How can brands participate in joyful moments, like Pride, in authentic and supportive ways?

On a hot summer’s day on the 30th of June, people gathered to celebrate and commemorate Pride and the Stonewall Riots - considered one of the main catalysts for the LGBTQ+ movement. Because New York City is home to the first ever Pride, NYC Pride is particularly monumental. Despite Pride historically being a protest, it has since aimed to celebrate and empower the LGBTQ+ community and intersecting identities.

Controversially, Pride is now quite a commercial occasion and even referred to as ‘corporate pride’ - a somewhat tongue and cheek way of saying that Pride is now more about brands rather than paying homage to LGBTQ+ history. Yet in a world where brands make up so much of what we consume, it’s now become necessary to consider their role in supporting the LGBTQ+ community. In addition, brands that solidify their support for the LGBTQ+ community through participation in events like Pride may positively halo onto their brand.

Participation in NYC Pride requires being vetted by Heritage of Pride - the nonprofit organization that facilitates Pride. However, brands must decide for themselves how they want to show up. This poses the question: what is the best way for brands to participate in pride authentically?

In general, Pride month in 2024 involved a huge amount of scaling back of Pride campaigns, marketing, and outreach - both because of previous inauthenticity of engagement and the controversial nature of brands supporting the LGBTQ+ community. Many brands struggle to appeal to a politically divided American public while still wanting to engage in moments of joy through the year. Brands still benefit from participation in Pride because it signals the brand is part of the cultural zeitgeist - and that their brand is inclusive, progressive and contemporary.

Using TheDROP report’s dimensionalization of different types of joy, there are a variety of associations consumers have with joy. Pride has an immense amount of depth, versatility, and associations with joy. This gives brands many different avenues to participate in; however, when brands show up inauthentically, they miss out on the positive associations of joy. At best, brands can show up at pride by owning a joy space in an authentic way aligning with existing brand values. So, what does it look like to show up authentically?

Coca-Cola owns an indulgent joy and provides mini Coke Zero’s

As a brand that already has strong associations with happiness and joy, Coca-Cola’s participation in Pride was welcomed. On the hot summer’s day, Coca-Cola handing out free Coke Zero’s felt like supporting and uplifting Pride attendees. Coca-Cola solidified its existing associations with indulgence, but also signaled that it’s a progressive and inclusive brand. The simple act of handing out free Cokes is a sign of generosity, a small, brand-focused act to elevate the experience at Pride. As a brand, it’s well positioned to elevate the indulgent expression of joy at pride through a Coke Zero. By owning the indulgence space at pride, Coca-Cola authentically participated in Pride.

L’Oreal’s credibility in the joy space provides an opportunity to show up authentically, but felt like they missed an opportunity.

L'Oreal playfully showed up with LGBTQ+ employees, balloons, and tangible financial support to a non-profit. As a brand that’s about freedom, self-expression, and playfulness, there’s a clear way for L’Oreal to own a joy space distinctly and authentically.

L’Oreal donated to God’s Love We Deliver - a non-profit that helps individuals with food scarcity by providing meals. While a genuine and meaningful act, the non-profit felt unrelated to Pride and to supporting LGBTQ+ individuals. By donating to a seemingly random non-profit, it felt as if that brand was lumping all corporate social responsibility into one event.

In reality, pride is a space for joy, freedom, and playfulness. L’Oreal missed the mark to own the distinct joy space of playfulness. Owning playfulness might look like leaning into the joy, energy, and color of makeup - face paint, drag artists, glitter etc. The inclusive and playful self-expression of L’Oreal as a brand is well-fit to Pride; however, L’Oreal came up short in demonstrating authentic participation.

Mastercard participates in freedom of expression, but has an opportunity to own hope

Financial services aren’t naturally associated with joy - they often have to work harder to show up; however, Mastercard is well fit to show up here with brand values aligning with inclusion and being true to yourself. The joy spaces of freedom and inclusion feel quite hard to own and participate in. Mastercard connects to the expression of freedom as a type of joy through inclusive features, but also simply the freedom to connect individuals, businesses, and organizations. Mastercard showed up with branded flags, fans, and sunscreen - all which felt like accessible ways for Pride attendees to participate in the celebration. The practicality of handing out a small, branded, tube of sunscreen is a simple way to elevate the experience of pride goers.

As a financial institution, Mastercard has an opportunity to show up in joy spaces in distinct ways - outside of just handing out free items. To show up truly authentically, Mastercard needs to engage with joy spaces they can distinctly own - such as anticipation and hope. The distinctiveness of hope as a joy space would strengthen the authenticity of showing up at Pride. This might look like giveaways, deals, special offers, discounts, or financially supporting LGBTQ+ non-profits. Mastercard authentically showed up in the joy space of freedom, but missed out on owning a distinctive space like anticipation.

When considering the various ways brands can engage in joyous moments, it’s important to consider the different associations with joy. All brands have the opportunity to benefit from associations with joy at Pride while being part of the cultural zeitgeist; however, the challenge is showing up authentically. Authenticity means finding a joy space that is distinct and ownable for the brand. By dimensionalizing joy, brands can show up in authentic ways that resonate with the experience of consumers. Using BAMM’s framework and thinking, there’s an opportunity for all brands to discover their authenticity in engaging with joyful events.

Words by Carolyn Fahner and Photography by Sophie Hatch

Sources

https://www.cbsnews.com/news/pride-month-campaigns-2024-major-brands-scaled-back-why-that-matters/

https://www.vox.com/today-explained-newsletter/355782/pride-corporations-lgbtq-rainbow-profit

https://www.nytimes.com/2024/06/30/opinion/pride-march-lgbtq-gaza.html

https://www.nytimes.com/2024/06/30/nyregion/nyc-pride-parade.html

https://www.mastercard.us/en-us/vision/who-we-are/pride.html l