Diversity Is the New Influence Battleground

Influencer marketing not only faces the threat of grifters and fraudsters but marketers are now their own worst enemies as their lack of diversity within their ranks threatens their tenuous relationships with creativesamp160 Going forward the ability to represent an inclusive environment will be the determinant factor in the ability to make relevant cultural connectionsBy most available and credible metrics diversity makes organizations vital and better performersamp160 But this reality has not made most companies more willing to embrace meaningful diversityamp160 The connection between influencer culture and diversity will only become more important which makes the lack of organizational diversity more of a riskamp160 Beyoncamp23339s refusal to work with Reebok is the canary in the coal mine for brands that want access to culture while maintaining the status quo within their wallsamp160 Diversity is ultimately about power access and perspectiveamp160 Who is in the room to shape decisionsamp160 Who has a direct line to resourcesamp160 Finally whose worldview is being accepted and acted upon as credibleMaking central diversity the central issue is a direct line to interrogate who are the ultimate gatekeepersamp160 Brands and marketers have committed their marketing spend on the idea of influence while ignoring their stunning lack of diversity within their own wallsamp160 Everyone wants to be about influence and culture but they also want to maintain a status quo that excludes people of color as decision makersThe recent decision by Billboard magazine to exclude viral hitamp160quotOld Town Roadquot by Lil Nas Xamp160is another example of gatekeepers falling behind the cultural zeitgeistamp160 Billboard39s statement that the track by the rapper did not include quottraditional elements of country musicquot raises any number of questionsamp160 The first obvious question would be what are the traditional elements of a music form that has centered itself most recently in conventional pop music tropesamp160 More germaneamp160would be who at Billboard is making these determinations in the first placeamp160 Hip hop is the premier music not only on traditional charts but also as measured in streaming numbersamp160 Even with this undeniable impact and the outsized voice hip hop plays in shaping culture it can still be diminished by a mostly homogenous corporate voice like Billboardamp160 Friction between gatekeepers and gatecrashers is normal but in a transparent news cycleamp160these clashes will increasingly define the standards to which brands will be heldInfluencers are attractive to brand partners because they have a community of people that they directly connect to in a manner that is both unfiltered and authenticamp160 Brands in turn want the type of intimate connection and synergies they can rarely create on their ownamp160 The challenge is in the brand perception that relationships are unidirectional in natureamp160 Brands would love to direct their power in a oneway direction to reach people turn them into consumers who can then redirect their purchasing power back to the brandamp160 That thinking is a relic of the old paradigm of ownershipamp160 Culture does not work in that way instead favoring more fluid and intangible connectionsamp160 Influence is a matrixed relationship that yes can begin pointed in a particular direction but will often spread in new and unintended waysInfluencers can and have started to wield their power back at the brands as they fully grasp their power within that relationshipamp160 When confronted with brand teams marketers and executives that do not have the necessary cultural fluency to speak their language it is only natural that influencers will resist these relationshipsamp160 In turn those organizations that invest in building a shared cultural resource with a focus on diversity will have a dramatic advantage over their more pedestrian competitionInfluencers in their purest forms are disrupters and organizations and can increasingly expect others to follow Queen Bey39s example and demand diverse teams before they commit to working with a brandamp160 It39s now up to brands to determine if they are willing to do the hard work necessary to ensure that their offices and teams are reflective of the culture to which they want accessamp160 Lip service on issues of diversity and inclusion will no longer work in cultural spacesamp160 Failure to connect the dots on diversity and culture will only cost brands vital and often unreplaceable opportunities in the futureClick the social buttons above or below to share this story with your friends and colleaguesThe opinions and points of view expressed in this content are exclusively the views of the author andor subjects and do not necessarily represent the views of MediaVillagecomMyersBizNet Inc management or associated writers amp160amp160

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Diversity Is the New Influence Battleground

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Philip McKenzie

FEMA and the Ad Council Encourage AANHPI Communities to Enhance Disaster Preparedness in New PSAs - Ad Council InSites

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Diversity Is the New Influence Battleground

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Philip McKenzie

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