Brands need attitude - column by Tijen Onaran

For a long time, socio-political engagement in the field of marketing was the exception rather than the rule and primarily meant provocation and polarization. Today, the question of whether and to what extent companies engage in socio-political activities is completely new and fundamentally different. When it comes to marketing and communication, no company today can afford to do without a stance. I would therefore like to explain why there is no way around attitude marketing. Social media plays a central role here.

"Brands against Corona"

Looking at LinkedIn, but also social media in general, I have noticed a trend. When it comes to socio-political topics, it can be observed not only that companies and brands are consciously addressing them, but also that they are positioning themselves with a strong stance.

This phenomenon could be observed quite prominently in the course of the "Brands against Corona" campaign. Over 1000 companies and brands joined the campaign developed by the Berlin advertising agency Antoni and jointly called for vaccination. A campaign that is unique and unprecedented in this form. In the course of this, the companies not only temporarily changed their logo to that of the vaccination campaign - the campaign was also used on LinkedIn as an opportunity to discuss the question of what role companies have in society and should play in the future.

It is certainly no coincidence that the coronavirus pandemic marks this turning point. Hardly any other issue has had such a drastic impact on all areas of life, economic sectors and industries. This has also put every company in a position where it has to take a stand and give its own employees something to do.

Trend reversal

It has long been clear that attitude marketing is not just a short-term trend. The now famous picture from the CEO lunch at the Munich Security Conference led to numerous company representatives acknowledging the importance and significance of diversity and, above all, to it being discussed at employee level. The employees who shared their opinions and posts about the picture also became attitude ambassadors.

Why attitude counts in the future

The conflict between Russia and Ukraine also provided the latest, albeit sad, occasion for companies to take a stand. Whether in the form of free Deutsche Bahn tickets for travelers with Ukrainian passports for long-distance trains from Poland or free use of the Telekom network - companies are taking a stand and showing their attitude. There are more and more socio-political issues that companies can no longer ignore. At the same time, there is a growing awareness of the connections between business, politics and society. It is clear that companies want and need to take responsibility and that social media play a key role in this.

Our columnist

We were able to get Tijen Onaran to write for m&k. She is CEO of Global Digital Women, author of the "Spiegel" bestseller "Nur wer sichtbar ist, findet auch statt" and was voted one of the ten most influential players on LinkedIn.