Brand and CEO activism exists as a so-called strategic extension of brand awareness and engagement campaigns, often targeting younger audiences in particular and seeking to score loyalty points with consumers in general.

• But is the #BrandsTakingStands advocacy trend a consistently reliable strategy in the marketing toolbox, with big pay-off potential?  After all, major and minor brands alike now are sinking big money into activist stances for the almighty marketing campaign.  

• Or is #GetWokeGoBroke another trending hashtag for a valid reason . . . with cautionary tales littering the marketing and reputation-management scene, given that too many brands are “stepping in it” and getting CEO activism irreversibly wrong – with disastrous financial results? 

At what point is the commercialization of activism an inauthentic enterprise . . . only ratcheting up public divisiveness and other side-show issues (such as children / youth being used as campaign pawns) in our already divisive and hostile society, news media and social media environment?

Mary Beth peels back the actual data of two fairly recent, highly publicized studies sponsored by well-known global PR agencies that tout CEO activism as a categorical “Must-Do” item in strategic communications . . . 

And as Mary Beth and Kelly reveal, there is undisclosed fine print as well as hidden asterisks to each study’s publicly reported data, telling an entirely different story than the one being promoted in agency news release headlines and Tweets favoring aggressive corporate activist stances. 

Kelly and Mary Beth offer cautionary points and expose how some PR firms may overtly promoting their own revenue-generating bottom lines instead of clients’ best interests. 

In this episode, Kelly Fletcher and Mary Beth West uncover:

• Does it make sense to go political with your brand?
• What are the risks… or the rewards… and what should be the ethics of PR firms as they guide their clients?
• Does corporate activism position client companies in a contrived manner as “The Hero” – when more modern storytelling techniques eschew this approach as a brand-development best practice?
• How do you make this approach successful in today’s era of echo chambers and tunnel vision?
• Are there “safe” issues – like equal pay or women’s rights?  Or does ANY sociopolitical issue pose a risk of unintended rabbit holes, misinterpretations and consequences?
• Might social activism ideas and tactics actually fly in the face of #PRdiversity values?
• How did the University of Tennessee recently hit a major PR home-run using activism in a non-political and highly effective way?

Links

• Mary Beth West’s published articles on this topic:
  • “Spin Cycle: #PR Firms Push #CEO #Activism with Selective Data”:
    • https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/spin-cycle-pr-firms-push-ceo-activism-selective-data-mary-beth/ 
  • “Rise of 'Do-Gooder' Marketing Can Pose Reputational Risks”:
    • https://www.knoxnews.com/story/money/business/2019/04/11/public-relations-nikes-corporate-social-responsibility-has-risks/3069953002/ 
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• Follow Mary Beth West, MPRCA, on Twitter: @MaryBethWest 
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