In the midst of escalating culture wars, brands seem more careful than ever to avoid political pitfalls and anything that could be considered a PR crisis. But it’s a monumental task: The lines are increasingly blurring between culture and politics.
Marketing messages are taking longer to craft as they wait for approval from corporate comms teams. And allowlists and blocklists — including some to avoid raising ire from the Trump administration — are getting longer and campaigns are taking a “softer” approach, according to two brand strategists Digiday spoke with for this story.
“The way I see it is: The one who talks first loses at this point,” said Rachael Kay Albers, creative director and brand strategist at RKA Ink, a branding and marketing agency. “Nobody wants to draw attention to themselves.” And perhaps for good reason.
Marketers are walking a tightrope, trying to strike a balance in a hyper polarized and partisan environment while still showing up authentically in culture. Easier said than done against the backdrop of tightened marketing budgets, economic headwinds, deteriorating diversity, equity and inclusion efforts, and President Donald Trump’s policies.
In response, brands are clamping down, hoping to be spared public backlash by using sanitized corporate messaging, according to Jess Weiner, founder and CEO of Talk to Jess, a strategy and consulting company, who has worked with clients like American Eagle Outfitters’s Aerie, Mattel’s Barbie brand and Dove.
Case in point: One of the strategist’s current clients, whom she did not name, was set to roll out a campaign geared toward women in business this past April. Then, stakeholders said they weren’t comfortable with the campaign and wanted to evaluate it before taking it live. It wasn’t until Weiner presented the brand with an extensive case study of the pros and cons of pulling back from more pointed messages geared at different community groups that the wheels were set back into motion, she said. The ad is currently in-market, she added.
“What I’ve seen is a slowdown of the decision-making process. Certainty, yes, more eyeballs on [messaging],” she said. “For large, publicly-held companies, it’s definitely getting flown up in front of corp comms of the parent company.”
Across the board, clients need more convincing to move marketing messages quickly, loudly and authentically, per all three execs Digiday spoke to for this story. While Weiner’s clients have slowed down their decision-making time, clients of Albers and Kai Deveraux Lawson, co-founder and CEO of Valerie, a creative agency and consultancy, have softened their marketing language as to not flame fans on either political side, they said.
“How do we meet people right now? If we even acknowledge the turbulence of the times, is that going to make it worse?” said Albers.
Impacts to the bottom line
Call it a slowdown for fear of misstep, which could have real financial impacts. Here, brands like Target and Bud Light have served as poster children (or cautionary tales) for marketers. Last year, Bud Light’s reported sales remained flat more than a year after it faced backlash for its perceived “woke” ad with influencer Dylan Mulvaney. Earlier this year, Target’s Q1 sales and revenue fell below the retailer’s expectations. Other brands like John Deere have also started blurring the lines between politics and culture, retooling its language around DEI and backing away from things like diversity quotas and pronoun identifiers last summer.
The stakes got higher at the federal level too as brands found themselves in Trump’s line of fire. Back in May, the president threatened Apple and Mattel with tariffs over comments made by their CEOs in response to the tariffs. Though they were not implemented, it’s left marketers with whiplash. They’re hesitant not only to commit ad dollars, but to commit to messaging that could cost them sales and revenue.
“Everything socially conscious is up for debate, and getting caught in the debate could impact your bottom line in a year where revenue is down for everyone,” said Lawson.
‘No one wants to hear diversity anymore’
For the past few years, brands have done an about face when it comes to diversity, equity and inclusion out of fear those marketing messages be deemed “woke.” It led to more sanitized messages, according to the three strategists Digiday spoke with for this story.
It’s not that marketers have turned away from multicultural and diverse audiences, but ”no one wants to hear diversity anymore,” said Lawson. In fact, she added, the list of blocked words is only growing longer. Words and phrases like “BIPOC,” “discrimination,” “equality” and “hate speech” are considered trigger words for clients to be swapped for alternatives like “diverse heritage groups,” “selective challenges,” “balanced community outcomes” and “negative discourse.” Some trigger words are even specific to this administration, Lawson said. Instead of “activism” or “activate” the suggested Trump-friendly language would be “law and order” or “community safety.”
“Even though these are purpose-driven clients, we are still getting advised to shift our language, to lighten the language,” Lawson said. “We want to talk about community more than diversity.”
However, more sanitized messaging may not be a winning strategy, Lawson said. Five years ago, brands moved to more direct messaging in light of the global pandemic and the murder of George Floyd. An about face to more sanitized and cautious messaging may not resonate with audiences, she said, especially if the intention is to expand reach to new consumers — many of whom now expect brands to take a stand on cultural issues.
Shopper disconnect
Through it all, brands still need to be culturally relevant and marketers are aware of how to connect with shoppers. However, navigating the landmines of Trump’s policies, today’s hyper-polarized cultural landscape and economic uncertainty is making that connection easier said than done, per strategists.
Still, as stated, shoppers increasingly expect proof that a brand stands for something meaningful. In the long run, clamping down marketing messages or corporatizing them may make marketers feel like they have a better checks and balances system, but, Weiner added, it also may make it harder to stand out in a crowded digital marketplace.
“The deficit of that and the over-rotating of that produces highly corporatized, less human language and actions that don’t portray the values you’ve likely publicly exposed before, and that’s where the consumer disconnect can and should happen,” she said.
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