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HOW CONSUMERS FEEL ABOUT BRANDS REACTING TO SOCIETAL ISSUES
When discussing how the millennial focus group felt towards brands addressing major issues head on, one brand appeared to make
a particular impact with advertising during the pandemic and this was Dove. Dove released an advert which stated “We don’t care what soap you use, we care you care” Dove (2020) during their wash to care campaign. This had a mixed reaction from
the group with one millennial claiming that they found it “really very clever”. Further a large majority of people who were surveyed over social media platforms agreed with this, with 69% claiming that they would prefer brands
to “address issues head on” compared to being distracted by them.
However, another millennial
within the group showed their dislike to the advert with a jokey remark “we don’t care what soap you buy that’s why we made an advert.” Millennial Respondent 1 (2020). Showing how consumers, perhaps particularly millennials, are now more aware of the way brands are using selfless seeming campaigning in
order to convince consumers they are a moral brand. This was further reiterated by another millennial within
the focus group, who works alongside brands as a graphic designer, said that when brands are advertising “it’s
all manipulating what people think.” Millennial Respondent 5 (2020).
During the pandemic a major movement was taking place globally with the Black Lives Matter (BLM) protests and
this was discussed within
the focus group. The main conclusion which was expressed was that “you’ve got to really stand out haven’t you.” Millennial respondent 4 (2020). Consumers are aware of brands who are making
a difference and the ones
that are not, “Basically every company changes its twitter logo to pretend that they care.” Millennial Respondent 1 (2020). “If they actually care about the issue and put their hands in their back pocket themselves is the thing that would mean a lot to me.” Although the focus group
was limited to 8 millennials the answers that were given can be verified by Drapers (2020) “Brands who publicly supported BLM Protests on their social media but did not practice were swiftly called out.”
FIGURE 8