When it Comes to the Yes Vote, Where are Australian Retailers?
Image © William WEST / AFP
Cast your mind back 6 years. The year is 2017 and marriage equality is the hot topic. And as the nation geared up for this historic vote, something remarkable happened. Many retailers boldly stepped up to creatively support the cause and show just how progressive they really were.
Ben and Jerry’s pledged not to serve two scoops of the same flavour until marriage equality became a reality. Airbnb encouraged Australians to display their support for same-sex marriage by wearing a specially designed “acceptance ring”. ANZ bank revamped its iconic “GayTM” installations. And BWS transformed 6 stores into “Pride” stores, complete with rainbow branding and a dedicated Pride radio station playing in-store.
Image Source: gluesociety.com
Now fast forward to 2023. Australia finds itself headed to the polls once again, this time to vote for an Indigenous Voice to Parliament. Sure, we’ve seen some smaller retailers and brands get behind and promote the issue. But when we compare the level of (or lack of) enthusiasm and support exhibited by retailers now to that of 2017, it seems the industry is generally happy to sit on the sidelines.
Surprisingly, there is little to be found from Ben and Jerry’s, a company known for championing various social causes in the past. It took us a while but after some searching, we found a bit of information on both Airbnb’s and ANZ’s websites. Woolworths, while supporting the cause at a broader corporate level, notably withdrew in-store public announcements backing the proposed Voice across its Big W stores after receiving complaints (though they continue to broadcast an Acknowledgement of Country).
Irrespective of one’s stance on the Voice, it’s evident that many Australian retailers have been relatively quiet on the issue. Reuters found that among the 30 largest listed companies in Australia (many of which are retailers), only 13 openly endorsed the proposal. And even among those that did, many did not make significant efforts to communicate their support to consumers, be it either in-store or online.
So why do we think more Australian retailers aren’t getting behind the Voice? Firstly, overall community support is lagging, with pre-polling at around 43% in favour of a YES vote at the time of writing. Compare this to around 62% - 66% pre-polling support for the same-sex marriage vote in 2017. Our guess is retailers are playing it safe and hedging their bets, being cautious about taking a stance on an issue they perceive might not be going to get through.
Additionally, there have been multiple high-profile cases this year where brands faced significant backlash for their involvement in social and political issues. Bud Light lost $395m in sales after consumers reacted negatively from the brand sponsoring a transgender influencer. Target in the US was forced to pull items from its Pride collection and rumoured to have lost $10b in market value in ten days in response to the consumer uproar.
Yet overall, research consistently shows that consumers want brands to engage more actively in social and political issues that are important to them. But the key is, and where Bud Light and Target failed, is it needs to align to the individual’s brand’s purpose and core values.
We’re constantly hearing of multiple Australian retailers and brands that preach their commitment to sustainability and progressiveness (particularly when it comes to inclusion and diversity). So why aren’t many of these same retailers taking a stand on the issue of the Voice? As seen in 2017 with the same sex marriage debate, when brands take a strong stance on issues important to consumers and it’s done in a creative and authentic way, it has the potential to pay significant future dividends with consumers and employees....not to mention it’s the right thing to do.
The industry has significant influence, is one of Australia’s largest employers, and has the scale to drive positive change in Australia.