BCN-24-25-26 Divided America of Trump era challenges ad industry

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Divided America of Trump era challenges ad industry

NEW YORK, Sept 9, 2018 (BSS/AFP) – Nike’s unexpected move this week to
feature Colin Kaepernick in a major ad campaign met instant condemnation in
some circles, with critics destroying their Nike garb in protest.

The reaction was hardly surprising following boycotts of Dick’s Sporting
Goods by NRA supporters due to its gun control stance and of Macy’s and other
stores over carrying Ivanka Trump’s now-defunct clothing line.

There is even precedent within Nike’s sector for customer blowback, with
some consumers burning their New Balance shoes after a company executive
lauded US President Donald Trump’s trade policies and Under Armour garnering
criticism when its chief executive praised Trump.

Despite the backlash, Nike’s embrace of civil rights activist Kaepernick
was seen as deepening the brand’s appeal to millennials and non-white
consumers. Many marketing experts saw it as a shrewd cost-benefit calculation
in a politically divided, Trump-era United States.

Companies are increasingly “willing to lose a few to gain a lot,” said
Scott Farrell, leader of the brand reputation group at Golin, a public
relations firm.

Brands have long tailored images and phrases to appeal to core consumer
groups, implicitly ranking some parts of the population higher than others.

But companies also have a tradition of seeking the broadest possible
audience, a practice that still governs many brands, even as others — like
Nike — speak out in ways that are almost certain to alienate some customers.

“Whereas in the past, marketers would always look for win-win situations,
that is practically an impossibility today,” Farrell told AFP.

“That is just a needle that is too difficult to thread,” he added. “You
are going to be dealing almost all of the time in some degree of a win-lose
situation and the lose part of it has to be part of your strategy as well.”

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– Hit to sales? –

Corporations were becoming more socially focused prior to Trump, with
campaigns geared to consumers who care about gay rights, climate change
policies and some other causes.

But the trend has accelerated since the November 2016 election of a US
president who has unapologetically eschewed the traditional role of national
unifier and instead courted his political base full time.

Technology behemoths like Apple and Microsoft have been outspoken critics
especially of Trump’s immigration policies, fighting measures that would see
“Dreamers” — immigrants who were brought illegally to the United States as
children — deported.

Much rockier has been the reception facing Dick’s Sporting Goods, which
announced in February after the school shooting in Parkland, Florida that it
would remove assault-style rifles from stores and end all gun sales to
consumers under 21.

Dick’s cited “negative reactions from our customers and vendors” following
the announcement as a reason for a “continuing decline in our hunt business,”
according to a quarterly securities filing.

But Dick’s executives have also said the stance on guns attracted new
customers who may benefit company sales in the long-term.

Delta Air Lines also found itself under fire from gun rights supporters
after it ended a travel discount program for NRA members following Parkland.
Politicians in the Georgia legislature yanked a tax break that could have
saved Delta about $40 million a year.

However, in a victory for Delta, Georgia Governor Nathan Deal announced in
July he would halt collection of the tax.

The company’s chief executive, Ed Bastian, was also hailed by Fortune
magazine among the “world’s greatest leaders” for the Parkland response, in
which he said, “Our decision was not made for economic gain, and our values
are not for sale.”

Major brands continue to take action on guns, with Levi’s this week
pledging financial and volunteer support for gun control efforts, saying
business leaders “simply cannot stand by silently when it comes to issues
that threaten the very fabric of where we live and work.”

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– Preparing for blowback –

David Armano, global strategy director at Edelman, said he urged brands to
think hard before taking on hot-button issues directly, something many
companies are still leery of.

“Most of them are hesitant,” he said, adding that “there’s an appetite for
how can we more clearly act and communicate about the bigger things in life
that we feel are right for our brand to talk about.”

Such an approach can often lead brands to favor spots that are “culturally
relevant without being culturally divisive,” he said.

Brand reputation expert Farrell is currently reviewing ad campaigns for
two companies with consumer products, advising the clients on whether to
tweak the ads and how to prepare for any negative reaction.

Both campaigns “speak to diversity,” Farrell said. “We’ve been asked to
look at the creative through the lense of this polarized environment.”

“In another time and place, they would be rather neutral,” he said of the
ads. “In today’s environment, they’re edgy by definition.”

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