Home Depot took first place in a ranking for “most culturally inclusive” marketing.
The Alliance for Inclusive and Multicultural Marketing issued its second “Culturally Inclusive Brands Awards” after developing its methodology last year. Retail companies are given scores based on how “culturally relevant” their ads are by counting positive reflections, role models, celebrations, pride, and values of a culture.
According to the AIMM, nods to different cultures improved purchase intent by 69% among the top-ranked brands. After Home Depot came the skincare company Dove and the nonprofit organization Ad Council. Last year, Home Depot ranked second to Gatorade.
This ranking was born out of research from the AIMM, which found that two years ago, 63% of those surveyed reported seeing stereotypes in ads, and 31% believed brands were accurate in depicting their culture. The next year, after the AIMM established its rankings, 55% of surveyed consumers saw stereotypes, and 38% reported brands were culturally accurate in their depictions.
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Diversity, equity, and inclusion efforts are becoming less popular despite this effort. DEI-related job postings decreased by 44% in 2023, according to data cited by CNBC from job site Indeed, which also reported a 23% drop year over year.
Meanwhile, Home Depot is facing a civil lawsuit from actor Fast and Furious actor Tyrese Gibson because he alleges he was racially profiled at one of its locations.
