Ben Shepherd, in his newsletter Signal, with what you need to know in marketing and advertising.
This week: Consumer confidence up 13%, Dutton changes tune on brand boycotts, streaming service bundle in Canada.
DUTTON HAS HISTORY WHEN IT COMES TO TRYING TO BULLY BRANDS
What’s new:
2024 has seen almost 2 weeks of the entertainment news cycle covering the opposition leader demanding a boycott of any supermarket that doesn’t stock Australia Day merchandise. For opposition leader Peter Dutton this is a remix of his position when Qantas supported same-sex marriage in 2017 (which was a law change unanimously supported by Australian voters). In 2017 Dutton claimed companies were being pressured to support campaigns through “fear of being extorted by an online social media push to boycott their product”. 7 years later, it’s Dutton doing exactly that – demanding a boycott of a supermarket that doesn’t share his regressive view.
Why it matters:
Direct company attacks by politicians over culture war issues is a relatively new issue in Australia and some believe the Australia Day posturing is a warning shot for other corporations that want to support more progressive policy areas. For marketers it creates a potentially new obstacle – being unwittingly being dragged into the culture wars for demonstrating pride in trying to further discussion and debate and fairness and equality. We saw similar tactics being used around The Voice, with some corporate leaders (including Wesfarmers Chair Michael Chaney being mocked in a divisive, racist ad that appeared in some news publications)
Marketer implication:
The reality is 4 in 5 Australian’s see through a call to boycott a company for simply responding to a lack of consumer demand for a product line and using that shelf space for a higher yielding line of products. But it doesn’t mean some elements of the political spectrum and the media that enable them aren’t going to go after other companies for seeking to improve and evolve their operations across reconciliation, diversity, equality and sustainability. Dutton has come out and openly said his party is not the party of big business and his actions so far in 2024 demonstrate he may have an axe to grind with any business that openly supported The Voice.
Read the rest of this week's Signal HERE
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