perspective

Brands, here’s how to weigh in on world events in ways that are actually useful

In an era of heightened attention to social and political issues, it’s vital that brands navigate with intention. Here’s a helpful content framework that every brand should follow.

Margaret Myers is a director on the editorial team at Long Dash. She is a former journalist who managed online coverage at PBS NewsHour and ESPN and led the features department at the Amarillo Globe-News.

June 26, 2024

This is Part III of a three-part series on building a brand newsroom. Part I outlines the need for a brand newsroom and Part II dives into operations, staffing, and metrics.

At its core, brand storytelling revolves around one crucial aspect: the audience-brand relationship. It’s here that a brand can truly differentiate itself by providing genuine value that extends beyond transactions. Stories that can educate, enlighten, or even challenge assumptions can help a brand establish more meaningful connections with the people it seeks to reach.

That’s why, as we discussed in Part I and Part II of our brand newsroom series, brands must claim their own narrative—and they can achieve that by building a publishing operation. Brand newsrooms help create the structures and processes that will help your brand add real value to conversations.

Establishing a clear publishing process also guides what content your brand will put forth into the world. The natural next step then becomes answering: So how do we know what we should be talking about?

In this article, we will focus on one area where we know brands often struggle—how and when to talk about significant societal issues while still being useful.

Avoiding ‘statementese’

It can be tempting in a turbulent world to feel compelled to weigh in during moments of national or global consequence, such as a major conflict or a humanitarian crisis. If you don’t, the fear might be that your brand will appear irrelevant or insensitive. After all, study after study has shown that the next generation of consumers expects brands to take a stand when it comes to social and political issues.

Brand storytelling has the potential to help businesses articulate their values and position them to become part of the cultural conversation.

These generational forces and the evolution of businesses’ role as a participant in societal discourse, not merely a spectator, have redefined how companies engage. In times of crisis, this has led to brands being caught in a “how can we talk about anything else?” trap.

Recent events, like the war in Gaza and the multiple protests that it has sparked, have once again highlighted the complex landscape brands must navigate. Following the surge of corporate voices weighing in during the Black Lives Matter movement in 2020, many organizations now find themselves grappling with the precedents they set.

The challenge for brands then becomes, how to maintain authenticity and, importantly, how to add unique value? Because one thing you don’t want is to fall victim to “statementese,” a style of corporate-speak that spawns hollow, disingenuous communications.

Writing for The Atlantic, journalist Amanda Mull characterized the brand zeitgeist of 2020 by the rush of corporations to issue, “sensitive, aesthetically pleasing responses.” She wrote on June 3, less than two weeks after the death of George Floyd: “Instead of taking concrete actions, many companies interpret consumers’ push for social responsibility as a strong desire for them to make vague statements about even vaguer values, such as ‘equality’ and ‘community,’ when something racist dominates the news.”

As brand leaders reckon with these challenges, they are increasingly seeking strategies to engage thoughtfully—balancing the need to be socially responsive with maintaining authenticity and relevance to their brand values.

We use a simple framework designed to help brands determine when and how they can meaningfully add to the discourse, especially around heated topics.

When should a brand speak up?

In 2020, brands naturally felt compelled to take part in the public discourse amid an unprecedented global pandemic and the racial reckoning following the murder of George Floyd. They often did so without a clear strategy.

Today, this has evolved. Institutional brands like Harvard University have gone as far as to develop its first formal policy on whether or not to issue an official statement. This reflects a more strategic approach to public engagement, ensuring that actions are aligned with core values and the expectations of their communities.

To guide brands in how to make these decisions, we’ve developed a two-step framework to evaluate the appropriateness and impact of making a public statement:

Step 1: Does the issue align with our areas of expertise? First, brands should consider whether the topic at hand aligns with their strengths and areas of expertise. This is crucial because a brand’s commentary will be most authentic and well-received when it stems from genuine knowledge and experience. For example, a tech company with a focus on privacy might weigh in on cybersecurity regulations, or a university known for its law school might comment on changes in legal education.

Step 2: Is this useful to my audience? The decision to engage should be measured against the needs and expectations of your audience. Does the issue resonate with the audience’s values? Will addressing this issue help meet an emotional or intellectual need? This step ensures that the brand’s involvement adds value, fostering a deeper connection with its audience, rather than seeming opportunistic or out of touch.

Using this framework keeps brands from losing sight of the ultimate purpose of their communications—which is to cultivate a relationship with their audience.

This method even reflects the needs of younger consumers who expect brands to be more forthcoming about their values. In a 2022 survey, the strategy firm APCO found that 80% of Gen Z believe that “a company should speak out, take action or advocate on current events and issues if it’s important to employees, customers, or relates to their business.”

You can see this framework in action using the example of Harvard. In an op-ed for the New York Times, professors Noah Feldman and Alison Simmons, who chaired the committee responsible for crafting the university’s new statement policy, wrote: “It makes sense for university leaders to speak out on matters concerning the core function of the institution: That is their area of expertise as presidents, provosts and deans. But they should not, the report says, take official stands on other matters. They should not, for instance, issue statements of solidarity with Ukraine after Russia’s invasion, no matter how morally attractive or even correct that sentiment might be.”

This formula isn’t just for breaking news-style events. It also works when it comes to speaking up on ongoing social issues. For example, technology company Buffer publishes an annual equal pay analysis and tracks its gender pay gap percentage year-over-year. Instead of telling people and prospective employees how much it cares about pay equity, it decided to be useful and actually show how it pursues this analysis, even providing the details of every salary on staff.

Buffer actively advances the public discourse on pay equity by showing its values and also offering value to both its employees and, hopefully, other companies. The company says, “We publish this pay analysis every year as we believe this is the best way to help move our industry towards positive change.”

Brand storytelling has the potential to help businesses articulate their values and position them to become part of the cultural conversation. But effective brand storytelling must strike a delicate balance: It should spark meaningful conversations and encourage thoughtful engagement without alienating those it seeks to connect with. This requires careful consideration, ensuring that each narrative not only aligns with your brand’s values but also genuinely enriches the audience’s experience.