Now more than ever before, brands are taking the pledge to integrate diversity and inclusion (D&I) into their workforce, product offering, and marketing campaigns to show a full representation of age, sex, race, size – as expected by customers.
And while countless brands already realized the much-needed change, a few always manage to catch more headlines. Here are eight broad and timely examples of brands doing the D&I thing that will explain how all-encompassing it all is.
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Best Buy
Just this week, we told you here on PostFunnel how Best Buy has pledged over $44 Million towards a 5-year plan and has publicly committed to doing better. Check it out to see what a genuine commitment from a brand looks like.
The social media platform has undertaken a significant reassessment of its internal approach, teaming up with NAACP to establish a new advisory council to guide its internal policy direction.
“As part of an ongoing commitment to create a safe and equitable workplace, Pinterest announced today the formation of a new Inclusion Advisory Council in partnership with the NAACP. This external council will bring influential voices together to guide the company on its journey to foster a culture where all can thrive and are valued for their unique perspectives,” the company explained.
H&M, Miss Selfridge, Shein
PostFunnel also recently covered how smart brands have started to #CommitToChange, with H&M leading the way by offering customers clothing that ranges between XL and 4XL. Miss Selfridge and Shein are among other fashion eCommerce platforms committed to showing a full representation of all body types and races – being inclusive to all.
lululemon
Paying off for lululemon, which then announced that it has started expanding the sizes of the workout gear it sells, was an increase in sales of 22% last quarter in women garments, reaching pre-COVID-19 growth levels.
“No other high-end brand has offerings that can be worn by so many,” Sam Poser a Susquehanna Financial Group analyst wrote. “Lululemon continues to attract more customers to the brand, retain its existing customers, and take market share during the pandemic.”
What’s more, lululemon has an entire D&I webpage on their site dedicated to addressing this issue.
Atlanta’s Marketing Community
The AMC has taken the pledge to acknowledge the disparity in the advertising and marketing industry across the entire state.
“The pledge is an effort to challenge the Atlanta advertising and marketing community to match the diversity of their team to that of Atlanta by 2030,” said Tawanda Carlton, an account executive at already-pledged agency Media Frenzy Global.
Cleveland’s Baseball Team
This past summer, amid BLM protest, numerous brands started answering to the call for change by removing stereotypes and racism in their names, taglines, and logos. Aunt Jemima, Uncle Ben’s, and Lady A are just a few that already took action. Even Washington’s professional football team is no longer called Redskins.
Now, after a months-long process of consulting with stakeholders, the Cleveland sports team plans to drop the word “Indians” following the 2021 season.
“As a result of that process, we have decided to move forward with changing the current team name and determining a new, non-Native American based name for the franchise,” the club said in a statement.
Statement from the organization.https://t.co/IHa68yEQGA pic.twitter.com/gGS6xutSOy
— Cleveland Indians (@Indians) December 14, 2020
Has your brand thought much about D&I? If you answered, “not yet,” now is the time to put your D&I efforts into motion as it’s clear that customers worldwide are expecting it.