Marketing Blogger

Source: Pexels Inclusion & diversity is a topic which usually gets mentioned, talked about and included in campaigns a lot these days. Companies use the terms like we are “inclusive” – come work for our company. You will see brands shouting from rooftops that- we have a very “diverse” range of workforce, come join the team! But how many of us believe these claims of diversity & inclusion, or how many of us can see through this false inclusion focussed marketing campaigns? I am sure many of us wonder at the authenticity of these campaigns and brands. Did you know according to a recent McKinsey Study, 51% of employees leaving the workplace are doing so because they don’t feel a sense of belonging? Companies which are making an impact and bringing about real changes put in a lot of work which can include investing in research, focus groups, identifying and talking to various stakeholders; before promoting and advertising about inclusion and diversity. While you or your company mi...

  Source: Photo by Pixabay There has been a surge in "Inclusive Marketing" campaigns in the last few years. Companies are seen launching campaigns with an inclusive theme for their staff, audiences and community. While many of these campaigns are worth the spotlight and praise, quite a few of these campaigns might just be another example of not really being about "Inclusion & Diversity" but more about increasing followers, brand awareness and retaining customers. One such campaign which I thought deserves the spotlight was a campaign by Starling Bank. #MakeMoneyEqual campaign  which was launched in 2017. It tackles the issue of how women & men are spoken to differently in media on financial matters. Read the full blog post here . This blog post covers one such campaign launched recently by Celebrity Cruises. We will cover the below topics in this blog: About the company About the campaign Feedback on the campaign About the company Celebrity Cruises is a cru...

Source: Pexels What is Pride Month? Pride Month is celebrated each year in the month of June. This month is dedicated to celebrating LGBTQIA+ communities from around the world. The Stonewall riots which took place during this month in 1969 paved way for a lot of changes for people in America and all across the globe. How is it celebrated? Colourful parades, marches, talks, webinars, concerts and much more. The definition of how Pride Month is celebrated has gone quite a lot of changes due to the recent pandemic, lockdown restrictions, work from home and other global & economical changes. With online speakers, hand drawn paintings/pictures, online fundraisers, colourful rainbow flag clad balconies to lit up buildings; we just keep seeing new creative ways of celebrating this month each year. Why do brands participate in celebrating Pride Month? Few brands genuinely want to make an impact and help the LGBTQIA+ community. Others see it as a PR opportunity to gain more follow...

Source: Pexels  (Photo by Markus Spiske) Did you know that 19th of May, 2022 was the 11th Global Accessibility Awareness Day (GAAD)? The main aim of this awareness day is to get everyone thinking and talking about digital inclusion for people with disabilities.  Did you know that 1 billion people worldwide have disabilities? To know explore more on this topic, click on the link below: https://accessibility.day/ This would be a good opportunity for teams across the company and especially marketing teams to look at their tech stacks and see if the tools, methods and processes in place are truly inclusive. I have listed top 3 inclusive tools you can look to incorporate within your teams to help with improving user experience of your content/platform and processes to improve accessibility.  1. Foleon Foleon will soon be the go-to marketing tool for creating interactive content.  This tool is the best replacement for all your PDF's and gated content. It will help teams cr...

  Source: Starling Bank and Lensi  Photography   What do you do as a brand when you see your target audience being misrepresented in media? What if that is 50% of your target demographic? Or your key demographic not being spoken to using the right language or images in the wider media? Would you just let things be as it is currently and only post something on one day of the year. (Hint: #IWD) and ignore the issues women face the rest of the year. The theme for "International Women's Day" in 2022 was # BreakTheBias , where you might have seen plethora of brands posting on social media with the break the bias pose to support the campaign. The theme this year was to help create a gender equal world free of bias, stereotype and discrimination.  And how do we plan to achieve that? Well done to everyone who posed and used the relevant hashtags on social media. But will those images/hashtags help to identify the real challenges women face or provide a solution?   ...

    Photo by  Sora Shimazaki  from  Pexels Inclusion Week in UK was held from 27th September to 3rd October, 2021. It is a week long celebration to promote everything inclusion. This initiative was started by Inclusive Employers and it was the 9th year of the celebration. This year's theme for the event was #UnitedForInclusion. Inclusion leaders, companies, influencers, change makers used this hashtag to share best practices, webinars, posters, ideas to help create and foster a truly inclusive workplace culture & community. So let us look at how companies celebrated this national event? Was it an "Inclusion" washing campaign planned in 5 mins or was it a result of months/years of practices/studies/research to drive real change in workplaces and communities?  I have listed a few examples below which showcase how brands big and small participated in the National Inclusion Week in 2021. 1. Asking your colleagues what inclusion means to them This was one o...