By Anne Ready
Listening to customers and employees and learning from them “to be a better company” is #PublicRelations at its finest.
Courtesy of MentalFloss.com
Think back to when Starbucks banned Black Lives Matter clothing and accessories on its baristas — a ban it quickly reversed. According to the New York Times, “Amid social media backlash, the coffee chain also declared that it will provide 250,000 Starbucks-branded Black Lives Matter shirts for baristas and other employees who want them.”
“Starbucks stands in solidarity with our Black partners, community and customers as they take a stand for justice,” the company announced, “while proudly wearing the green apron and standing united together.”
Perhaps because the movement against incidents of police injustice to Blacks is now so widespread, American employers are responding. U.S. Corporations that once shied away from taking sides, are trending toward aligning themselves with #BlackLivesMatter.
Americus Reed, a marketing professor at the Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania, told the New York Times, “Speaking out on social issues is often a calculated decision, a form of “values and identity-driven targeted marketing. By aligning corporate values with what customers care about, companies are hoping to build a sense of loyalty. And a deeper sense of personal connection.
C-Suite
“It’s smart — for C-suite executives. Hopefully, because it’s moral. But also because they understand the long-term economic game.”
Mark Mason, the chief financial officer of Citigroup, personally blogged on the company’s website.
Nike CEO John Donahoe told workers they would get Juneteenth off starting this year as a way to celebrate Black culture and history.
Twitter co-founder and CEO Jack Dorsey tweeted that U.S. employees would have Juneteenth off “forevermore.” as a day for “celebration, education, and connection.”
The NFL, the New York Times and other businesses will also give their employees a Juneteenth holiday for the first time this year.
As Reebok wrote to its social media followers: “We are not asking you to buy our shoes. We are asking you to walk in someone else’s.”