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RESEARCH
ANALYSIS
TRENDS

How direct-to-consumer brands can navigate

the Facebook advertising boycott

2020 has definitely been a tough year for advertisers instead of overhauling the messaging, which may lead
and brands around the world while the recent it to sound like a completely different brand. Brands
Facebook Boycott has just added another layer of should extend their role to do more for the society and
complexity. Facebook is being called out for allowing to use their influence to encourage healthy
hateful and harmful content on its platform by a conversations while remaining true to its identity and
coalition of advocacy groups. More than 100 brands values.
have since started pausing advertising on the platform
and Facebook saw USD 60 billion in revenue erased in With every new brand lending its weight to the
just two days. movement, the pressure is growing on Facebook to
change. However, consumers worry if brands are not
Embracing diversity within an internal team is what doing enough and are missing a bigger opportunity to
makes a key difference in the workplace, be it inclusion create lasting change for good. Large or small, brands
of gender, capability, or race, and this has always been can do more than just ‘pledge’ – for example, by
very important to me. However, when brands, walking the talk and showing the capabilities to build a
especially in the direct-to-consumer (DTC) space, are synergistic ecosystem through collaborations and
being pressured to promote their values in a highly partnerships. This is because many consumers today
overt and visible manner to navigate the waves of a make decisions based on how brands treat their
global political movement, this needs to be looked at people, how they treat the environment and, more
from a different lens altogether. importantly, how they support the communities in which
they operate.
Why this matters to DTCs
Achieving meaningful action
Facebook has been long described as ‘the storefront
for DTC brands’. As such, these brands should review This is definitely easier said than done – DTCs do tend
their existing positioning in relation to the situation, to ‘shy away’ from societal, economical, and political

August 2020: people-oriented communication strategies and social networks 12