It’s time for brands to go beyond the platitudes of inclusion

Inclusion and representation are words used so frequently in the marketing industry these days that they’re in danger of becoming empty buzzwords. In every sector, brands talk up how they “celebrate diversity”, are “committed to representation”, and “value all voices”.

It’s clear why. The customer centricity which so many brands claim to prioritise – and which offers a clear route to competitive advantage commercially – relies on an understanding of a more diverse and complex society than ever before.

Whether you’re flogging cars, software, or FMCG products, the makeup of your current and potential customer base will probably have changed quite a bit over the past couple of decades.

The ability to appeal and sell to people from different walks of life is becoming increasingly business critical – and representation is a fundamental building block to any customer focus.

Unfortunately, these claims of inclusion and customer centricity too often fail the real world test and can end up coming across as hollow and insincere. The challenge is that the decision-makers at many brands, particularly within marketing and advertising, aren’t representative of our population.

Every brand should embrace inclusion, but there’s a business case tooWhile this isn’t something we can fix overnight, good quality research and insights can play an invaluable role in filling the void. They can create a deeper, more accurate understanding of diverse customer bases to drive products and campaigns that better reflect their lives and needs.

Achieving greater inclusion increasingly means testing against all groups, including those typically seen to form a ‘majority’, to ensure nobody is unintentionally left behind.

As we’ve seen in the US, failing to consider all communities in the inclusion agenda has unfortunately led to a general pushback against ED&I.

My call to marketers is this: can we make 2025 the year we really prioritise representation in its entirety and push beyond platitudes and assumptions about our audiences?

What you could win

A great example of the rewards of going beyond surface-level inclusion is Holland & Barrett’s ‘Every menopause matters’ campaign. Recognising the unique challenges faced by women during menopause, the business’ insights team saw a gap in the market and invested in extensive research to better understand its customers’ needs and how it could meet them.

The research uncovered significant gaps in menopause support, particularly among women from black, Asian and minority ethnic backgrounds. Many people from these groups felt that existing support and advice did not represent their experiences.

In response to the findings, Holland & Barrett developed and launched initiatives like its multi-language online menopause consultation service and training for their staff to be able to offer more personalised advice. Through these services, the brand has been able to differentiate itself in the market, open up conversations with new and existing customers and recommend relevant products based on real people’s needs.

A call to action for 2025

Examples like this clearly require upfront investment, and we know that budgets are likely to remain tight at least in the short term. But the insights we can glean from putting our money where our mouth is when it comes to ED&I offer significant returns commercially and for brand reputation.

In the absence of significant funds, strong research paired with marketers’ imaginative storytelling can also help develop impactful campaigns that support greater inclusion. For instance, a collaboration between the University of Sheffield and artist Pete McKee last year tackled the long-ignored topic of sexual health in older adults, leading to the development of the UK’s first sexual rights charter for people over 50.

While every organisation might not be in a position to commit to dedicated projects, there are small steps we can all make to improve the inclusivity of products, services and marketing, like ensuring our decisions are based on truly nationally representative samples.

Brands should take more interest in bridging societal divisions, report suggestsOne new year’s resolution everyone can and should commit to is finally consigning the generic ‘over 65s’ age band to the history books when segmenting audiences or conducting research. It’s quite astounding that the practice is still so widely used given that it lumps together a group that, today, could span up to four decades. We’d never dream of counting a 20-year-old in the same bracket as someone approaching 60. Our ageing population means the gap in our understanding of older consumers will only grow if we don’t tackle it soon.

From marketing to product development, we should all be adopting a mindset that constantly considers where changes – large or small – can be made to improve representation within our work and truly achieve greater customer centricity.

This relies on understanding who it is we are really talking to – and that all starts with considered, good quality research.

Jane Frost CBE is the chief executive of the Market Research Society (MRS)