#152: Behind corporate America’s response to Georgia’s voting law, false gods in martech, and April events worth attending
Happy Spring, friends.
Blooms are blooming, here in Boston it’s somewhere between 32 and 75 any given day, and (virtual) event season is back in full force.
Check the end of this newsletter for a calendar of events this month totally worth the Zoom fatigue.
In edition #152 of The World’s Best Newsletter:
GoFundMe’s CEO: “We were never meant to be a source of support for basic needs”
Behind corporate America’s response to Georgia’s voting law
Self Control and Cheese: Getting real about who we idolize in martech and more
You should follow Callie Schweitzer…
Corporate gifting, and the top B2B marketing priority of 2021
New York plans to re-invest cannabis $$ in communities affected by the war on drugs
Quote of the week
1 - GoFundMe’s CEO: “We were never meant to be a source of support for basic needs”
An example of a business calling for change.
Back in February, Tim Cadogan, CEO of crowdfunding platform GoFundMe, wrote an op-ed in USA Today urging Congress to pass the new COVID-19 emergency aid package.
It was another example of a business using its platform and voice to encourage government action, while directly addressing the role their platform plays in the problem facing millions of Americans:
"Since March, an American has started a COVID-related fundraiser on GoFundMe every two minutes.
It’s not something they do lightly. Asking for help is difficult. People do it when their needs are dire and they have nowhere else to turn..."
”We are proud of the role that GoFundMe plays in connecting those in need with those who are ready to help.
But our platform was never meant to be a source of support for basic needs, and it can never be a replacement for robust federal COVID-19 relief…”
2 - Behind corporate America’s response to Georgia’s voting law
A sneak peek into who and what drives executives to take a stance.
Today, we learned from David Gelles at the New York Times who and what drove the decision of companies like Coca-Cola and Delta Air Lines as they weighed how/when to engage around public criticism of Georgia’s new restrictive voting laws.
What’s happening:
At first, Delta, Georgia’s largest employer, tried to stay out of the fight on voting rights. But after the Georgia law was passed, a group of powerful Black executives publicly called on big companies to oppose the voting legislation.
Hours later, Delta and Coca-Cola abruptly reversed course and disavowed the Georgia law. On Friday, Major League Baseball pulled the All-Star game from Atlanta in protest, and more than 100 other companies spoke out in defense of voting rights."
The cost of taking a stand:
Delta is aware of the backlash for taking a stand on social issues.
The company ended a partnership with the NRA after the 2018 school shooting in Parkland, FL. In response, lawmakers in GA voted to eliminate a tax break for Delta, costing the company $50M.
(Bob Hoffman may argue paying those taxes would itself be an act of social justice…)
Should companies weigh in?
“Companies don’t exist in a vacuum,” said Stacey Abrams, who has worked for years to get out the Black vote in Georgia. “It’s going to take a national response by corporations to stop what happened in Georgia from happening in other states.”
The choice for brands:
“Corporations have to figure out who they are in this moment.” - Sherrilyn Ifill, president of the NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund
Read the full article, and thank you to Kate Cusick of Porter Novelli for sharing this piece.
Unpacking cancel culture LIVE:
Speaking of GA… we will address what’s happening and more on a live panel event on cancel culture from Sustainable Brands Thursday feat. Kate Cusick and Whitney Dailey from Porter Novelli, activist Jamira Burley and Sean Greenwood of Ben & Jerry’s.
(What a lineup, right? I can’t wait.)
Corporate Cancel Culture and Rise of Stakeholder Accountability
Thursday, April 8 at 1:00-2:00 p.m. ET
And, check out Porter Novelli’s excellent research on corporate cancel culture.
3 - Self Control and Cheese: Getting real about false gods in martech and more.
A podcast you should add to your queue. We get real.
The amazing Sara Pion and Bridget Poetker include the following disclaimer on their podcast website:
Disclaimer: We’re not mentors. Sometimes it’s just nice to have a chat with someone who’s going through the exact same thing as you. That’s us. We’re Bridget and Sara and we’re kind of figuring it out as we go.
I wish I heard this podcast when I was navigating the world of work in my 20s.
Self Control & Cheese: Sh*t No One Talks About at Work, is a must-subscribe. I was lucky enough to be a guest recently, and we talked about:
Where the best content comes from.
Taking a stand and creating enemies.
False gods on LinkedIn and in martech.
The power of being seen and heard.
Listen here, and read a summary here.
4 - You should know Callie Schweitzer
If you’re interested in interviews with marketing leaders that aren’t total fluff…
Do yourself a favor.
Go follow Callie Schweitzer, Senior Marketing Editor at LinkedIn News, and get onto her newsletter Marketer Must Read.
She is one of those rare voices in my feed that consistently delivers the kind of content I’m bookmarking to read later or sending to people.
This is one of them, an interview with Citi CMO Carla Hassan, who echoes my feelings on woke-washed marketing:
It’s now a marketer's job to say, “How do we articulate how we're living our values, not just in external communication and campaigns, but also in internal ones?” People can sniff out if it's inauthentic. So, now more than ever is not the time to be a bystander.
She also digs into The Moment, a campaign from Citi about pay equity that demonstrates the impact of value-driven campaigns in recruitment:
So many times I’ll get an email from HR, saying, “Hey, you don’t know this, but there was an open role we were interviewing somebody for today, and she said the reason she chose to do this interview and not an interview at another bank is because she saw the campaign and she knows that we're committed to women at our company.”
Another great piece from Callie recently was the story of “How Barbie got her groove back.”
"Our pitch was that you talk way too much about plastic and not enough about purpose," said Matt Miller, chief creative officer at BBDO San Francisco. "They [Mattel] had forgotten the brand's core DNA, and once we dug through their history and identified it, it became easy to articulate that purpose."
And OK, one more, “Squarespace CMO Kinjil Mathur: ‘Give a damn’ about your impact at every level.”
If anyone has already started the Callie Schweitzer fan club, sign me up?
5 - Corporate gifting, and the top B2B marketing priority of 2021
On episode 8 of Experience TV, my live show about the experience economy with Oracle CX, I got the chance to:
Share how brands do corporate gifting during COVID (thank you Alyce)
Celebrate BDR appreciation week
Explore the #1 priority of B2B teams: account-based marketing with Latané Conant, Chief Market Officer of (newly-funded) 6sense.
Check out my recap and a recording of the episode here.
6 - New York plans to re-invest cannabis $$ in communities affected by the war on drugs
A hearty congratulations to New York for legalizing recreational marijuana “paving the way for a potential $4.2 billion industry that could create tens of thousands of jobs and become one of the largest markets in the country.”
…a move that officials hope will help end years of racially disproportionate policing that saw Black and Hispanic people arrested on low-level marijuana charges far more frequently than white people.
In addition:
The deal was crafted with an intense focus on making amends in communities impacted by the decades-long war on drugs. Millions of dollars in tax revenue from cannabis sales would be reinvested in minority communities each year, and a sizable portion of business licenses would be reserved for minority business owners…
The deal also includes“equity programs” that would provide loans, grants and incubator programs for small farmers and people from disproportionately impacted communities who want to enter the industry.
New York made moves in 2019 to expunge the records of those convicted with low-level marijuana crimes, but this is the most important social justice component to the modern green rush.
Quoting my co-panelist on Thursday’s cancel culture event, Jamira Burley:
More to come on this.
7 - Quote of the week
Is from Bob Hoffman:
“I have my own standard for evaluating a company's true commitment to social justice. It is this: to what extremes does it go to avoid paying taxes?”
Quoting his newsletter, the Ad Contrarian:
The deceptive marketing game of "brand purpose" took a big hit this week as the Institute of Taxation and Economic Policy issued a report saying that over 50 of America's largest corporations paid no federal taxes last year. According to the NY Times, Nike paid zero for the third consecutive year.
Another great line:
“Horsesh*t is horsesh*t, legal or not.”
Hope you have a great week ahead,
Katie
Event calendar:
Experience TV Episode 11 - The Fight Against Digital Ad Fraud
Weds April 7 at 3:00pm ET, add to calendar
Learn about the current threat of ad fraud, examples of major recent operations, and how digital advertisers can protect their ad spend and brand safety.
Sam Mansour of Oracle
Mike Zaneis of Trustworthy Accountability Group
Experience TV is a live show about the experience economy, sponsored by Oracle Customer Experience.
Corporate Cancel Culture and Rise of Stakeholder Accountability
Thursday, April 8 at 1:00-2:00 p.m. ET, register here!
Whitney Dailey + Kate Cusick, Porter Novelli
Sean Greenwood, Ben & Jerry’s
Jamira Burley, Global Business Coalition for Education
A must-attend for B2B marketing teams, this year’s MarketingProfs B2B Forum lineup features keynotes from Vinh Giang, Nancy Harhut, and Beverly Jackson among others.
Look for my 5-minute TED-style talk about a moment that mattered for me.
(Hint… it may have something to do with my new documentary.)
Digital accessibility is part of inclusivity. Who are we excluding from our digital experiences?
Join me on April 27th for a panel event focused on a forgotten digital audience…
Have you ever had a frustrating experience on a website, tool or mobile app? That’s a daily reality for someone with a disability (one in four U.S. adults).
The business community has faced an important reckoning calling for greater diversity and inclusion. But, a crucial audience is continually overlooked by these efforts: people with disabilities, including visual, auditory, cognitive and mobility impairments.
You’ll hear:
Why brands are prioritizing digital accessibility
What consumers with disabilities need from digital experiences
How America’s Test Kitchen and Wunderkind are taking steps to improve accessibility
In partnership with Perkins Access. Register here!
Adobe Summit 2021 - “the Digital Experience Conference” - has gone virtual, and it’s free to all. April 27-29th.
Grab your ticket to expand your skills, engage with other Experience Makers, and be inspired to create exceptional experiences that drive business growth and customer loyalty.