The Problem with Performative Diversity in Brand Marketing

Courtesy of WWD

Marketing is important for any brand or product to increase consumer loyalty and profit. The correct marketing team can make an ad or campaign that appeals to any type of consumer or market in the world. Within recent years, there has been a demand from consumers for marketing teams to increase representation and diversity in their branding and product ads. It is clear that representation matters when it comes to consumer spending and positive brand perception and brands are becoming increasingly aware of this. This awareness has created an influx of brands using performative diversity to market products and gain consumer attention or profit without actually caring about the issues of minorities.

 Courtesy of Vogue Business

Performative diversity and allyship is when a brand will talk about advocating for diversity and inclusion but will not take any action to achieve this or help minorities in any way. It's all about talk and performance, that’s it. Many brands use diverse models in campaigns but are still recovering from past problematic scandals that affect said models. These models are often victims of tokenism and being the sole representative of the minority (or minorities) they belong to. The thing that brands do not think about is that this performative activism and allyship creates a false perception of the brand and when consumers see through this false perception, it creates distrust with the brand. Consumers want brands that align without their values and make them feel seen. They want brands to care or genuinely stand for something.   

Courtesy of Fashionista

It is important for brands to have real and authentic dialogue surrounding diversity and inclusion. Brands need to genuinely listen to minorities talk about their experiences and struggles. They need to hear what consumers say when they do something wrong or problematic in nature and learn from those faults for the future. Brands have the power and money to learn about these issues freely and create dialogue around their workspaces or teams. Brands need to acknowledge their problematic pasts or how they have been complicit in problematic behavior (if they have been) and take responsibility when they apologize for these actions. From there, brands have to take a stand and take clear action about these issues to show consumers that they have changed since the apology. Brands need to change themselves from the inside as well. How many people are being hired from minority groups? How many are being fired? Does your brand’s office have a history of discriminatory practices and are their policies put in place to protect minority employees? Brands need to reevaluate and ask themselves all these things. Genuine diversity and allyship starts from within companies and consumers see this.  

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This article is not to say that every brand that has diversity in any capacity is doing a performative act. A brand can have diverse models in ads and it is a genuine want to diversify their marketing. The key difference is the performative aspect. Consumers are looking to these brands to see themselves represented in marketing. Brands play a bigger role in diversity and representation than they think. Diversity should always be important for any brand to achieve, but it must be genuine and done well. In general, consumers do not like performative diversity and allyship and can see through it easily. This does not benefit brands in the long run and ends up hurting their brand perception.