Conscious Business in the Age of Trump: Purpose Doesn't Have To Be Political
If you’re the CEO of a Fortune 500 company, you are now grappling with the reality that half of your employee base maybe on one side of the political spectrum — and half on the other side.
How do you continue to do the work of corporate social responsibility in this politically charged atmosphere?
In our book ‘The Good is the New Cool Guide to Conscious Business’, one of the central principles is ‘Purpose Doesn’t Have To Be Political’.
Here’s a brief excerpt:
‘Despite living in an era of profound and troubling polarization, there are still issues people across political divides can agree on. Not every company needs to dabble in things that are politically charged. Some brands have such a broad and diverse customer set that choosing unifying causes ismost prudent. There are plenty of areas to do good with bipartisan, broad-based support, such as feeding the hungry, improving schools, and creating more job opportunities.’
Here are some strategies worth considering as you navigate this moment.
Find Unifying Themes and Territories:
Brands with a broader customer base from all sides of the political spectrum can chose their impact territories with careful consideration.
Take the example of Lay’s which released its Superbowl Commercial (directed by Taika Waititi) featuring the kind of American small family farms where they source potatoes from.
Supporting the campaign was a $1 million donation to the non-profit Farm Foundation to support ‘initiatives include scholarships for students pursuing degrees in agriculture, hands-on business training for at least 250 participants, mentorship opportunities, and a free, digital Young Farmer Toolkit.’
It’s a great example of how a brand can continue to tangibly help communities in ways that don’t create controversy.
Be Clear About Who Your Consumer Is — And What They Value:
At the same time, the customer base for Sephora (one of our dearest clients at our consultancy) is very different to the customer base for, say, Harley Davidson. Sephora’s Purpose is to ‘champion a world of inspiration and inclusion where everyone can celebrate their beauty.’
As such, releasing a wonderful documentary “Beauty & Belonging,” focused on showcasing diverse perspectives on beauty and directed by filmmaker Anastasia Mikova, is the absolute right thing to do in this moment. Its what their customer base expects of them — a full throated defence of inclusion.
Having a deep understanding of their customers allows Sephora to continue to stand up for their values in a profound and meaningful way.
Use Economics As A Lense:
Finally, in an era when DEI is under attack, perhaps there is a case to be made about using economics, not just race and gender, as a lense to look at what underserved communities need to be invested in.
A few years ago, Conspiracy of Love was privileged to work Adidas on a project around access to sport for women and people of color.
However, the German company operated in a regulatory environment where discussion of race and gender was prohibited. That posed a problem when trying to define the business case for inclusion.
The solution? We looked at these same audiences through an economic lense first. By focusing on framing the audience through metrics like income, it depoliticized the topic — and the result was exactly the same since the people at the lowest income levels where (guess what?) women and people of color.
Adidas - Impossible is nothing
In conclusion: companies will always need to show all their stakeholders — employees, customers, communities-how they are contributing to the greater good.
By deeply understanding who their audience is, staying true to their values and finding unifying themes, there is still a way to continue the work of Purpose in this moment and beyond.
The Good is the New Cool Guide to Conscious Business is available at the following bookstores:
Amazon, Barnes & Noble, BAM!, Bookshop.org, Porchlight.
