Don’t 'tap into' diverse cultures in 2021, find ways to push them forward

No more creative ‘culture-jacking’. In 2021, brands and agencies that are committed to diversity will find meaningful ways to contribute to the cultures they pull inspiration from. 

Our industry thrives on creativity, and creativity is fuelled by diversity. From images and icons to flavors and sounds, diverse stimuli powers diverse perspectives. It’s these diverse perspectives that make it so our projects - be they TV commercials, giant billboards, or branded virtual events - don’t fall flat. 

From images and icons to flavors and sounds, diverse stimuli powers diverse perspectives. 

So, this year, our creative work should reflect (and reward) the cultures behind these diverse perspectives in ways that go further than branded merchandise or posting black squares on Instagram. And our organizational work needs to go beyond hiring Chief Diversity Officers to setting up new practices for creating and sustaining equitable opportunities across the board for Black and brown people.

Above: Before applying cultural issues to a campaign you need to ask yourself some hard questions.

It may get a little uncomfortable, and that’s OK  

The first step to gauging whether your client (or team) is committed to honoring - not just leveraging - diverse perspectives, is to take the time to answer some simple but potentially uncomfortable questions:  

• Are we putting out this creative in order to ‘check a box’ around diversity, or are we actually trying to change the relationship with the consumer?  
• How diverse are we as a senior leadership team? 
• What are we doing to be more inclusive as an organization (whether that’s around age, gender, race or even ability)? 
• If it’s in reference to a broader cultural or social moment, what do we want to say or do? What can we say or do? 

Being introspective and asking hard questions like these helps ensure that, at a minimum, you’re not offending people or communities with tone deaf creative that’s going to get your client ridiculed or accused of cultural appropriation. On a macro level, acknowledging that cultural issues exist and affect specific members of society differently - including our employees - is the foundation for creating workplaces that nurture and support the diverse perspectives our industry needs.  

Above: Nike's association with Colin Kaepernick and his decision to take the knee before NFL matches paid off both culturally and commercially.

Contribute to the culture

Yet smart brands have already acknowledged the buying power of diverse cultures and their ability to create icons with mainstream impact - think about the hypebeasts who propel streetwear brands like Supreme into billion dollar acquisitions, or the ravenous Gen Zers who devoured Travis Scott’s branded meals at McDonald’s. 

Brands and agencies that want to push culture forward need to be a lot less selfish.  

The tweets, TikTok videos and headlines spur conversations and creative brainstorms - often well-meaning - about how to use or 'tap into' specific communities. And in reference to social  movements and moments with a big impact, more conscious or aware brands might even ask how to 'be part of the conversation' during a 'sensitive' time. In either case, the perspective is selfish. It doesn’t mean the brand, agency, or creative team behind the idea is terrible, it just means that they’re not thinking about how to contribute to the culture they’re seeking to profit from. Brands and agencies that want to push culture forward need to be a lot less selfish.  

To be clear, when I say less selfish, I’m not suggesting that brands become charitable organizations, emulate non-profits, or blindly back creative that could undermine or diminish the viability of their business. I’m saying that a real shift toward honoring culturally diverse perspectives will stem from finding ways to add value to, and possibly even advance, the culture and consumers that are serving as the creative inspiration. 

A real shift toward honoring culturally diverse perspectives will stem from finding ways to add value to the culture and consumers that are serving as the creative inspiration.

Take Nike as an example. While the company hasn’t always had a diverse or socially-conscious ethos, they took a gamble by endorsing Colin Kaepernick in 2018, at a time when conversations around police brutality and its impact on Black American life were not nearly as culturally resonant as they are today. The choice to invest in creative campaigns that brought the social concerns of the community Kaepernick represented to light has continued to pay off for Nike. And that’s a win-win for the brand and 'the culture'.