In 2017, Merriam-Wester added “woke” to their dictionary, defining as: “aware of and actively attentive to important facts and issues (especially issues of racial and social justice)”.

-  a conformation of how millennials’ terminology and activism are at the forefront of culture.

At a juncture of time when the civil discourse describes the society as more divided than ever, an unparalleled lot of brands are bidding for various social issues. Research shows that 82% of millennials think that brands have a duty to bring social change on important issues, hence declaring that businesses must stay up-to-date with the current social environment or risk missing the spot with the future customers.

“Woke” brands take the responsibility to align their mission and values as a deciding force for marketing and an overall business decision. #WokeBrands confidently stand for their brands and driver their campaigns with the inbuilt values. Hence, creating a more human, consistent and genuine brand message. 

Here’s a list of Brand that has or failed to earn the status of being called “Woke Brands”:

Pepsi has been a prominent brand in advertising but a recent ad for Pepsi Zero was a sad attempt to display the relationship between protestors and representatives of current political and social movements like #BlackLiveMatter, Occupy Wall Street and the Fight for 15. Pepsi created a PR nightmare by this attempt. Pepsi publicly failed to speak to the socially conscious millennials. 

For a brand to connect with its customers, it is not enough to simply mimic situations or feelings of social movements but to do a genuine attempt at taking a stand in support of a side. Pepsi instead of taking a side, designed a campaign hoping to widely embody certain values. Not woke.

Oreo has been brilliant at influencing ads with social events. The brand has been a strong advocate for the LGBTQI+ community and a vocal promoter of marriage equality on social media. The brand had posted “The Pride” photo on Facebook as a part of a string of current events taking place to celebrate the Oreo’s 100th birthday. As a company, Kraft Foods was a history of celebrating inclusion and equality. The brand with the help of its parent company emphasized that the “controversial” ad reflected their values, whether it pleased everyone or not. Woke. 

Banana Republic launched its #BRLove4All campaign as soon as the Supreme Court canceled Proposition 8 as unconstitutional. To celebrate the historic decision, the brand called everyone to celebrate by posting pictures with partners – whether they are of the same gender or not.  By using the hashtag #BRLove4All, many got a chance to be outfitted by Banana Republic. The brand displayed the outreach of customers and their efforts to contribute to the cause. Due to the brand’s quick marketing, the campaign was a win and was celebrated by the consumers rather than the product. Woke. 

Campaign #BlackLivesMatter was a movement which was supported by many through blog posts and social media as well as the very famous, Women’s March on Washington and the climate change movement. The movement was formed to show people about the urgency and seriousness of the movement themselves. 

Even after continuous repercussions, they did not back out because the brand knew the campaign embodied their values and they believed in it as a company. This not only helped spot customers for life but an exceptional increase in brand awareness by believing in the process of going behind their own morals and values. Woke. 

People want to support brands and companies which are sustainable, ethical and on the right side of the cause. By making their brands genuine and talk to their customers, they need to align their core values with the conversations happening around current events and news. To do so, the first step is to build strong values and mission statement and alter them, as soon they begin to feel outdated, not inclined or even offensive to certain people. 

It’s clear that to become great marketers and influence millennials, brands should not shy away from the crucial issues, but it is even more important that brands approach cause-advertising from a genuine standpoint. This way, woke companies will be able to connect with consumers where they are and help them feel okay with spending so much with them. Working well with charged material will actually help invoke woke marketing. So is your brand woke enough?

Sachi Ahuja is an MBA graduate from NMIMS, one of India’s leading B -schools. Her interest in marketing and branding is lucid in this great piece of work. Hasrat is delighted to publish and promote her ‘woke’ perspective.