The cringe factor can be high when an established brand suddenly aligns itself with up-to-date values. It did not appear to work well for Gillette, which suffered a public backlash five years ago to its “toxic masculinity” advert, or for Marks and Spencer when it brought out an LGBT rainbow- coloured sandwich to mark Pride.
But new academic research carried out for the advertising industry suggests that “Go woke, go broke”, the snappy catchphrase devised by rightwing groups as a warning to brands, has got it all wrong.
It seems even clunky attempts to tune into newer, more tolerant values can give a product an advantage.
On Monday the findings of a global study from the Unstereotype Alliance, a business initiative convened by UN Women, will offer new evidence that advertising campaigns that are more inclusive have a positive impact on profits, sales and brand worth.
The analysis was conducted by researchers from the Saïd Business School at Oxford University using data collected by a group of large businesses, including Diageo, Kantar and Unilever, in collaboration with the Geena Davis Institute, set up by the US actor and activist to study gender in the media.
It found that when an advert can authentically and positively portray a full range of people – devoid of stereotypes – it can provide an edge in the marketplace when it comes to consumer preferences and long-term sales figures.
Based on analysis of 392 brands across 58 countries, the research, which claims to be the first of its kind, indicates the positive impact of inclusive advertising on outcomes, with an almost 3.5% boost to shorter-term sales and a more than 16% increase in the longer term.
It seems to persuade 62% of buyers to choose a product and make 15% of shoppers more loyal.
The study covered different product categories such as confectionery, snacks, personal care, beauty, pet food, pet care, alcohol, consumer healthcare and household products, across a variety of geographies.
“The idea that inclusive advertising content can commercially damage a business has limited progress for too long,” said Sara Denby, head of the Unstereotype Alliance secretariat at UN Women.
She added: “The assertion is consistently unfounded – but we needed to provide evidence to the contrary. This irrefutable data should reassure any business and encourage brands to renew their commitment to inclusivity in all forms, to not only benefit the communities they serve but also to drive growth and financially prosper.”
The alliance, which was launched in 2017 and has 240 member companies, aims to stop harmful stereotypes in advertising. It also has 12 national chapters across five continents that combat culturally nuanced stereotypes. But the task of charting a promotional course through changing – and sometimes competing – modern values and sympathies is tricky.
Burger King was forced to remove an ad that showed people trying to eat burgers with large chopsticks, while the public images of both the reality TV star Kendall Jenner and Pepsi were assumed to have been damaged by a campaign for the soft drink that capitalised on the Black Lives Matter movement. It featured the American model stopping a protest by handing a police officer a can. The beer brand Bud Light also had to deal with a commercial backlash in the US last year when it launched a campaign featuring the trans star Dylan Mulvaney. And one of the most famous early missteps in this direction was taken by Italian fashion brand Benetton, which shocked consumers in the 1990s with large billboards showing graphic scenes, including child labour, armed conflict and an electric chair.
The campaigns attracted much attention but were not thought to have had any business benefit.
