Social media has made it increasingly easier for consumers to be more vocal about certain issues. After all, everyday citizens have a part to play in addressing our society’s problems, and one way to do so is through speaking up. But activism for these issues doesn’t simply lie in the hands of consumers.

Brands have more social impact than one might think. 

In Edelman’s 2018 Earned Brand Global Report, “Brands Take a Stand”, it was revealed that 53% of people believe that brands can do more than governments when it comes to solving social problems. 

It was also found that 67% of consumers think that brands are able to raise awareness on issues that they speak about, according to Sprout Social’s survey. 

The question is: How does it work?

Opening up the conversation

There are brands all over the world that have become more impact-driven by integrating their cause or stance on an issue into their business model. For example, brands have made it a point to be more transparent about the production process of their goods, which is usually linked to labor issues as well as production (environmental or economical) issues. In showing this to their audience, these brands become both honest and educational. 

Doing this also invites consumers to see the impact of their purchases. Brands have taken part in social impact campaigns wherein part of their profit goes into funding causes they stand for. When brands show this to their customers, they engage them and make them part of the movement, as well.

These, however, might seem like major changes or implementations for a brand, and while these are all well and good, it’s best to start small: through communication channels.

By sharing content about the causes your brand supports or important issues that your brand values, whether in online media or traditional media (though Comm&Sense’s online poll reveals that Filipino netizens much prefer social media as the platform for brand activism), you are able to shed light on matters that your audiences may not be too familiar with. 

Whether your brand decides to use a campaign that focuses on educating your audience on an issue, or you choose to simply show support for certain causes, your brand is able to become a push-off point for them.

In fact, the Comm&Sense Brand Activism Survey, which was conducted online, revealed that 58.9% of the respondents are generally likely to act on an issue after a brand takes a stand on it. Among these respondents, 90.8% of them said they would research more about the issue, 79.1% said they would donate to the cause, and 75.5% said that they’d discuss the issue with their friends and family.

While this can still be further studied, our survey has enough proof to show that there are Filipinos who will take action after seeing a brand voice its opinion on an issue. It’s now up to companies to decide whether they want to ignite that spark in their consumers.

Comm&Sense’s online poll series aims to help marketers through localized preliminary insights on online Filipino consumer behavior that they can explore when making their branding initiatives.

* This data was collected from an online survey, conducted through Google Forms, with a total of 1,141 volunteer respondents (non-random sampling) and no margin of error. The survey ran from August to September 2020.