How can brands make a difference? — Transcript

[Music] Next up, we have Rebecca Barron, who is Head of Activism and Social Mission at Ben & Jerry's. Rebecca's presentation is called "How Brands Can Make a Difference." I can't wait. Rebecca, over to you.

to be talking a bit about how brands can make a difference it's obviously something that's going a lot along around a lot in the eater at the moment but not many people know exactly how to really dig into it it can feel

Hi, thanks for having me. So, we're going to be talking a bit about how brands can make a difference. It's obviously something that's going on a lot at the moment, but not many people know exactly how to really dig into it. It can feel quite scary.

actually you can make a difference your organization your brand can drive systemic change and jerry looked like the idea that they created this business as friends back in the 70s and uh they wanted to do business differently but they got a bit

So, I'm going to give you four quick thoughts from my experience as an activist with Ben & Jerry's, and then a few guardrails at the end. So, the first sort of step, if you like, on this journey is firstly recognizing that actually you can make a difference. Your organization, your brand can drive systemic change.

can see in this quote that they wanted to articulate their purpose as their business to see whether a business could survive while being a force for progressive change so that's where our sort of recognition moment comes from the second thing that you need to think

Ben & Jerry's looked like the idea that they created this business as friends back in the '70s, and they wanted to do business differently, but they got a bit disillusioned until they had some really good advice from a mentor around the idea of building your business to be what you want it to be.

we drive change by stepping into this activism identity we're led by our values we're working on systemic change we're working with movements and we're inviting our fans to take action with us we believe in people-powered movements and that's where we want to be playing

And that really sparked something in the co-founders, and they decided that, as you can see in this quote, that they wanted to articulate their purpose as their business, to see whether a business could survive while being a force for progressive change.

on the screen here the the tools that we have around creative communication and there's marketing know-how that we have that's very specific to us as a brand and we use that to drive systemic change the third thing that you might want to

So, that's where our sort of recognition moment comes from. The second thing that you need to think about doing is thinking about, okay, how are we going to drive change? What is it about us as a brand, about us as an organization, that lends itself to driving progressive or systemic change?

at ben jerry's to help us decide where we are going to get involved which issues we're going to get involved with we ask ourselves three questions why this why us and why now and why this is is this a big issue is it having an

And so, for us, that means we're activists. We drive change by stepping into this activism identity. We're led by our values. We're working on systemic change. We're working with movements, and we're inviting our fans to take action with us.

will our unique set of tools and capabilities help to bring about this change we might not be the right person at that right time to help drive the change so that's something that we need to be really conscious of

We believe in people-powered movements, and that's where we want to be playing. And to be clear, this came about from recognition of the fact that our superpower is that, you know, we're an ice cream company that's able to build relationships with our fans, and we're able to leverage, as we see on the screen here, the tools that we have around creative communication and the marketing know-how that we have that's very specific to us as a brand.

the key thing to remember here is we are activists we are trying to drive systemic change we're involved in driving this forward as part of the movement which leads us on to the next point to consider which is around working

And we use that to drive systemic change. The third thing that you might want to think about is where, where in this great world, which of the many issues that we are facing at the moment can you specifically drive change? You, as your organization, as you are.

jcwi detention action when we work with our refu in our refugee campaigns we're working with issue experts who really know their stuff who have connections with the groups that are affected and we go into those conversations humbly you know we're an

And a little bit behind the curtain here, this is a chart that we use at Ben & Jerry's to help us decide where we are going to get involved, which issues we're going to get involved with. We ask ourselves three questions: why this, why us, and why now?

rails at the end this stuff only works if you're impact focused rather than brand focused for ben and jerry's we've been an activism company for more than 40 years and we think we think we hope that we're driving change

And why this is, is this a big issue? Is it having an impact on people? Is this really something that is going to benefit society widely if we get involved? Why us is, are we as Ben & Jerry's, specifically us as Ben & Jerry's, going to add anything to the movement?

more ice cream or because you want to sell more of whatever your product is you will fail at both people will see through what you're doing you have to be committed to the impact and you have to be willing to lend what

Will our unique set of tools and capabilities help to bring about this change? We might not be the right person at that right time to help drive the change, so that's something that we need to be really conscious of.

again people will notice if you pick up issues and drop them if you just jump on bandwagons we are partnered with a bunch of amazing ngos and we are in multi-year relationships with them we really get to grips with our

And the third question, why now? Is there an opportunity for change? Is this issue getting worse? Why are we stepping into this right now? And the question behind all of this is, are we helping the movement?

with progression comes pushback and the key question here here is who are you willing to be criticized by whenever we put anything out as ben jerry's anything to do with our social mission or our activism work we get

You know, the key thing to remember here is we are activists. We are trying to drive systemic change. We're involved in driving this forward as part of the movement, which leads us on to the next point to consider, which is around working with the issue experts.

cream because we take a stand on refugee rights or on black lives matter or on climate work that's fine i am not willing to take the risk of being criticized by those groups for either something that is tone deaf

Ben & Jerry's, we're very clear, we're the ice cream guys. We are not the experts on almost any issue, so we work with folks like these that you can see on your screen: Refugee Action, JCWI, Detention Action.

and then a key component that really helps in terms of building your relationships with partners building relationships with movements and really crucial to the idea of authenticity is the willingness to be transparent no one's perfect if you waited until you

When we work with our refugee campaigns, we're working with issue experts who really know their stuff, who have connections with the groups that are affected, and we go into those conversations humbly.

out on it but the expectation is that you have to be willing to look at where you are imperfect look at the issues in your supply chain look at the things that potentially could do with improvement approving and

You know, we're an ice cream company. Maybe we can help you with this. We don't know everything. Please tell us where we can provide support, tell us the best way in which we can get involved.

and in so doing will not only hopefully generate that change but also generate fans but the key thing is you have to be in it for the right reasons and you have to be willing to partner with people who

And just to run through some guardrails at the end, this stuff only works if you're impact-focused rather than brand-focused. For Ben & Jerry's, we've been an activism company for more than 40 years, and we think, we hope that we're driving change for the movements that we're a part of.

wants a longer marketing presentation no one has ever said no one's ever said i wish that speaker went on for longer so no no problem at all um you said something that really struck a chord with me he said with

And we also know that our fans love us for doing that, and so they buy our ice cream more. The paradox here is that if you try and do this work because you want to sell more ice cream or because you want to sell more of whatever your product is, you will fail at both.

certainly push back externally how do you keep yourself motivated how do you deal with that pushback and that negativity when you're convinced that you're doing the right thing in the right way it's a really nice question and i think that there's a

People will see through what you're doing. You have to be committed to the impact, and you have to be willing to lend what you have to the greater cause in order to drive change, and then you will get love for it.

relationships with these ngo partners who are responsible for building our strategies for generating change um but they work in partnership with the rest of the marketing team and those relationships are really crucial to getting anything done so it is not just the activism manager

The second thing just to say is as well, you can only really do this work well if you're in it for the long haul. Again, people will notice if you pick up issues and drop them, if you just jump on bandwagons.

comfortable with each other so what's a what's an internal learning journey sounds like it makes sense but i don't actually know what that means no no no no it's a really good question um a lot of it is just

We are partnered with a bunch of amazing NGOs, and we are in multi-year relationships with them. We really get to grips with our movements. We really get to grips with some of the issues that we're working on, and we're committed members of these movements.

my brand manager in the netherlands can say here are the issues affecting people uh who are refugees living in the netherlands right now or you know these are the policy changes that we need to see in sweden whatever whatever it's about personal

The third thing to say on this is that you have to be willing to be criticized. With progression comes pushback, and the key question here is, who are you willing to be criticized by?

uh we can do something about so so yeah so sorry internal learning journeys there's a bit of a jargon thanks for thanks for explaining that to me so um what advice would you give to a brand that is going to follow in your

Whenever we put anything out as Ben & Jerry's, anything to do with our social mission or our activism work, we get criticism. We get criticism from folks saying, "I don't want politics with my ice cream," or, "Step off, American brand, don't tell us what to do."

what what's the kind of blueprint for getting started how can you start to follow in ben and jerry's footsteps huge question to come at the end um the first thing i would say is be clear on your values

I'm willing to take that criticism. I'm fine if people don't buy Ben & Jerry's ice cream because we take a stand on refugee rights or on Black Lives Matter or on climate work. That's fine.

right way that's crucial actually that's really important for that kind of confidence and then with that confidence comes the ability to be bold and uh it's important to be bold because as we've said you'll get pushback you'll get criticism

I am not willing to take the risk of being criticized by those groups for either something that is tone-deaf or for staying silent when we should speak up. So, you have to be willing to take a risk, and more than that, you have to be clear on which risks you are willing to take and who you're willing to be criticized by.

you should be getting involved with um i think the the difficult thing is a lot of brands maybe see that this is exciting and want to get straight into it without realizing that actually it takes relationships it's very much built on

And then a key component that really helps in terms of building your relationships with partners, building relationships with movements, and really crucial to the idea of authenticity is the willingness to be transparent.

actually taking the time to step back and look at it from kind of a movement perspective in partnership with that movement wise words thank you so much