Youth awakening is affecting the A-B-C for brand communication
Message to brands: adapt to sustainable strategies or die in solitude
By Gastón Gertner
Chief Partnerships Officer & Co-Founder at Talk2U
gaston@talk2u.org
Last week I read Youth to Power by Jamie Margolin. The book encompasses an essential guide for youth mobilization and change making. On a side note (it’s pretty inspirational and I regret not having a read like this back in 1999). In a fresh tone, Jamie, who has been organizing protests since she was fourteen years old and is now the co-executive director of Zero Hour (a climate action organization based in Seattle leading the youth sustainable agenda worldwide), shares the tips to become an agent of change (not a minor career path).
In a friendly, easy to read prose, the book carries three highlights that I want to stress in this entry.
#1 It’s A Driver for empathy through storytelling
I didn’t expect to find so many accounts from other young activists’ experiences across the globe. Yet, to some extent, each experience has the power to make the reader position herself into the shoes of each of those activists. Each story navigates the (necessary) path from finding their inner WHY, onto facing those challenges at the school breaks for being different into a defining moment of sensing THAT call to raise her voice, inspire others and take action to address social and global injustices for #BlackLives #LGBTCommunities and #ClimateAction.
#2 It’s still a reminder for the influence of writing (op-eds)
I also didn’t expect to find a clear defense for channeling political influence through writing. Some parts of the book are an invitation to young activists to face their keyboards, open their email accounts and send their pieces of writing to influential newspaper editors.
#3 It´s an invitation for collective action
I did expect the invitation for mobilizations in the street. What I did not expect, was to understand unexplored benefits from social mobilizations: that sense of agenda setting, community building, the smile and shared values from the people within the movement that breathe the same cause, and the priceless moment of sharing pizza while discussing ideas you take great issue at.
As I passed each page, something brought me back to the ´Estamos Despiertos´(We are awoke) brand campaign by a famous beverage soda drink launched in Argentina in early 2020. This got me thinking into the (important) role of youth trends and interests into the agenda setting within marketing campaigns.
The good news is that the Sustainable Development Goals agenda is gaining momentum, and it’s here to stay for good. Brands and Marketing Experts face a choice when it comes to devising their messages. To get associated with or avoid the SDG momentum. In extreme terms, avoidance will be read as denial, potentially making brands and their product line face criticism and a backlash in sales. Sustainability efforts are not only calling for activities, but also for sustainable consumers, teachers, students, entrepreneurs, business people, doctors and even parents.
Our lives are at stake, our world and environment depend on the attitudes we take. Let’s just hope for brands to embrace a pro SDG sustainable communication tone. And more importantly, let’s be aware that actions travel far beyond words. Brands do need to take action, and there’s an interesting inner part to find the right (digital) channels for these efforts.
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Gastón Gertner is a Life-long learner, a strong advocate for behavioral science and an expert in promoting evidence-based solutions for social impact. GG’s nerdy-self and down to earth perspective helps him design policy-based interventions as well as connect with collective genius to scale positive behavioral change. Occasionally he may unintentionally drop a line or two from any random song.
