Woke Washing? Marketing trends shift

With technology giving us access to the answers to every single question we have - it is easy to catch companies in a trap. The latest twitter scandals are always quick to spreak and cancel culture (the act of pushing folks out of social circles) is running rampant like never before! And companies are jumping at this opportunity. For years trends have shown that consumers search for a company that aligns with their morals, acts ethically, etc. But now purpose driven and cause marketing are being used to engage young consumers to act on issues or buy.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=koPmuEyP3a0

Gillette famously released a short film titled "We Believe" that touched on the #metoo movement and toxic masculinity. Nike solidified Colin Kaepernick as a social justice warrior with a promotion that caused outrage and joy across the country. Another great example, Pepsi & Kendall Jenner! The examples could go on and you may think what is the issue? Companies bringing topics to light that matter and should be normalized - good job corporations.

As we saw with Pepsi though, the message intended may not be the message that is received. Consumers today do not want to be sold to, they rather have your brand become part of their lifestyle. But first you must take into consideration, does that brand live true to their words? The pinnacle of Woke Washing is companies running purpose driven campaigns while failing to take any real action - while simultaneously attempting to have us buy products. This can take other forms such as green washing which is when products appear to be sustainable or organic while in reality they are neither. When it's not authentic, that is when it would be considered to be woke washing. The big examples, Pepsi, Nike, & Gillette are hard to miss but there are countless of other firms joining in on this strategy. This trend does not seem to be slowing down and will be interesting to see what stances brands are making in 2020.