Top Winners of 2020: Diversity & Inclusion

With the explosive growth of the Black Lives Matter initiative this year, positive representation of all minorities has become a priority within both traditional and social media. With social awareness pushing all brands to up their efforts on representation, diversity & inclusion is a definite winner of 2020.

Interested in learning about other winners from this past year? Check out our recap of the Top Winners of 2020!

With 66% of African-Americans and 53% of Latino and Hispanic Americans feeling their ethnicity is portrayed stereotypically in advertisements, misrepresentation of ethnic minorities has been on the radar of most brand’s marketing initiatives. In addition to social benefits, diversity & inclusion initiatives are shown to have direct impacts on consumer behavior, with 64% of those surveyed claiming that they took some sort of action after seeing an ad that they considered to be diverse or inclusive. With clear demonstrations of potential social and market impact, many are looking at brands to make public their opinions on diversity & inclusion, showing two-thirds of consumers (66%) emphasizing the importance for brands to take public stands on social and political issues. 

Increasing pressure from public attention and consumer behavior poses as both a sign of social growth and an opportunity for brands to demonstrate their competitive edge in their efforts for diversity & inclusion. Social media, being one of the main drivers of social justice efforts within 2020, has been targeted by brands hoping to publicize their values on diversity. Milk Makeup’s diversity and inclusion strategy, for example, featured a public statement on their efforts to diversify their social media channels claiming their goal in having at least 50% of their featured creators to be from the Black, Indigenous, or People of Color community. Nordstrom also has already launched a campaign featuring all black influencers with a combined reach of over 3.7M in hopes of increasing representation within minority communities. 

@Ayeciara is one of many influencers under the Nordstrom campaign, showcasing the brand’s efforts in supporting black owned businesses as well as influencers of color. 

Before brands look to launch their next diversity campaign, finding the right creators to represent their public image is crucial for this sensitive and controversial topic. When choosing your next activation, it is important to focus both on audience demographic and brand safety. Captiv8’s Discovery platform enables brands to filter creators by their audience’s age, gender, ethnicity, and many more criteria enabling you to target your campaign towards specific communities. Similarly, our platform can sort creators by reach or engagement and identify the influencers with an audience that is not only catered to your needs but is also receptive to diversity. Our Insights platform filters out any red flags such as racial terms or hate speech within an influencer’s content so your brand can safely activate influencers in full content. Moreover, our Brand Safety tool vets not only the influencer’s content but also their audience, ensuring that your message is reaching a supportive and receptive consumer group. 

Conclusion

Diversity & Inclusion as a theme was one of the top winners of 2020. The overall coverage that social justice issues received helped further education and awareness. If you’re interested in learning more about diversity and inclusion strategy, influencer marketing services, and more from industry experts, visit Captiv8.io for more info!