It's a woke world: How can brands manage their image while taking a stand?

Last week, Doritos Spain found itself in hot water after it partnered transgender influencer Samantha Hudson for a one-off campaign for a now-deleted 50-second promo called "Crunch Talks." However, soon after the announcement, Doritos faced backlash as controversial tweets by the artist began resurfacing. 

In one tweet, Hudson had reportedly shared wanting to do "depraved things" to a "12-year-old girl", according to Rolling Stone. Hudson also reportedly made an inappropriate tweet regarding an 8-year-old girl and mocked victims of sexual assault.

According to media intelligence firm CARMA, before the campaign with Hudson was announced, conversations on social media in Singapore about Doritos were 49.2% positive and 23.7% negative. Doritos' word cloud was "Pepsico", "American" and "Big" 

However, following Hudson's resurfaced tweets and calls for boycotting, netizen's sentiments plummeted to 0.8% positive and 81.7% negative. and its word cloud included the words "controversial", "woke", "influencer". 

In response to the controversy, a Doritos Spain spokesperson said, “Doritos in Spain recently created a content series with Samantha Hudson, a local influencer. After the campaign started, we were made aware of Samantha’s deleted Tweets from around 2015. We have ended the relationship and stopped all related campaign activity due to the comments. We strongly condemn words or actions that promote violence, or sexism of any kind.”

Staying relevant amidst woke culture

If there's one word many have taken away from this politically divided world we live in - it's 'Woke'.

The four letter-word has impacted politicians and their campaigns, strived for representation in movies and TV shows and in recent times have seemingly pushed brands to speak out and take a stand on certain political or cultural issues. 

To participate in woke culture, Shouvik Prasanna Mukherjee, chief creative officer at Golin Group, said it has to be aligned with a brand's core values and has to be approached strategically. 

Don't miss: Doritos cut ties with transgender influencer following backlash over tweets

"A brand's opinion on any culturally sensitive topic should be aligned to its core values and ideally should be relevant to its sphere of operations," said Mukherjee. 

"If any topic has found resonance with a brand's audience, it makes sense for the brand to have a point of view on the matter. Now whether and how they should express that opinion should have a well-considered and strategic approach." 

Mukherjee added that being woke may create some detractors but will definitely find resonance with the relevant audience. 

Doing right by its own stated values and inspiring support from its core audience is the definitive approach to navigate this difficult course.

Being one-step ahead 

With every move a brand makes, there are bound to be ripple effects. Brands such as Lush have taken a strong stance against animal testing and have since become a leader and example to follow. Meanwhile, Pepsi, on the other hand didn't receive the same applause for its Kendall Jenner protest ad back in 2017. 

To avoid such a mess and protect themselves, brands need to be one step ahead and strategise how to handle a controversy. This is especially since ‘cancel culture’ and ‘boycotts’ are becoming more prevalent. 

"Brands need to be one step ahead and assess all the risks and to have a risk management plan in case anything goes out of plan. While it is important to have coverage and talkability, it is essential for the brand to be able 'take the heat' if anything goes out of hand," said Alvin Kok, managing director at Actstitude. 

Jeffrey Lim, managing director at 8traordinary, is of the same opinion, saying that "in consideration of using influencers or ambassadors, brands should be identifying key opinion leaders - one that has been true and authentic."

The influencer or ambassador must consistently share beliefs or opinions that are in line with the brand instead of "looking at someone purely on fame or popularity", added Lim.

"Bringing on board such a personality that aligns and resonates with the brand message and position will not just help amplify the cause but also reinforce how authentic the brand is both to its customers and to the community at large," said Lim.

That said, if negative claims about a brand ambassador are baseless or incorrect, the brand should stand behind them, said Mukherjee. "Standing up for one’s ‘friends’ and taking decisive stance on matters of principle actually help a brand to find relevant support that matters."

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