Why Authentic Inclusive Advertising Is Essential for Brands
In case you missed it, the Unstereotype Alliance recently launched The Business Case for Inclusive Advertising, the result of a years-long study to find out whether or not inclusive advertising practices convert to an uplift in sales for brands and businesses.
While they were expecting the results of this study to demonstrate a direct link between inclusive advertising and commercial performance, what they found far exceeded expectations irrespective of countries and product categories.
But beyond the statistics lies a deeper conversation about what it means to embed inclusivity authentically into marketing strategies.
While the findings affirm the economic benefits of inclusivity, there are essential elements that brand marketers must consider to avoid tokenism and falling into the trap of e.g. campaigns like Pepsi x Kendall, Tommy Hilfiger’s adaptive line, or Nike’s First Hands-Free Shoe, where inclusion seemingly ran surface deep, without full consideration of the ethics and justice required to see long-term success and mutual gains.
As a DEI strategist, I’ve examined the report from a diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) perspective. If you work in Brand, Marketing or Advertising, the below might offer some thought-provoking questions in order to ensure your brand is doing more than just ticking boxes. Authentic inclusion takes intention, and it’s vital for businesses that want to build trust and connect with the consumers of today and tomorrow.
1. Inclusivity Is Good for Business—But It’s More Than That
The core takeaway from the report is irrefutable: brands with inclusive advertising see higher sales, better customer loyalty, and stronger brand equity, for example:
Inclusive brands enjoy 3.46% higher short-term sales and a staggering 16.26% higher long-term sales.
Customer loyalty is 15% higher for brands that embrace diversity, while the chance of customer abandonment drops by 23%.
Brands with inclusive advertising have 54% greater pricing power, meaning customers are willing to pay a premium.
For marketers, this is gold. The data gives you the financial backing to push for inclusive strategies, showing that inclusion is not only the right thing to do socially but also the smart thing to do for your bottom line - win-win.
But the report’s emphasis on financial gains leaves out something critical. Inclusivity isn’t just a tool to drive profit; it’s a way to align your brand with the values of today’s consumers.
Gen Z and Millennials, who are driving market trends, care deeply about the social impact of the brands they engage with. To them, diversity isn’t a bonus—it’s a requirement. Brands that fail to reflect this in their advertising risk irrelevance, and worse, backlash.
2. Inclusivity Can’t Be Just About Gender
While the report provides valuable metrics around gender representation, particularly through the Gender Unstereotype Metric (GUM), it falls short in addressing intersectionality.
True inclusivity goes beyond gender to include race, ethnicity, disability, sexual orientation, and more. Without an intersectional approach, brands risk alienating underrepresented groups by offering a narrow view of diversity.
A campaign that only addresses gender representation might check a box, but it doesn’t capture the full spectrum of diversity. Brands need to move beyond a singular focus and create advertising that reflects the diverse realities of their audience. How? Here are a few ways to start:
As a marketer, ensure your campaigns reflect the complexity of intersectional identities.
Collaborate with diverse teams and communities to better understand the nuances of your audience.
Inclusivity is not about featuring a token character of colour or showcasing women in non-traditional roles—it’s about creating stories that resonate authentically with a broad range of experiences.
3. Inclusivity Needs to Be Authentic
One of the key risks not addressed in the report is the danger of tokenism—where diversity is present but not meaningful. Consumers today are highly sensitive to inauthentic attempts at inclusion, and tokenism can do more harm than good. It’s not enough to feature diverse faces if those characters don’t have agency or are portrayed in stereotypical roles.
Brands that engage in tokenism might momentarily capture attention but risk long-term damage to their credibility and trust, for example, the brands mentioned above in the introduction:
Pepsi x Kendall: Pepsi’s Kendall Jenner campaign was widely criticised for trivialising serious social justice movements by using protest imagery as a backdrop for selling its products, a move that was seen as insensitive, out of touch and exploitative, with the brand profiting from the very issues it failed to understand or respect.
Tommy Hilfiger’s adaptive line: Many in the disability community felt that Tommy Hilfiger’s adaptive line lacked meaningful consultation in its design process. While a step forward, it created a sense that the brand was profiting off insights gained from their exclusion rather than truly addressing their needs or reflecting their lived experiences.
Nike’s First Hands-Free Shoe: The Nike Go FlyEase shoes were designed as a "hands-free" shoe that anyone can use. The shoes, however, were not equitably accessible from a price and distribution standpoint.
These examples highlight how inauthentic representation can make brands appear opportunistic and disconnected from the communities they aim to serve.
Authentic inclusivity requires deliberate and thoughtful action. It’s not just about what is portrayed in front of the camera, but how diverse perspectives are integrated behind the scenes. Brands must build creative teams that include people from underrepresented groups and actively engage with communities in meaningful ways. This commitment to authenticity is key to maintaining the trust and loyalty of diverse audiences over the long term.
4. Internal Culture Must Align with External Messaging
While the report focuses on the external benefits of inclusive advertising, it overlooks a critical factor: the internal alignment needed to sustain these strategies. A brand cannot genuinely claim to be inclusive in its marketing while its internal operations—leadership, workforce diversity, and company culture—fail to reflect those same values. As we've explored in What Is An Inclusive Brand Strategy and Why Is It Important, successful brands align their internal operations with their desired external image to ensure authenticity.
Brands that market inclusivity but don’t live those values internally are at risk of being exposed. Today’s consumers, particularly younger generations, demand that brands "walk the talk." Discrepancies between what a brand projects outwardly and what it practices internally can lead to PR crises, a loss of consumer trust, and long-term reputational damage.
Inclusivity isn’t just something to be showcased in advertising; it needs to be embedded into the very DNA of the business. This means that internal hiring practices, company culture, and leadership structures must reflect the diversity a brand promotes externally. Marketing teams should collaborate closely with HR and leadership to ensure that the inclusive messaging seen by the public is backed up by robust, internal DEI policies and practices.
A great example of a company that has successfully aligned its internal culture with its external brand strategy is Ben & Jerry's.
Ben & Jerry’s goes beyond diverse imagery and tokenism by ensuring their internal practices reflect their external messaging. The company has long been a vocal advocate for social justice issues such as racial equity, climate action, LGBTQ+ rights, and refugee support. This commitment is not just present in their marketing—it’s woven into their corporate structure. For instance:
Internal Culture: Ben & Jerry’s prioritises diversity in hiring and leadership roles, ensuring their workforce reflects the values they publicly promote.
Advocacy: The brand consistently takes bold stances on social justice issues, like with their "Justice ReMix'd" campaign, which focused on systemic racism and criminal justice reform. This shows how they use their platform for meaningful impact rather than just corporate messaging.
Community Involvement: Ben & Jerry’s actively partners with grassroots organisations and engages with the communities they aim to support, building long-term trust and ensuring their efforts are authentic.
This alignment between internal and external practices helps Ben & Jerry's maintain deep consumer trust and long-term loyalty, serving as a model for brands seeking to authentically integrate inclusivity into their strategies.
5. The Long-Term Value of Inclusive Advertising
Inclusive advertising has the potential to shift cultural narratives, challenge harmful stereotypes, and promote social progress. Brands have the power to drive meaningful change, and those who take on this responsibility will be rewarded with long-term loyalty and trust.
Focusing too much on short-term sales metrics risks overlooking the long-term benefits of becoming a socially conscious brand. Inclusivity should be viewed not just as a financial strategy but as a core value that builds stronger relationships with consumers.
Measure success not only by sales figures but also by social impact. Track consumer sentiment, community engagement, and brand perception over time. Brands that authentically embrace inclusivity will build a legacy that resonates beyond profit margins.
Final Thoughts
The Inclusive Advertising: Business Case report provides marketers with the data they need to advocate for more diverse and inclusive campaigns. But to truly succeed, marketers must go beyond the numbers. Inclusivity cannot be an afterthought or a checkbox; it needs to be woven into the brand’s strategy from the ground up.
If you’d like some help with this, we offer 2 services that support these same outcomes. They are Inclusive Marketing Strategy & Inclusive Brand Strategy. Send us a message if you’d like to know more about these.
Till then, in your corner
The team at (ide)ate