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Does Pride Month seem quieter to you this year?
There are no major controversies like last year, but so far there have been no outstanding creative campaigns either.
So what's going on with content and marketing celebrating LGBTQ+ communities? Is this quieter Pride Month a broader shift in advertising and marketing creativity? Or are politics playing a strong role?
We asked Robert Rose, CMI's chief strategy advisor, for his opinion and he reminded us that we had talked about the same question this time last year. But he still had an opinion for 2024. Watch this video or read on to find out what Robert has to say:
Brands are scaling back major Pride Month campaigns
Is your company creating content or marketing campaigns to celebrate Pride Month?
If I am to believe the anecdotal evidence, more of you will say no than at any time in recent history. Recent marketing journalism articles indicate that the number of brands planning major campaigns to celebrate Pride Month has dropped significantly in 2024.
Target has even announced that it will limit its reach and will only sell the Pride Month collection in about half of its 2,000 stores and online.
Additionally, organizations like GLSEN, a national nonprofit that supports LGBTQ+ youth in grades K through 12, saw a significant decline in brand support last year. It attributed the decline to the backlash brands received for their support, noting that brand support has declined again this year.
Last year, I shared some of the marketers' responses to the month in my post. I mentioned that Pride Month 2023 felt different than 2022 due to public opposition, but many brands took action anyway. Mastercard hosted Pride Plaza, which seems to be doing well in 2024. Skittles announced its Pride site in 2023 and is still going strong in 2024, albeit without much fanfare.
Are brands making their Pride efforts less public?
So are there fewer campaigns this year? Is it quieter in terms of content? Or is it because brands are not publicizing their efforts as much? In other words, brands are simply saying, “If you know, you know.”
I think it's the latter. Big brands try to avoid backlash by quietly continuing or launching supportive initiatives for the target audience. They don't want to make headlines with their marketing campaigns and prefer to rely on the communities and their allies, as well as social media and other influencers to spread the message.
However, some influencers say brands aren't tapping into them as much this year. In an article in Modern Retail, one influencer noted that he usually makes a third of his annual income in June, but this year it's more like “just another month.”
Is this reality for 2024?
Is this good? Is it right?
This is neither good nor bad. It is an acknowledgement of the reality for most brands in today's highly politicized environment.
Last year, I realized that the success of such a campaign requires the realization that the celebration is not about your brand. The LGBTQ+ communities don't need or want your permission to be themselves. In many ways, to avoid backlash from the celebrated communities themselves, you need to celebrate who the communities are, not your brand selling your way into the communities.
I also pointed out that you shouldn't even try to start a conversation about Pride or other community-focused celebrations by asking, “How are we going to defend this decision?” Having such a discussion is a sure sign that you haven't really investigated whether your entire organization—your brand—believes in what it does.
That's the lesson Bud Light learned the hard way last year.
Brands can take these cautions to heart. They can say to themselves, “We're going to support the community and continue to do what we do. But we're not going to shout that we're doing it in a performative, virtuous way.”
Looking at this from the positive side, brands are trying to do a good job of creating spaces for communities without drawing attention to themselves.
Looking at this from the negative side, brands are not willing to have serious discussions about what they want to do in today's climate.
Which answer is right for your brand? I tend to do the work myself and let it speak for itself. This builds more trust than attention, but honestly I prefer the former over the latter.
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Cover photo by Joseph Kalinowski/Content Marketing Institute
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