#141: How 75+ brands responded to BLM, how to effect change like an activist, B2B narratives, and a big announcement!
Hello, and happy Monday. (Exciting announcement at the bottom of this newsletter!)
This is how I'm starting my week:
Because, "sometimes you just have to be the Leslie Knope of what you do" good advice shared by Kaitlyn Kraus of TriComB2B on a call last week.
In this Monday edition #141 of The World's Best Newsletter:
1. Seven Risks of Performative Brand Allyship - the musical!
2. Forbes - an activist’s perspective on how to effect thoughtful, lasting change
3. "Little kernels of truth that get buyers to stop"
4. The confluence of elements that make up B2B narratives
5. Brands' response to BLM, a compendium
6. Assuming a shared sisterhood
7. Quote of the week: The right tools to progress diversity
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1. Seven Risks of Performative Brand Allyship - the musical!
Just kidding, no musical (yet!?) but a heads up that I now have a training/talk available for internal marketing teams, ERGs, or your book club (hold the book, keep the wine.)
After fielding requests like this last week "will you come speak to my team as we navigate this..." I realized I may not have all the answers, but can have a positive impact by sharing the unseen and unconsidered impact of veering into performative allyship and pandering.
Learn more about what's in the talk, and read reviews here.
2. Forbes - an activist’s perspective on how to effect thoughtful, productive, lasting change
Thank you to management consultant Liz Kislik for interviewing me for this piece.
... If you’ve been trying to implement change in your group and are not seeing the progress you’d hoped for, these six stages based on Martell’s framework will help you gain more traction whether you’re working on a reorganization, a drastic change in business processes, or a new product introduction.
Read more in Forbes.
3. "Little kernels of truth that get buyers to stop"
I had the opportunity to be part of Kathleen Booth's exceptional podcast (produced via Impact). Listen and read the highlights here, which include:
Brands that don't take a position get lost in a crowded marketplace and are not a part of the conversation. By taking a stance about what you believe, you can change the conversation in your market and, in doing so, become a market leader.
Brands need to find "exceptional truths" - little kernels of truth that get buyers to stop, pause, and rethink the way they see the world. When you've created that seed of doubt, buyers are open. They're leaning in, they're listening to what else you have to say.
This takes knowing buyers so well that you know where they're misinformed or what they don't know or what they don't understand so that you can challenge that.
A really key point I think is missing from our conversation lately:
It's not about polarizing. It's about recruiting people to see the world the way you do.
Thank you Kathleen for being an excellent interviewer. Listen/read more here.
4. The confluence of elements that make up B2B narratives
Last week I led a training for a tech firm's marketing team (if you're reading this from that team, I have to say thank you for being so engaged - it was one of the most interactive virtual groups I've ever spoken to. Makes it so fun on my end!)
The challenge at hand? Evolve copywriting and messaging from product-centric to needs-based. As I prepped for that session I remembered this excellent piece from Harendra Kapur of Velocity Partners "B2B writing: It ain't just writing."
In B2B, a good story is a compelling explanation of where the world was, where the world’s going and where the world should be going.
You can (and should) think about structure and grammar all you like, but at the end of the day, you’re going to need to figure out how this world operates.
You’re going to need to figure out how your reader/viewer/listener thinks about their problems, what they really give a shit about and why they’re so god damn averse to change.
You’re going to need to figure out what the old technological approach was, why the new technological approach you’re pushing is better and which aspects of that approach lend themselves to a pithy narrative.
You’re going to have to look your client in the eye and push them to give you the truest version of the story, instead of the most convenient.
Once you have all of that, you can write.
^^^ first things first.
5. Brands' response to BLM, a compendium
As we all navigate our brand's response to the Black Lives Matter protests and movement, you know my feelings about the negative risk of performative allyship.
That naturally begs the question - what is not a performative corporate response?
If performative allyship is an empty promise, opportunistic, and fails to take responsibility for the systemic issues that give context to the movement (per Holiday Philips), then meaningful allyship embodies the opposite.
Lexie Perez, Julian Cole, Stephanie Vitacca, and Davis Ballard have aggregated brands' response to the movement. They identified 5 themes:
Invest in action - donations and education (Glossier)
Ritualize commitments - sustainable / long-term solutions (Ben & Jerrys)
Outline internal policies - transparency is needed (EA Games, 360i)
Pause/re-evaluate role - play the role of educator / curator (Lego, Viacom, CBS)
Fix / re-tool product - alter product offering to support marginalized communities (Sephora, Postmates)
FULL info and examples available in their excellent resource.
Note: Did you see that Babynames.com changed its home page to honor slain Black Americans with the message, “They were somebody’s baby?” This was incredibly moving.
H/T to Katelyn Holbrook for this example.
6. Assuming a shared sisterhood
I talk a lot about the illusion of progress that exists in the business world due largely in part to our own biases but compounded by the narratives pushed by femvertising and other social-justice-aligned marketing efforts that paint a rosy picture of the truth.
Maybe we are all just susceptible to confirmation bias... but here's some data from Bloomberg's recent article that shows the reality of the workplace as experienced by black women:
In our survey of 557 science professors, we found that 76% of women of all races felt that women typically support other women; only 56% of black women science professors agreed.
Across our samples, black women were by far the least likely group of women to feel that they have a lot in common with other women. White women seem to be assuming a shared sisterhood black women don’t see.
Even within the female-empowerment bubble of pink-themed motivation, there is an incumbent racial disparity all women must actively recognize. Feminism must be intersectional and include the real and lived experiences of women of color.
7. Quote of the week: The right tools to progress diversity
"Businesses have failed to make progress on diversity because they have never bothered to pick up the tools they use to solve any problem they actually care about.
If a business had a problem with sales, the response would not be to hire someone to lead the company in deep conversations about how fervently the company cares about sales and put on programming for National Celebrate Sales Month.
The business would gather the evidence, establish metrics, and keep trying different things until it achieved its sales goals."
- Joan C. Williams, Distinguished Professor of Law at the University of California's Hastings College of Law and founding director of the Center for WorkLife Law as quoted in a badass Bloomberg opinion piece.
Have a stellar week ahead.
Best,
Katie Martell
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Oh, that big announcement...
I'm proud to be hosting the 2020 Adobe Experience Maker Awards Virtual Gala. This live event recognizes movers, shakers, and experience makers. Watch as we announce the 14 award winners and celebrate all finalists LIVE on LinkedIn Thursday June 25th at 8pm ET - RSVP here.
See you there.