Every brand needs to act, react (in terms of crisis) and interact (with society and influencers) in order to keep the brand alive. In times of rapid change and evolution of society, it is really important that a brand reflects the society in which it operates.
1. Societal Context
Societal context is important when building or promoting your brand. We searched the Public Opinion filter on the Mettacomms platform, and found some interesting societal trends that brands should be aware of:
- There is a growth in un-affiliation (to religious organizations)
- There was a sharp increase in support for Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (DEI) and we are now witnessing an equally sharp and rapid decline.
- The general public is worried about climate change. In fact, 84% of EU citizens actively support the introduction of legislation to protect the environment.
(Corporations are worried too, but they are currently engaged in Greenhushing, i.e. continuing to implement pro-environmental change policies but not putting any spotlight on the work they are doing)
- Post-Covid, people are less focused on money, career, promotion and the acquisition of ‘things’
- There is a commonly shared negative view that large business is self-serving , but there is also a strongly positive belief in small business
- There is a breakdown of trust in major institutions like politics, religion, media, education, police, financial institutions and major corporations.
2. Living your values.
We also searched the News filter on the Mettacomms platform and found some great examples of brands living, and failing to live, their values. Here are some of them.
Brands like Patagonia, who not only support a healthy outdoor lifestyle, and the environment in which that happens, live that value by offering to repair any item of clothing that you have bought and don’t want to dispose of (thus saving on landfill) and, additionally, will allow you to re-sell your used clothing on their platform, reflecting the new circular economy in which we all live!
Another great example is Ryanair. It is a low-cost, no frills airline and it stays true to its core value. It does not pay for your accommodation if your flight is cancelled and you are stranded overnight. It does not offer anything free on their flights, no even a glass of water. It actively encourages passengers to carry on their own luggage to save turn-around time. And, crucially, it stands over its position and actively defends its reputation as a low-fares airline – and people respect it for that.
United Airlines, by comparison, found itself displaying brand values that no one respected or admired, when it famously removed Dr David Dao from one of its aircraft, and the video of his removal went viral. Their first attempt at an apology which began “this is an upsetting event for all of us here at United “ brought them even more negative attention. People were horrified that this event was seen as merely “upsetting”. It was a disgraceful way to treat any paying passenger and people reacted with fury. The airlines CEO had to release a second apology which began “the truly horrific event that happened on this flight….” The damage to their reputation, however, lingers.
3. Cultural Awareness
This post by Dolce & Gabbana created great distress. Posted on Instagram and targeting a Chinese audience (the company had a big fashion show upcoming in Shanghai), the post caused tremendous cultural offence. Chinese people asked what it was all about? Was it saying that the Chinese eating implements were in some way inferior? Was it saying that Italian food was better than Chinese food? What was meant to be funny about this depiction of a Chinese person failing in their attempt to eat food? The post caused such uproar that all of the DG ambassadors in China resigned and the fashion show ultimately had to be cancelled.
4. Social and Established Media.
Have you noticed how social media posts now cross-over into media? But were you aware that the cross-over is quite global? Let me give you one example from the Czech Republic, Singapore and India that might shed some light. This example came from the Mettacomms platform when we searched the News filter and sub-searched for Indian media only.
In this instance we looked at media coverage in India of a post from a social media influencer in Prague, in the Czech Republic. We found it in the Hindustan Times. They ran a news story based on his social media post. Here is what happened. The influencer Thomas Kopankiewicz, from Singapore, posted on social media that he had just visited a BATA store in Prague and was shocked at the high quality of the goods on sale. He pointed out that BATA, in his home country, stands for “Buy And Throw Away” and asked “Is BATA a luxury brand? WHUT? It can’t be just me who totally misinterpreted their branding right?”. He is acknowledging the quality of BATA goods, but calling out the company for confusing him with their branding messages.
Conclusion
Brands need to be aware of societal changes happening around them. They need to live their values, they need to be culturally aware, and they need to monitor national and international coverage. The Mettacomms platform empowers brand operatives to study brands by national and worldwide media coverage, by public opinion, by political comment, by academic research and by economic insights thereby creating a powerful 360 degree view of the world in which the brand is operating.
Note: This research was first presented to members of Dublin Chamber of Commerce at a Masterclass given by Ellen Gunning, CEO of Mettacomms, on January 14, 2025.
Mettacomms is a communications intelligence platform which accesses global, verified sources of information from five filters: Politics, Public Opinion, Economic Insights, Academic Research and Media.
The Public Opinion and Media filters on the Mettacomms platform were used in the preparation of this presentation. Mettacomms filters surfaced information from: Brookings Institute, Eurobarometer, Pew Research, Indian & worldwide media.
