A CULTURAL MOVEMENT THAT BRANDS WERE NEVER READY FOR

A submission by Nimbly Insights

Cultural Context: Touch of White Creative

The Black Lives Matters Movement started nearly 7 years ago after the acquittal of George Zimmerman in the shooting death of Trayvon Martin. What seemed like a momentary response became a nationally recognized movement as the deaths of unarmed African Americans continued to plague the media.

Having been used to being the purveyors of culture, the brand world was never ready for a movement centering on race and politics to impact their bottom line and as a result, many thought it was something they could avoid talking about.

However, as Millennials began to take over the workplace and grow into positions of power, so too did their voices. Today, there is an expectation for brands to not only openly share their values, but to pick a side and stand firmly in it so that consumers can know which brands align with their ideals and belief systems.

However, as Millennials began to take over the workplace and grow into positions of power, so too did their voices. Today, there is an expectation for brands to not only openly share their values, but to pick a side and stand firmly infit so that consumers can know which brands align with their ideals and belief systems.

The Pandemic of 2020 has accelerated this need and brands have found themselves scrambling for insights on how to address the current client while acknowledging the risk of losing relevancy if they don’t. Nimbly Insights wanted to know how brands should respond to BLM and conducted a research study to find those answers.

Research & Insights,
Nimbly Insights

In August of 2020, Nimbly Insights ran a study with 400 participants across the US who supported the BLM movement to better understand how companies could engage with these audiences.

25%

Black/African American

25%

Hispanic/Latinx

25%

White

25%

Asian

What’s so different now in the brand world?

Consumers agree that what companies do matters. “While individuals can drive change, companies are unique in that they’re packed with the resources and influence critical to drive change at scale”.

89%

of consumers want companies to respond to BLM.

90%

agree that when brands respond to BLM in positive ways, it increases their loyalty to that company.

Consumers already have a sense for how they expect brands to respond to BLM and are therefore sensitive to sniffing out inauthentic attempts from brands.

79%

79% warn companies to be prepared for backlash if they use the BLM movement to sell products.

79%

The same percent are leery of companies serving lip service just because it’s seen as being politically correct.

Nimbly identified 4 pillars of authenticity for brands to consider when creating responses to BLM. The more pillars clients touch, the stronger the response appears.