Glow up your marketing strategy in an age of cancel culture

Now more than ever, consumers are engaged with the products they buy, and are often overwhelmed with choice regarding prices, formulations, sourcing, sustainability, delivery options and speed of delivery, production methods and so forth. Rather than being loyal to the brand, many consumers are more interested in what their favorite influencer has to say about a product and news of the latest product must-have (or product to avoid) can spread like wildfire. Purchasing can take place with the click of a button, during those “micro-moments” in the day – consumers can shop anywhere, anytime and in any way. Add to this a global pandemic and consumers becoming ever-more reliant on technology, and we are experiencing one of the biggest shifts in consumer behavior over the last 20 years.

This article explores how businesses might need to reconsider their marketing strategy so as to stay ahead of the latest consumer spending habits and to ensure that they are selling their purpose and not just their product in the age of cancel culture.

#TikTokMadeMeBuyIt

Historically, marketing has relied on face-to-face engagement, television advertising, celebrity endorsement in a magazine, or word of mouth, but the end result tended to be a consumer taking a trip to the local shopping center to purchase their product of choice.

E-commerce (buying goods on a website or app) and social-commerce (purchasing direct from a social media platform) have transformed these traditional marketing practices. But while businesses seem to have grasped the movement to a consumer-led focus, they must also be aware of the generational gaps playing a part in their marketing strategies. Businesses seem to have accepted the need for an in-store and online presence, with Boomers¹ and Generation X² preferring the in-store experience and Millennials³ preferring e-commerce shopping on a company’s website, or via their mobile app.

But are all businesses preparing for the next generation of shoppers – Generation Z or the “Zoomers”? This new wave of consumers, born between 1997 and 2010, has never known life without unlimited access to people or information and will trust their following on social media more than they will trust a brand. A study from The Influencer Marketing Factory showed 97% of Gen Z consumers say they use social media as their top source of shopping inspiration, while only 40% follow brands they like on social media.

Increasingly, this generation will engage with social media influencers that align with their values, or will shop directly via social media platforms such as TikTok or Instagram, which have “Swipe up to buy” options and built-in algorithms to recommend products based on a user’s preferences. Instagram even launched a “shopping” tab in November 2020, direct from its main navigation page which lists items based on the user’s following, history and content. Yet while TikTok is the core social media platform of the Zoomer, according to Sprout Social, only 32% of businesses are using it as an advertising platform.

To stay ahead of the curve, businesses need to be investing in technology directed at their consumer audiences and should be developing a marketing strategy that spans the various traditional, e-commerce and social commerce platforms. Where businesses are in a regulatory landscape that requires that marketing be targeted (for example, the alcohol industry where advertising must be directed at consumers over the age of 18), investment should be made in technology with targeting tools while making use of social commerce, to ensure that ads are targeted to the correct audience.

Responsible is the new black

Not only are today’s consumer using numerous routes to checkout, but they are much more conscious about issues like responsible sourcing, environmental sustainability, diversity and inclusion, and physical and mental health. A recent study by Accenture of over 25,000 consumers across 22 countries showed 50% of consumers stated that the pandemic caused them to rethink their personal purpose and re-evaluate what was important to them in life.

Over the last year, we have seen the rise in consciousness around climate change with the release of products such as re-usable make-up wipes, re-fillable products and the movement of many businesses in the race to become carbon neutral. We have seen the #BLM movement and changes to business products in response to consumer backlash; for example, Unilever’s renaming of its “Fair & Lovely” skin-lightening cream to “Glow & Lovely.” Consumers are more likely to read the ingredients list, and in response to this, many products are moving away from the use of palm oil. And we have seen movement towards a healthier and more climate-conscious lifestyle, with the alcohol industry moving towards low or no alcohol and hard seltzer alternatives and the food industry providing plant-based ranges and other dietary alternatives.

Being responsible is the new black in a world where consumers have endless choice. It’s no longer enough to simply market a product – the product must be responsibly sourced, environmentally friendly and must have a purpose.

That’s what she said…

In a world of social media and endless communication, the word of the influencer, the celebrity or the athlete trumps the word of the brand.

We live in a world where something as simple as Cristiano Ronaldo (with a 350 million Instagram following) removing a certain well-known soft drink brand from view at a press conference in favor of water during the European Championships earlier this year can lead to news about a USD4 billion drop in market value.

We live in a world where a tweet by singer Nicki Minaj about her cousin’s friend’s testicles can lead to an official statement by Trinidad and Tobago’s health minister that there has been no evidence that any patient in Trinidad, or elsewhere, has become impotent as a result of the COVID-19 vaccine.

We are in a world of “cancel culture”, the process of shaming or boycotting a person, brand or company on social media.

In some cases smart brand management can turn even seemingly negatively intended social media “trolling” into an opportunity to connect with consumers about fundamental values. Nevertheless, the ease with which consumers can share their views in a connected world shows that businesses need to be in tune with the views of consumers is more important than ever before.

Next steps

It’s clear that businesses need to understand and engage with their consumers more than ever before. In an increasingly connected world, businesses must be sure to be targeting their proposed audience by investing in technology, providing consumers with tools for feedback and engagement and maintaining a varied cross-platform marketing strategy that meets the needs of each generation of consumer.

Particularly for businesses selling in a regulated environment, investment in such “targeting technologies” is essential and can also provide comfort when sharing content on social media. Equally, in a more enlightened age, businesses should be considering SESG for their products and stay ahead of their competition by developing a wider “purpose” for each of their products. Finally, businesses need to be very careful about the trends that they engage with in their marketing, and the influencers that they are using, to ensure they remain on the right side of their consumer audiences.

For an overview of the legal framework for influencer marketing, please visit our page and download a free copy of DLA Piper’s Influencer Marking Guide.

¹ The generation of consumer born between 1946 and 1964.
² The generation of consumer born between 1965 and 1980.
³ The generation of consumer born between 1981 and 1996, otherwise known as Generation Y.