How Marketers Should Respond To Backlash For Being Inclusive

There is resistance to inclusion and inclusive marketing, and that resistance is causing some marketers to hesitate and rethink their approach.

That’s a mistake.

There’s been a lot of conversations in recent weeks about brands receiving negative responses for supporting the LGBTQ+ community.

First, all the buzz was about how Bud Light fumbled things over the backlash with transgender influencer Dylan Mulvaney. Then there was the calls for a boycott of Adidas after they featured non-binary models in its Pride month campaign. And there was also a call for a boycott of Sports Illustrated after it featured a transgender model on one of its swimsuit issue covers.

Then of course last week all the focus was on Target, when it decided to pull certain items from its Pride collection. Target took this action in response to threats that were made to store employees, damages done to Pride store displays, and bomb threats made via the customer service line. News outlets have also been reporting that the retailer lost $10 billion in market value in ten days, in response to the uproar.

The climate for brands supporting the LGBTQ+ community feels more intense now than it has ever been. But the resistance to inclusion is broader than just one community.

From the moment Disney announced singer and actress Halle Bailey would star as Ariel in its live-action remake of their classic The Little Mermaid, people took to social media to express their discontent with a Black woman playing the iconic character. The hashtag #NotMyAriel started trending with so many people expressing their disapproval of what they felt was “forced inclusion.”

Inclusive Marketing Is The Future Of Marketing.

Sure, there are some people who are very vocally against certain forms of inclusion right now. However data shows that increasingly, inclusivity is what a growing number of consumers both want and expect.

One 2020 study showed that 76% of Gen-Z, and 72% of millennials feel diversity and inclusion are important topics for brands to address. Another 2019 study by Adobe showed that consumers expect the brands they engage with to incorporate inclusion into their marketing.

Demographic trends support these evolving consumer expectations. US Census data showed from 2020 the White population fell below 60% for the first time in the history of the Census being tracked. But as you look to younger generations, the diversification of the population is evident. Gen-Z is the most racially diverse generation ever, with 48 percent identifying as non-White, and 25% as Latino or Hispanic.

Besides demographic trends, consumer preferences are showing that brands that lean into diversity will be rewarded with sales.

Despite all the racist comments and even “review bombing” with people filling various review sites with negative ratings to deter people from seeing the film, Disney’s live-action version of The Little Mermaid performed well in it’s opening weekend. It earned the fifth largest opening ever among movies released over Labor Day Weekend.

Ultra inclusive makeup line Fenty Beauty set a new standard in the industry when it launched with 40 shades of foundation in 2017. Now, at least 40 shades of foundation is the norm within the beauty industry, as consumers were able to see that inclusivity in makeup products was possible.

When popular influencer Kristy Sarah announced the launch of her new clothing line Vayra, fans quickly went to show their support on social, while also asking lots of questions about how inclusive the brand was going to be.

One commenter asked, “will we get plus sizes eventually?” Another wrote, “Absolutely love Kristy’s content, but I came here to check out the comments because I was less than impressed with the lack of sizing inclusivity, model diversity and pricing.” And another wrote, “Love all if these 😍 just hate there aren’t and darker skin models except 1. Some more diversity would be nice.”

Consumers are increasingly more diverse. And they expect the brands they buy from to be inclusive of the ways in which they are different. And consumers also expect the brands they buy from to be inclusive of their friends and family who have differences, so the spillover effect is real.

Yes, there are some people who are resistant to change and resistant to inclusion. But those are not the voices to listen to as it relates to your brand.

Inclusive marketing is the future. Acknowledge any fear you have with the current climate with a vocal group that is resistant to inclusion. However, don’t fight the future by letting those voices prevent you from delivering on what increasingly more consumers are saying they actually want. Inclusion.