BRAND Polariztaion | OVERVIEW

These brands often recognize there are differences, however, they feel an ‘us’ vs ‘them’ mentality. Often, they believe that their culture is superior to others, and thus they feel threatened when others try to challenge their position in the industry. This can come in the form of criticism of their product, service or segregation of certain communities. Its’ existence could spurn the creation of a brand in the same industry that fills in their gaps and directly challenges their positioning.  

These brands may feel a sense of superiority, and that they are more evolved than other brands and cultures – and thus others should adapt to their ways. To maintain this perspective, they may create internal organizational cultures that reinforce negative stereotypes of the others. They also tend to have business reasons to continue the segregation. And in addition to reinforcing derogatory perspectives that bolster their own superiority, they will also be more critical of other cultures while being more forgiving of their own. Finally, they may blame other cultures for the reason for their mishaps in the industry – and even in society.  

Reversal is another illustration of the Brand Polarization phase; this is an overgeneralization of another culture that may be insulting. These generalizations come from a lack of understanding or education around another’s culture, and this leads to “false allyship” in their communications. ie. Male “allies” pushing the narrative through communications that women are safer if they are kept at home.

Note: Underrepresented cultures include but are not limited to BIPOC (Black, Indigenous, People of Colour), LGBTQ2S+, people with invisible or visible diverse-abilities, socio-economic status, age, gender and the intersection of these lived experiences.

 

MANIFESTATION

Their brand values are monocultural and are maintained with key decision makers that actively continue to defend their view that they are superior compared to other cultures.  Their company cultures reinforce negative stereotypes and makes decisions based on these generalizations. 

Others are seen as something to be tolerated, and may often be seen as an inconvenience to getting their work done.

Marketing and Communications for these organizations are statements of their values. They continue to show homogenous marketing and they defend themselves publicly when they are challenged. Any instances of display that is from outside their culture are done only minimally and in often egregious stereotypes. 

Their advocacy work would be non-existent, or done only for causes that align with their own central reality.

EXAMPLES

Victoria Secret

Victoria Secret has been a brand that’s been around for a very long time.  They have been called out for only using one type of model in their fashion shows.  

“Ed Razek, chief marketing officer of L Brands, said in the interview that he didn’t think the company’s annual fashion show should feature “transsexuals” because “the show is a fantasy.” He also said that the brand would not be adding larger sizes to its assortment and has no plans to feature plus-size models in its runway show.” – Business Insider 

Brands in this phase will often defend their actions and continue to state that they are in the right for maintaining their stance.  

“Razek points out that these competitors are still small, and any single popular Victoria’s Secret bra may sell more than these companies’ entire product lines. That might be the case, but taken altogether, these startups are beginning to chip away at Victoria’s Secret dominance.” – Fast Company

The challenge these brands will face is getting buy in from Generation Z and Millennials who in a study by Accenture and Microsoft Advertising states that “70% of millennials and Generation Z will choose one brand over another if it demonstrates diversity in its promotions. Given that’s the future of their customer base, it’ll be no doubt Victoria Secret’s sales will continue to decline. 

Chick-fil-a

Another example of a brand in the Brand Polarization phase would be Chick-Fil-A. While they have been saying a lot about the Black Lives Matter movement, you cannot be truly inclusive of select groups only. It’s well-known that Chick-Fil-A funds the anti-gay movement. 

Cadillac

This commercial is a prime example of emphasizing the ‘us’ vs ‘them’ mentality.  Here, Cadillac is talking about how their culture is more superior than others. 

HOW TO MOVE TO THE NEXT LEVEL

The main differentiator between this phase and the next, Brand Minimization, is that Minimization brands have moved past recognizing differences and are now focusing on the commonalities between people. These brands try not to see any difference and want to treat everyone the same. 

Actionable Next Steps:

1. Developing marketing materials and/or organizational practices that show people’s dependence on one another 
2. Developing internal and external communications that shows how differences are part of the brand’s culture
3. Focusing more on the similarities rather than the differences between cultures in their communications.

    

Read more about the next phase: Brand Minimization

NOT YOU?

Let us do a full assessment and help identify where you are on the curve. For more information and resources, contact [email protected] or check out our insights at https://andhumanity.co/insights/