Commit to Something: Brands in the Era of No Neutral

This week, high-end fitness club Equinox’s “Commit to Something” tagline took on new meaning for its members, as well as those of its sister studio, Soul Cycle. A public uproar and calls for boycotts resulted after it was revealed that one of the company’s principal investors, Stephen Ross, was hosting a multi-million dollar fundraiser to re-elect Donald Trump. It was the latest high-profile example of Corporate America being pulled into Cancel Culture.  

The PR ordeal - and identity crisis - that Equinox has become entangled in illustrates No Neutral, which is one of the trends included in the Insights Playbook. As public faith in institutions such as government and the media continues to erode, an opportunity has opened for brands to fill that gap. According to the trend profile we prepared for No Neutral, consumers increasingly want to spend money with brands that stand for something they believe in, engage them on social issues that reflect their values, create content that mirrors their feelings on those issues and inspire them to mobilize and make a difference. This sentiment is backed up by Velocity’s Culture of Proximity study, which found that 7/10 people say brands that participate in social issues are earning their respect.  

Brands that possess strong value systems and a willingness to “step into the arena” by taking a stand on issues that matter to its consumers tap into deeply rooted emotional needs among their customers, by bolstering feelings of:

• Self-improvement

• Individuality

• Safety

According to a 2018 study by the Shelton Group, 86% of consumers want brands to take a stand on social issues, and Cone Communications reports that 75% of consumers would refuse to purchase a product if they learned that a company supported an issue contrary to their beliefs. However, getting involved in today’s politically polarized environment can be a double-edged sword for companies. When we recommend participating in this trend to clients, we advise that they choose carefully before taking a public stance on an issue, because while some issues may activate key brand fans, raising others may snap back and divide them. 

This could be a contributing factor to why such a profound rupture took place when members of Equinox and SoulCycle discovered a key stakeholder's support of a candidate whose public statements and policy actions run contrary to the messages of diversity, inclusion, female empowerment and LGBTQ representation that both brands heavily promoted and were foundational in building an emotional connection with customers. The lesson learned is that if a brand is going to talk the talk, then it must be prepared to do so across all stakeholder levels, beyond marketing and corporate communications, or be prepared for the backlash.

As Josh Brown, CEO of Ritholtz Wealth Management said in an interview this week, “It’s not going to be the first case of this and it’s certainly not going to be the last. You can have messages that are socially inclusive, and you can say all of these great things, but what your founders do with their money, is going to speak louder in this environment”.