New Ways' Founder, Letesia Gibson, says we're at a time when our need for empathy has never been greater, and brands need to make more space for emotional and compassionate empathy if they're going to connect with people
Yet as businesses are working out how to be more inclusive and what this means for the role of their brands, there is a growing community who are impatiently waiting for you to catch up to their needs, wants and aspirations for our future together.
We’re at a time in society when the need to use genuine empathy as our guide has never been greater. With a significant shift in people’s expectations for the contribution of brands to wider social issues, the Endelman report of 2020 shows an upward trend of new demand for brands to get where they are and what matters most to them.
When it comes to inclusive marketing, people are asking brands to be more active in the fight against systemic racism and discrimination and to be visible in celebrating diversity and inclusivity. There’s sensitivity to how identity is used, to be smarter about seeing whole people not just one aspect of identity, and to walk the tightrope of balancing authentic representation with authentic intention. Diversity is as much about what happens behind the camera as what’s shown on screens. People want genuine activism on issues preventing black and brown joy so that the celebration of them has backbone and substance.
The kind of empathy that is multi-faceted and is about understanding the outside as much as the inside. Yet as our obsession with data has grown, we’ve lost connection with the humanity that comes from really understanding the full context of people, their world and how it intersects and is influenced by our own. We need to get back there, quickly.
One could argue that much of business understanding of people comes from a kind of empathy called cognitive empathy. This is a thinking empathy that exercised from a distance; outsiders looking in to better understand another group. We give lip service to their wider context, but mainly this kind of understanding others seems like othering and can feel quite intellectual. Probably so because we’ve looked at consumers rather than people most of the time.
But when we turn our marketing gaze to look at how we respond to these broader, bigger social issues, this limited kind of empathy is problematic. Not really connected with the whole person and their context. And what’s more concerning is that it comes loaded with all our bias and assumptions in how we decode what we hear and what we ask about in the first place.
So, whilst we’re walking a mile in someone else’s shoes, we can only take the route we know. With the obvious lack of diversity in the industry, there is a white, middle class monoculture informing that viewpoint.
Fundamentally, teams that lack diversity and operate at a cognitive empathy level are not equipped to find their way through cultural context and nuance and this means the risk of tokenism, cultural insensitivity and unintentional racism is higher. We saw this in the white liberal feminism biased Women’s Hour interview of Zara Mohammed, the newly appointed Secretary General of Muslim Council of Britain, criticised for being ‘white women’s hour’. It’s visible in the most recent ad from Walkers announcing their KFC collaboration with their complete disregard for their contribution to negative racial stereotyping and lack of understanding of the performative blackness that needs challenging.
BBC Woman’s Hour receives backlash after ‘aggressive’ interview with MCB's first female leader
that comes when we deeply listen not to what people say but how and why they say it. It’s this kind of empathy that allows people feel truly seen and heard. For an industry that prides itself on emotional connection, there’s not enough different people being truly seen. In the work I do in embedding anti-racism in organisations, the biggest barrier to emotional empathy is being overly preoccupied with one’s own emotions and reactions about racism or other isms we are trying to avoid.
Effectively, it stops us being there for others and keeps our fear as the loudest voice in the room. When we can get out of our own way, we can use this empathy to start powerful conversations that enable perspective shifts, enrich worldviews, and bring us closer together. It can help us not only see the person but to better see more clearly how we are in relation to them. I loved the way Mattel’s vlogger Barbie used her platform to help a generation of young people and their parents step into a conversation about race with emotional empathy at its core. What made it so powerful was the willingness of Mattel to show its own vulnerability as well as be a facilitator for honest, real conversation. Supported by a wider diversity mission it made the whole thing feel positively authentic. Nike Japan ruffled feathers by sparking a conversation about the treatment of bi-racial and minority ethnic athletes, by showing the emotional impact of bullying and racism experienced.
Barbie and Nikki discuss racism
Those using empathic concern to guide real world action are already gaining the respect of the growing tribe seeking meaningful activism from brand owners. This sweet spot where genuine connection to what people need meets organisational power that responsibly and respectfully is helping to effect change. It brings humility, social responsibility and willing to learn into the work of business strategy. These are businesses that are genuinely doing the work inside and are now unlocking the power of their brands to elevate their impact externally.
The Future Isn't Waiting | Nike Japan
We’ve seen this happen in impromptu ways, such as the collective response of retailers to the backlash of racism towards Sainsbury’s Christmas ad from Sainsburys. It’s also there in ambitious racial justice impact visions for businesses like Unilever who want to see a measurable impact from their brands on structural racism itself.
These commitments are not without risk, they take courage and a readiness to try out new ways of being and working. Ending hair discrimination is a huge undertaking by Dove and considering how much Unilever has benefited from white beauty ideals in the past and how ingrained those same ideals are in the mind of many black and brown women. But those in the full throws of leading businesses driven by compassionate empathy are willing to take risks, take on big fights and stand up for what feels right. Anti-racism is about using all the tools at your disposal to bring about change, so I say bring it on.
