Unilever chief executive Alan Jope has hit out at brands engaging in 'woke-washing' in their marketing campaigns – in other words, brands promising to improve the world, and then failing to take decisive action.
Speaking at the Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity, Jope said that there are currently "too many examples" of brand that are undermining purposeful marketing strategies "by launching campaigns which aren’t backing up what their brand says with what their brand does".
'Make Them Cry, Make Them Buy'
"Purpose-led brand communications is not just a matter of ‘make them cry, make them buy’. It’s about action in the world,” he added.
Jope noted that woke-washing is starting to "infect our industry" and "polluting purpose", making consumers question whether brands really are committed to tackling the world's issues.
"What’s more, it threatens to further destroy trust in our industry, when it’s already in short supply," he added.
He called on agencies to reject campaign briefs from brands that don't "walk the talk" in terms of delivering on their promise, and said that Unilever would no longer work with advertising agencies that have been shown to engage in such practices in the past.
“Unilever will not be part of false purpose and will not work with those who are," Jope added. "But – we will celebrate and reward the brilliant work and power of creativity that can be unlocked by putting issues that matter at the centre of what our brands do and what they say.”
'Toxic' Content
It's not the first time that Unilever has hit out at discrepancies in the advertising market – last year, the business hit out at online platforms such as Facebook and Google for spreading what it described as "toxic" online content.
In a speech to the Interactive Advertising Bureau conference in California, I February of last year, the firm's chief marketing officer, Keith Weed, hit out at online channels that spread fake news and illegal content, calling on tech firms to drain the swamp.
"We need to redefine what is responsible business in the digital age because for all of the good the tech companies are doing, there's some unintended consequences that now need addressing," Weed said.
He added that Unilever pledged to "prioritise investing only in responsible platforms that are committed to creating a positive impact in society.”
Sincerity Is Sacred
A study by Futerra, launched at last week's Consumer Goods Forum Global Summit in Vancouver, found that Generation Z consumers, namely those born from the mid-1990s onwards, demand greater sincerity and transparency from brands, and take short shrift with brands that claim to be something they are not.
The study found that only 42% of Generation Z believe that brands care about providing honest information to consumers.
“Millennials drove brands to be purposeful, but Generation Z are demanding proof,” commented Solitaire Townsend, co-founder of Futerra. “This generation were raised to question fake news, be suspicious of secrecy, and hold sincerity as sacred."
Concluding his speech in Cannes, Jope noted that “brands without a purpose will have no long-term future with Unilever".
© 2019 European Supermarket Magazine – your source for the latest retail news. Article by Stephen Wynne-Jones. Click subscribe to sign up to ESM: The European Supermarket Magazine.
