With Black Friday upon us, and Cyber Monday soon to be, American consumers — and brands — are focused wholeheartedly on the Christmas shopping season.
While the “Mad Men” imagery of advertising endures, the days of the general market pitch are as bygone as Don Draper himself. Today’s marketplace is tribalized. Like Tom Cruise’s futuristic character in “Minority Report,” highly distinct consumer groups expect to be solicited based on what uniquely appeals to them.
Sixty-three percent of consumers say they only buy products and services that appeal to their beliefs, values, or ideals and 73 percent of millennials believe that businesses should share a point of view about issues. This has fundamentally changed how major brands engage various communities — with most Americans unaware of the extensive efforts brands undertake in embracing diversity in an increasingly pluralistic society.
But while brands have made huge strides in welcoming many distinct market segments into their rainbow of diversity, there are millions of Americans not yet fully included.
In the early 2000s, the Human Rights Campaign launched its Corporate Equality Index, with the goal of rating U.S. workplaces on LGBT equality on a 100-point scale. Only 13 companies had a perfect score then. Today, 408 companies have earned a perfect 100. With the CEI, HRC has transformed corporate policies and practices toward its community, and is now considered the gold standard in measuring compatibility and moving the marketplace needle for a distinct segment. The CEI scorecard has evolved over time, measuring everything from non-discrimination policies, health benefits and direct LGBT marketing to adoption benefits and philanthropic giving. Recently, for example, HRC has been largely successful in compelling brands to include transgender transition treatment in health coverage.
Similarly, the Hispanic Association on Corporate Responsibility releases an annual Corporate Inclusion Index grading the marketplace on criteria such as Hispanic recruitment and community investment. Black Enterprise and Diversity Inc. also keep score. And, just this year, the U.S. Business Leadership Network launched a new Disability Equality Index.
Clearly, this is the era of inclusion. However, while some groups are feeling the warmth of welcome, others increasingly feel left out in the cold.
Consider last week’s top business headline, the firestorm over Starbucks’ decision to replace its traditional Christmas-themed cups with a solid red “blank canvas” design. While some rolled their eyes over this latest battle in the war on Christmas, for one community of 41 million Faith Driven Consumers, this story has significance. No, millions of Americans aren’t outraged over a cup, but they are frustrated by increasing marginalization of what they care about. In this case, a sacred Christian holiday.
And since this group spends $2 trillion annually, and $30 billion at Christmas — the most important retail season — failing to prioritize and include them is bad for business.
There was no yardstick to measure brand compatibility with Faith Driven Consumers until this month’s debut of the Faith Equality Index, which explains why it is being greeted with such fanfare. And while the FEI measures faith compatibility, it also offers an opportunity to compare how brands rate with other communities. In looking at the various scores, one thing is clear: there is a significant gap in welcoming people of faith.
AT&T offers a classic example. It earned a Faith Equality Index score of only 17, while earning a perfect 100 with the LGBT Corporate Equality Index, a near-perfect 95 with the Hispanic Corporate Inclusion Index, and a Top 40 distinction with Black Enterprise.
Diversity is about creating a “both/and” not an “either/or” world. Yet the message many brands are sending to Faith Driven Consumers is “all our customers are equal, but some are more equal than others.” Today the story is about Christmas and cups, tomorrow it will be something else.
The underlying challenge — and opportunity — remains.
It’s time for brands to live up to their own promise of diversity and inclusion. This means all communities, including Faith Driven Consumers, are equally welcomed as legitimate colors in America’s rainbow of marketplace diversity.
Chris Stone, a certified brand strategist, is the founder of Faith Driven Consumer, the organization that created the new 2016 Faith Equality Index. Thinking of submitting an op-ed to the Washington Examiner? Be sure to read our guidelines on submissions.
