Digital Marketing and the #BlackLivesMatter Campaign Essay

Introduction

Marketing has always been affected by the changing technology. Due to the rapid nature of change in the digital age, marketers are always tasked with ensuring that they tap into the events that affect their target audience. This is one of the reasons why many brands used the #BlackLivesMatter social and digital campaign to get ahead within their spaces. It is prudent to note that just because marketers used the campaign to gain new clients, does not mean that they did not care about the issue of racial injustice. This essay looks into how the #BlackLivesMatter campaign affected brand marketing in America.

What is #BlackLivesMatter

The term “Black Lives Matter” digitally referred to as #BlackLivesMatter refers to a social and political movement that started in 2013. The movement aims at creating awareness and protesting against police brutality against the African American community (Hillstrom, 2018). The movement received global support both physically and digitally. There are numerous celebrities, governments and citizens that protested digitally the same. It is critical to note that whereas the movement began in 2013, it was appreciated globally in 2020 (Thomas, et al., 2020). Interestingly, the movement is considered one of the largest in the history of the US and this is partly due to the digital reach that it had.

Critically, there are numerous activities that were done in relation to the Black Lives Matter movement. For example, sportsmen in England take a knee before their games in honor of the movement. In this part of the world, the movement rebranded to “no room for racism”, which is in line with the racial injustices colored people face in England. It is also important to note that there were several criticisms against the movement. Moorman (2020) notes that a significant percentage of the Caucasian population felt that it was wrong to state that “black lives matter” when in fact, “all lives matter”. This premise led to a widespread debate that enhanced a different social and digital movement “cancel culture”. The impact and reach of the movement also drew in different local and global brands that also made a stand on the same. Critically, several companies used the movement to enhance their digital marketing and branding. Interesting, companies that tried to avoid the discussion on the same were “canceled” by a significant number of the American population.

Brand Activism During Black Lives Matter

It is arguable that the Black Lives Matter movement created several debates due to the fact that it means different things to individual people and even communities. It can be argued that the movement had several voices contributing to it as opposed to one voice, which is the norm for a majority of social and digital activism activities (Acar and Ulu˘g, 2016). One of the key lessons that were learned during the peak of the movement is the importance of diffusing the power of activism for a wider reach. This approach was in fact, adopted by several companies as part of their brand activism. As stated, and due to the diffused or decentralized nature of the campaign, different organizations or institutions unpacked the movement to their own advantage. For instance, taking the knee in sports was seen as part of the movement. Still on brand activism, as mentioned earlier, English football teams branded themselves with “no room for racism”, which is still ongoing.

Interestingly, the impact of Black Lives Matter, in relation to brand activation, affected companies in both negative and positive ways. For instance, Nike had promoted Colin Kaepernick, a sportsman who started the action of taking a knee in protest of racial bias in America, long before George Floyd’s death in 2020 (Boren 2018). However, as the movement became digital and global, Nike and Colin found themselves used as reference. It can be argued that this was good brand activation for both Nike and Colin. On the other hand, days after the movement began, confidential material from Red Bull was released online that showed extreme racial bias in the hiring and firing of staff. In order to save the brand, the company openly made organizational changes.

How #BlackLivesMatter Influenced Brand Marketing

There are several ways in which Black Lives Matter Influenced Brand Marketing. First, several companies started to review their logos and even marketing messages (Ritson, 2020). For instance, Colgate started to review its brand “Darlie” which was referred to as “Darkie” (Vredenburg et al., 2020). The brand message passed was that it was toothpaste for black people, which is a form of racism by the brand. This is so due to the fact that there should be no difference between toothpaste for people of different races. During the movement, the company started that they will change the name, logo and even packaging of the brand. This is especially interesting due to the fact that the toothpaste is only sold in Asia, and it is one of the company’s bestselling brands in the region.

Other companies that also had to rethink their branding and messaging after the movement include Pepsi and Mars. Critically, there are numerous ways in which these companies further enhanced the movement. For instance, by changing their brand marketing, these companies proved to their clients and the world at large that they are willing to promote unity and social cohesion. Their actions not only stated that they were wrong (racial branding) but that they were also willing to change for the better of the community. It can be argued that #BlackLivesMatter influenced brand marketing for generations to come. The brands that did not put out statements have since received backlash and their public image was destroyed. The messaging that revolved around the movement also hurt the bottom line of some companies. For instance, companies that sell skin whitening creams were among the affected (Nielsen, 2020). This is due to the fact that one of the key messages spread during the campaign was love for one’s self.

Brand and Marketing Trends After #BlackLivesMatter

One of the key branding and marketing trends that occurred after the movement began was calling out social injustices around the world. Brands were able to tie these injustices to their advertising. Further, companies put out statements in all types of media. Some used traditional media while many preferred to respond via social media. Cornwell et al. (2018) note that more brands preferred digital responses due to the reach this had. Indeed, with more people within America, and across the globe, we’re able to engage better and more closely with the brands that responded to the movement online. Duane and Domegan (2019) explain that despite the pressure to respond to the movement, many companies also failed in their participation. For example, several brands received backlash for participating in the #BlackOutTuesday campaign, which was tied to the movement. The backlash was due to the fact that the campaign had started as #TheShowMustBePaused but was morphed by brands in order to further their agenda.

A second marketing trend that has been witnessed since the #BlackLivesMatter movement is branded using the black American community to push their agenda. More promotional materials have started to feature colored people. Additionally, more companies have begun to sponsor people of color for training and similar ventures (Hoppner and Vadakkepatt, 2019). It is arguable that all this is happening in order for the affected brands to be more in tune with the concerns of the public/market. It should be noted that although the year 2020 was the peak of the movement, #BlackLivesMatter is still an ongoing campaign that seeks to ensure racial equality. Therefore, despite the fact that brands have used the campaign as a marketing tool, marketers have to respect the importance of the movement.

How #BlackLivesMatter Affected Digital Marketing Practices

One can debate that the #BlackLivesMatter affected digital marketing practices due to its impact on brand safety. de Oca, Mason, and Ahn (2020) note that there are several brands that blocked their adverts from showing online on pages that had content regarding the movement. There are two factors that have to be unpacked from this premise. The first is that there are brands that do not want to be associated with the movement. These brands believe that they are not best placed to speak or respond to the campaign. Secondly, the premise suggests that there are tools that protect such brands and this is where “brand safety” comes in. It is imperative to note that the stated #cancelculture grew tremendously during the #BlackLivesMatter campaigns. Therefore, brands had to be careful of all the messages they sent out in order to avoid being canceled. Further, as Wang (2020) notes, there are some brands that blocked keywords such as “George Floyd” and “black”. The debate on whether this is ethical or not is complicated due to the issue of brand safety.

It is critical to also note that the #BlackLivesMatter campaign affected how brands shaped their messages online. Barton et al. (2018) note that companies had to have strict tone considerations in order to remain on the good side of the campaign. An example can be given to expound further on the notion. As part of supporting the movement, Vogue released a series of images of people of color. Indeed, to the layman, this move appears thoughtful especially due to the type of stories that accompanied the same images. However, the magazine received a lot of black lash due to the fact that the public felt the images were not well captured. In fact, this started a new conversation on racial injustices and bias in photography. It was established that photographers rarely understand how to take images of people of color (Mahin and Ekstrand, 2021). This affected the brand, which despite their need to participate in the discussion, was also viewed as part of the racial problem.

Critically, the movement also affected how marketers responded to sensitive topics online. Indeed, the companies that put out statements responding to the call for racial justice also had to look within their systems to ensure they were not racially biased themselves (Nielsen, 2020). The fact that the public was angered by the unnecessary police brutality against black people also encouraged different people to give reviews on some of the brands they had interacted with. This also included some of the places the affected had worked. It is due to this push that brands such as Red Bull had to re-issue statements based on their internal findings of racial bias. The company agreed to change its systems in order to create a suitable working environment for all races.

It can be argued that there is an increasing role of technology in contemporary marketing. Indeed, whether this is due to the fact that brands can block keywords and websites they don’t want to be associated with to avoid showing their adverts on these pages, or the fact that social media has now become the number one channel of communication for most brands is irrelevant.

Conclusion

In conclusion, one can argue that the #BlackLivesMatter movement affected brands in both positive and negative ways. Brands that condemned police brutality were able to attract new clients and reach out to newer markets. However, there are brands that tried and fell short. This can be attributed to poor messaging and also systemic racial bias within the companies. One way in which the movement affected brands online is through brand safety. Companies that did not want the pressure that came with supporting the movement and those that did not want to be associated with the campaign were protected by brand safety consequences. Secondly, it is important to note that brands were also affected by constant backlash on their contribution to racial injustice. Some brands had to re-brand and even re-package in order to stop the backlash.

Reference List

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