1.0 What is Activism?

Inequality, racism, revolution and protest have made a mark on history for thousands of years.

It’s normal that as human beings we naturally and instinctively recognise when something is unjust, and we fight to change it – other times peacefully and other times violently. The aim of the revolution is to restore not only human rights but also the rights of non-human species, being that of animals and the environment.

A definition of activism can therefore be: the use of direct action to achieve an end, either for or against an issue.

We can recently recognise them in the #BlackLivesMatter, #Metoo, and the struggle for #lgbtqrights.

2.0 Types of Activism

When we think of activism, what tends to come to mind is images of marching in the streets; holding up protest signs while chanting; and big speeches by charismatic leaders.

Yet, while we admire such activists, evolution has opened the way for new ways to fight for our rights, raise awareness, and influence change.

And while this is not an exhaustive list, I have chosen to look at types of activism that I feel are related and the most effective forms of Brand Activism.

2.1. Arts:

Michel Basquiat and graffiti artists are examples of how street art produces an effect within the minds of those people who live within the environment and how they are being altered through the imagery, words, and symbolism of the graffiti art.

My home base in Sydney is the diverse bohemian neighbourhood of Newtown. There is much graffiti on the suburb’s walls mostly Indigenous Australian symbols and art form.

One of my favourites is this mural of Martin Luther King.

Next time you’re walking down the street and notice graffiti art stop and notice how the words or imagery affect you, its emotional impact on you, including its relationship or impact within the specific environment the artist chose to share their work.

2.2. Journalism:

Journalism and more precisely investigative journalism is a form activism. Their underlying main objective is to present the truth, favour transparency, put pressure on powerful people via their questions and request accountability.

Think of articles you have read in your local paper or online that have pushed for justice by raising awareness or keeping a topic relevant and trending. One such online platform is Injustice Watch media platform.

2.3. Literature:

Within the pages of books – mostly biography and memoirs, authors share with us their life experiences. As a reader this becomes a platform for us to engage in critical reflection, a quality necessary for empathy and peace activism. It also allows us to imagine a new reality of what can be possible.

Inherently, the pursuit of knowledge is a political act. Its why books get banned, why the Nazi’s burned books and why school curriculum gets censored. Being aware of social injustices terrifies people that are perpetuating those injustices, and when we don’t know that something is happening or can be done differently, we remain ignorant.

An example of a book I have read which gave me insight and sensitised me in the Yazidi genocide is the The Last Girl by Nadia Murad, Nobel Peace Prize winner. It’s the story of her personal experience as an Isis bride and her fight for justice against the Islamic State.

2.4. Community and local activism:

The aim of community activism is for locals to unite, and gain power and influence over an issue that affects them including influence its outcome.

Examples include local Church groups against poverty, Green initiatives that promote eco-living or even food cooperatives whose decisions are governed by its members.

2.5. In Daily Life:

Integrating activism into your everyday life is very powerful. It will boost your self-esteem and resilience and simultaneously have a trickle-on effect on those around you. Day-to-day through our actions we can contribute towards are more safe and peaceful way of life for the planet, people and animals.

Ideas include buying organic fruits and veggies from local farmers, volunteering, cycling to work or carpooling and of course choosing an impactful career or better still building our own company and using its platform in an impactful way. Individual activism is overall incredibly diverse and takes many forms.

2.6. Education:

Activist education involves providing resources that reduces the disparity of low-income students. It gives them access to education materials like computers and promotes the education of children where gender is considered a barrier, as seen mostly towards girls in what we call third world countries. In short, it promotes equal opportunity to education to all people at all levels.

An example is Room to Read, a leading non-profit that supports girls education in Asia and Africa.

2.7. Social:

Social activism is when we act intentionally to bring about change in society.

According to the Commons, Social Change Library, there are four different roles activists and social movements need to play in order to successfully create social change:

the responsible citizen (a person that has gained the trust and respect of the public in order for their movements to succeed);

the rebel (they say no to policies and practices that violate core societal values and principles);

the change agent (they bring about the transformation people require by educating them in how to become actively involved, oppose present policies and seek positive constructive solutions);

the reformer ( they work with official public and private agencies to incorporate solutions into new laws.

An example has been same sex marriage in Australia which was made legal in December of 2017.

2.8. Spiritual:

Spiritual activism has love at its core. It requires that we first begin from within and find and practice the sacredness of truth, wisdom, theology, and develop the inner qualities of compassion and kindness. Then we are to express these outwardly to transform our attitudes towards the material world for a more harmonious and balanced world.

A great leader of spiritual activism was Mahatma Gandhi who brought his spiritual determination into politics and freed India from British rule through non-violent resistance.

2.9. Political:

Citizen political activism is the force behind many changes in legislation and policies know as reformism. For this change to happen it requires the concentrated effort of individuals.

Social inequalities can lead to political activism, which indicates how social and political activism can intertwine.

Citizen political activists can raise and alter public opinion about politicians and politics.

They can work for a political party who under-take administrative and advocacy tasks such as election campaigning, promoting candidates, attending party meetings, and assisting with party administration, among others.

Political action outside of the arena of working for a political party includes neighbourhood organizing, protest marches, sit-ins, and lobbying politicians. These can all help shape public opinion.

For some Julian Assange may be considered a political activist who created WikiLeaks to shed light on practices by Government organisations.

2.10. Digital:

A form of activism that uses the Internet, texting, social media campaigning, “hactivism”, and e-mail, as key platforms for mass mobilization and political action.

An example is Destroy the Joint an online Australian feminist movement born in the digital era, and founded in 2012 by Sydney Morning Herald writer Jenna Price, after 2GB broadcaster Alan Jones criticized then Prime Minister Julia Gillard and stated that women were “Destroying the joint.’

3.0 The Birth of Brand Activism

Brand Activism was born out of consumer activism. In other words, activism initiated by consumers through boycotts, ethical shopping, or conscious consumption, with the intention to influence the way goods or services are produced or delivered. Equally, the consumer activists aim is to inform citizen consumers and protect them from fraudulent or unethical business practices.

In response to the demand of citizen-consumer activists for a different behaviour from global firms, the birth and rise of Brand Activism has been phenomenal.

Brands globally have begun to incorporate activism into their brand personas, marketing campaigns, and corporate communication to help influence, drive change and contribute towards solving the most urgent problems facing society; including taking social responsibility as a corporation of their own actions towards those they employ, from where they source their products, and the final product that reaches their customers.

 4.0 How is Brand Activism also a form of Political Activism?

Political behaviour doesn’t operate independently but is the response and effect of social movements, including the changing in values of its citizens. A prominent modern example being that of the young generations employing digital technologies and engaging in digital activism. Therefore, political behaviour needs to engage in digital activism to reach its younger citizens and listen to what they are saying.

A few decades ago, endorsing a cause was considered ‘bad’ for business and especially if it was connected to politics or involved endorsing political campaigns.

Traditional business practice was all about sales and profit, steering clear from sentiments, controversial issues, advocacy or taking sides.

In the 1980s though things changed with the corporate social responsibility movement, and thus companies began considering the impact their practices had on society and the environment.

And as society evolved and became more politically polarised, it was impossible for companies to remain neutral, which created the “corporate political shift” even further, and they essentially became more activist in their external behaviour and outlook.

In short, a series of communication practices have emerged in the intersection between politics, the corporate world and activism.

Today many companies globally have non-business advocacies which use their consumer brands to promote their values through taking a stand for social causes, global values and core political issues, even controversial, ones including feminism, animal rights, LGBTQ+ rights, gun rights, abortion and reproductive rights, plus environmental causes.

Even the personal values held by the CEO are scrutinised.

This offers a different competitive edge which is based on promoting a good cause and goes beyond corporate interests and material gain, and shares interests for the global public good.

5.0 Examples of Brand Activism

There is an endless list of Brand Activism that has influenced consumer opinion, sparked conversation, and made us all proud to be spending our hard-earned cash sporting a product or using a service.

Below are just a handful of my favourite examples:

5.1. Health activism through fashion

Clothing the Gaps is an Australian Aboriginal fashion brand that provides employment to young Indigenous people but also supports Aboriginal Health services.

Founded by Laura Thompson, a Gunditjarma woman, who spent much of her life working in Aboriginal community and public health designing health programmes specifically for Indigenous people’s needs.

To motivate them to stick to the health programme, which was between six-to-eight weeks, Thompson rewarded participants who completed the porgramme with Aboriginal-designed merchandise created only for the group.

“It helped maintain our retention and they earnt a shirt, reinforcing their cultural identity and sense of team. They became like a club of healthy role models and ambassadors,” Thompson said to Broadsheet.

Inspired, she began designing clothes and now runs one of the biggest Aboriginal fashion brands in Australia which has won a Dreamtime Award.

Clothing the Gap’s profits fund a foundation that continues to run grassroots Indigenous health programs to motivate people to stay physically active.

5.2. Environmental activism

Saving the planet one cup and one straw at a time. Reusable coffee cups like KeepCup are diverting millions of disposable coffee cups from landfill every year.

In 2009, Melbourne based café owners and siblings Abigail and Jamie Forsyth, were able to change consumer behaviour with the introduction of reuse coffee cups into the market.

People loved the idea that they could enjoy their cup of coffee in an eco-friendly BPA-free way and at the same time contribute towards reducing the consequences their daily coffee habit created for the ecosystem.

KeepCups are now used in more than 65 countries around the world.

The same philosophy is shared by B2B brand activist One Straw.

5.3. Menstrual activism

As way to reduce landfill waste from single use period pads reusable menstrual cups were created like the Diva Cup, washable cloth pads like eco femme and period-proof underwear like Thinx where your purchase helps support menstrual equity, providing sanitary products to girls in need.

Specifically, Eco Femme reinvests its funds to make cloth pads for girls across India.

5.4. Animal rights activism

Who hasn’t visited or at least heard of The Body Shop. A natural beauty brand that has been fighting animal testing since 1989.

In 2018, it presented the United Nations, with the support of Cruelty Free International, 8.3 million signatures against cosmetic animal testing, helping advance the United Nations sustainable development agenda.

Since then, countries around the world including Australia have been changing their policies around animal testing.

5.5. Political/civil rights activism

The greatest basketball player of all time (or at least in my opinion) Michael Jordan, for years didn’t make public statements around which political party he supported or use his best-selling athletic shoe, Air Jordan’s ,to endorse political candidates. He even famously quoted in 1990 “Republicans buy sneakers too” refraining in this way from offering any support to black Democratic candidates, despite racist comments made by Republicans at the time.

Yet, things changed after the death of George Floyd and the subsequent #BlackLivesMatter movement. He not only issued a statement expressing his anger of racism and violence toward people of colour in the US, but also he and his famous brand lent support to NFL player Colin Kaepernick, who took a stand for the BLM movement by kneeling during the national anthem at a season game to draw attention to the cause with a risk to his career.

Kaepernick went ahead and posted on Instagram a photo with the quote “Believe in something. Even if it means sacrificing everything,” and shared Jordan’s quotes on social media yielding partisan reactions: the Trumpists employed the hashtag #BurnYourNikes to share videos of themselves burning or throwing away their trainers.

In June 2020 Nike and the Jordan Brand released a statement confirming how through his charity organisation, Jordan Wings Program, as a result of BLM, will be donating $100 million over the next 10 years to organisation dedicated to ensuring racial equality, social justice and greater access to education.

Google trends showed a 76 per cent upsurge in people searching for the brand when the campaign launched, and its social media mentions rose 1,678 per cent immediately, according to 4C Insights. (The growth in discussion coincided with Nike’s online sales growing by 31 per cent.)

So, it seems the Jordan brand is going from strength to strength despite the temporary reaction from Trump supporters and shows how brands can help create a lasting impact.

***Note***

It should be highlighted here how through the years Nike has been proven to be synonymous with sweatshops and unethical manufacturing paying women workers 0.20 cents per hour and has been accused of gender inequality.

It has been gradually improving its employment conditions increasing the minimum wage and using environmentally beneficial fabrics free from animal cruelty.

Despite its good intentions though the company is still in its early stages of what would be considered a sustainable brand which does not exploit human rights. It would be great to see such mainstream brands come full circle and provide above fair wages, humane working conditions for all employees, gender equality and use only sustainable fabrics and materials and not woke washing.

6.0 Brand Activism Research Studies

Knowing the research around Brand Activism, Cause-marketing and other evidence-based findings within this related field, allows us insight into consumer thinking and activity, potential future trends and opportunities, including finding out how other companies are trending in the field which can prove to be helpful for our own marketing efforts and growth.

Again, the below list is not exhaustive, but a focus on the most recent studies and findings.

  • The Lucre Group UK 2021 research into what Gen Z is looking forward to the most post-pandemic and is thinking, discovered that as a highly eco-conscious demographic, all of Gen Z age 16+ want brands to improve their eco credentials and social impact; a quarter of boys aged 10-15 and girls age 16+ will actively choose brands based on their eco-credentials. Nearly a quarter (22%) of 19–22-year-olds, and 28% of 10-15-year-olds want a brand to stand for something they believe in. Admiring more “worthy” personalities, those aged 16-22 were found to idolise “respectable”, socially conscious names such as David Attenborough, Michelle Obama and Greta Thunberg.

  • A Kantar 2020 study around purpose-led companies found that brands with a high sense of purpose have seen their brand valuation increase by 175 per cent over the past 12 years versus a median growth rate of 86 per cent and a growth rate of 70 per cent for brands with a low sense of purpose.

  • A 2020 study published in the Journal of Public Policy and Marketing confirms how consumers want brands to match activist messaging, purpose and values with prosocial corporate practice – which is considered authentic brand activism. In contrast, #wokewashing, that’s when a corporation says or does something that signals their advocacy for a marginalized cause but also continues to cause harm to vulnerable communities – will almost certainly damage a brands equity.

  • Engage For Good shares a list of statistics every cause marketer should know. Including the below stats:


Two of the top three movements for which respondents took action involved supporting Black Americans. Cause & Social Influence’s 2021 Influencing Young America To Act.

57% of Americans believe companies need to address racism in their branding. Porter-Novelli 2020 Addressing Social Justice & Diversity In Communications.