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Brands And Businesses: It's Time To Be Brave

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This article is by Faith Popcorn, futurist, founder and CEO of Faith Popcorn's BrainReserve.

Whatever brought out millions of women (and men) in dozens of countries on every continent on January 21, 2017, exactly one day into Trump’s presidency – women’s rights, civil rights, protection for the LGBTQ community, climate change, the gender gap, or female representation in Congress or the new administration – it was just the beginning of a growing trend. A tidal wave of women turning out to speak their minds is gathering speed and volume at an unprecedented clip, fueled by Alternative Facts, the Travel Ban, Elizabeth Warren’s condemnation.

Based on my company’s many interviews with the marchers and with consumers in the weeks since, I know that women are preparing to keep raising their voices and demanding to be heard. Being a futurist, I naturally ask what’s next, and the answer is: shopping with that same rage and indignation. Putting their money where their hearts are. Voting--albeit retroactively--with their wallets.

Vigilante Consumerism

In 1990, I coined the term Vigilante Consumer to describe consumers’ manipulating the marketplace through pressure, protest and politics. It took a little longer than it should have for this trend to explode, but here it is. Now, the Fortune 500 will see and feel its force. If shoppers don’t like what you stand for or who you are or what you believe in or what your family believes in, they’ll boycott – and make sure everyone knows why.

Signs Of The Times

L.L. Bean faced a backlash for Linda Bean’s support of Trump. Ralph Lauren received pushback for the Inaugural dressing of First Lady Melania. As #grabyourwallet has whipped through our consumer landscape, retailers from Nordstrom to Neiman Marcus have severed ties with Ivanka Trump’s products. And on the flip side, Starbucks’ pledge to hire 10,000 refugees has invited its own conservative backlash. Day by day, hour by hour, more businesses are scrutinized and savaged for their political affiliations, whether they intended to support a cause or not.

The marchers, emboldened by their collective power to organize and enact change, and enabled by apps and social media, will soon demand to know where a company stands on equal pay, child care, promoting their female employees, etc. If a CPG marketer fails to elevate women to its top ranks or protect the land and water in its customers’ hometowns, it will face serious repercussions.

Ultra-Transparency

“Transparency” – a current marketing buzzword – will evolve. Consumer demand for companies to come clean will go far beyond “Tell us if your products contain high-fructose corn syrup,” to “What are your ethical practices?” Clothing company Everlane and its full disclosure around material costs and factory workplace practices will become the standard-bearer for corporate ethics. This demand for transparency in the marketplace will morph into a movement. And with women controlling 90% of the spending, the economic impact will be epic.

Female consumers will begin to recognize the power of their purchases. With social media on their side, they will send a loud, ringing message to American businesses, insisting on knowing the politics of their retailers and marketers before they pay. Their emerging demand: “Talk about how you serve me, the consumer -- not what’s important to you, the enterprise.”

The Way Forward

My advice to brands and marketers: Don’t sit idly by while more courageous corporations win the hearts and wallets of these Vigilante Consumers. Find out which issues are the flashpoint for your customer, know her triggers, and dedicate your business to supporting and serving her. Only then will you bond her to your brand. Reach out to her with your values before she goes Googling for those of your competition.

Whichever side you take, take a side. Recently we’ve seen several brave brands put their stake in the ground. Dove took a jab at Trump with its “Alternative Facts” print ad in the Guardian, and the Super Bowl was ripe with brands trying to make a statement – from Audi’s ad promoting equal pay for women to Budweiser’s spot celebrating immigration. But these soft stands won’t be enough for much longer.

Brands need to lean into their identity, hard. For example, if federal funding for Planned Parenthood gets pulled, a company like Procter & Gamble – deeply enmeshed with Mom imagery – could step in and sponsor some of the no longer affordable cancer screenings. So could Johnson & Johnson, because consumers will be looking behind the adorable baby-face imagery to see just how the company is ensuring mothers and children are protected. Just saying you’re “all inclusive” convinces no one.

Of course less brave business leaders will ask, “Won’t I alienate a large part of my consumer base, one way or the other? What about my many legacy customers?” I say: Brands can no longer afford to sit on the sidelines. Because if you sit on the sidelines, you’ll get benched for good.