.
In 2013, I worked at the largest magazine publisher in Brazil, Editora Abril, as a professional responsible for digital channels, which means audience development and growth. I worked with the editorial and marketing teams of 50 brands, such as National Geographic, HuffPost, Men's Health and Playboy.
Among them, I was responsible for the digital channels of the Brazilian version of one of the most well-known women's brands of do's and don'ts: Elle, Vogue's competitor.
Here in Brazil, the magazine's journalists discussed a lot about empowering underrepresented groups, but this was not clear on our website and digital channels.
At the same time, we were struggling to grow our audience because our audience wasn't showing much interest in some of the traditional content we used to publish on Elle: expensive jewelry, fashion tips, and news about stylists.
We had other big brands in the company, like Cosmopolitan and InStyle. But, an internal brand, MdeMulher, which was used in the past to publish more about beauty and cooking tips, started to discuss women empowerment issues, like sexual harassment, inequalities in the labor market and the right to be yourself, even if you are outside the pattern. Result: the audience traffic was very good.
I have done a benchmark among other Elles and Vogues around the world. I found great results in some of them using this approach, but most of them were still using traditional content on their digital channels. We decided to try different things, putting online what journalists were already discussing in the newsroom: diversity. It was a huge success in our traffic.
These changes led the editorial team to launch the first cover with a plus-size model in 2014 , for example. It gave us a great impact and, thinking about the business, helped the brand gain notoriety and more readers.
But it was even better for the world. You read above that the media helps society accept differences, right? Can you imagine how important it is for people who are not “standard” to see someone like them in a place where they always saw something unattainable?
Why don't you use a photo on your resume?
When I left Editora Abril in 2017, due to my experiments, I was very interested in diversity and inclusion. I am a bisexual person and, during this time, I organized a digital community to talk to people like me. This gave me the opportunity to give a talk at Social Media Week on the subject.
But more than that, I wanted to work for a tech company. Even more: I wanted to work for a tech company that had diversity as a pillar. What did I do? I updated my resume with my diversity experience and inserted a photo of myself wearing a t-shirt that read “Bicha Power” (Bicha, in Brazilian, means gay in colloquial language).
At first, I was worried that no company would call me for an interview. But I was wrong. Better than that: some companies called me because they were trying to increase diversity and were looking for people with the same values .
If you read most resume best practices, they tell you not to use photos of yourself on your resume. But for me, it worked the other way around.
Again: I was testing, measuring, and understanding the audience. In that case, especially, I wouldn’t work at a company where my sexuality would be an issue. So for me, it was also a great way to scare away the toxic ones and attract the right ones.