How do companies deal with their attitude campaigns when the political winds change?

True values and attitude are shown under pressure, not when it is easy to stand up for diversity or sustainability.

In a new article in absatzwirtschaft, our Managing Director Ines Imdahl explains what is important for companies now - shaping the future instead of gambling away trust.

Read the article in full here. Or use the Link.

How serious did the companies actually mean their attitude campaigns around sustainability, diversity or body-unshaming? Did they just jump on a trend because it was en vogue?

Meta, McDonald's, Amazon and other corporations withdrew their diversity programs after the Trump election to atone for conservative to right-wing politics. Such programs are also advertising - omitting them is both a message and a (lack of) attitude.

And in Germany, too, the right is announcing that it will, let's say, "de-diversify" our country. Diversity is not desired by them. How will the - medium-sized - companies react here if the worst comes to the worst? Will they also play it safe, hoping that silence will not take revenge?

End of an era instead of a turning point?

Admittedly, people in Germany are also plagued by crises and some have existential problems. Trust in politics? At rock bottom. Religion? Passé for many. There is a lack of confidence and hope. A right-wing populist party in particular provides the only relevant vision of the future for (too) many.

But there are also secret bearers of hope: the companies. People have more or less consciously placed their bets on them in recent years. They have hoped for offers and suggestions from them in dealing with relevant social issues. They have assessed advertising according to whether it provides added value for their everyday lives and the management of the multi-crises. Some companies have been able to win the hearts of the people simply because they have not simply pressed the pause button.

Attitude is not the same as attitude

It is important for people that companies do not give up when things get dicey. Because attitude is shown under pressure. Not when it is chic to stand up for diversity. Giving up your own values in the face of headwinds means having no values.

But if the big companies falter, it becomes increasingly difficult for people to maintain their own confidence. They are worried that they will not be able to shape their own future. "If the companies give up," we hear in the in-depth interviews, "how will I be able to make a difference?" If the big players hesitate, the right-wing populists will fill the vacuum. Companies cannot shirk their responsibility here.

Shape the future instead of gambling away trust

Advertising companies have a choice: Either they use the trust placed in them to create a valuable vision of the future with which they create genuine confidence. Or they leave this unique opportunity and gamble away the trust.

Whether they put their faith in people or prefer to sacrifice their hopes to political winds at the decisive moment. It remains to be seen what their values are worth to the companies. However, a decision against the people is likely to take revenge, because trust that has been gambled away is twice as difficult to rebuild as it is to gain in the first place.