Consumers have the power to influence brands to be more responsible. When Nike faced accusations of unethical treatment of overseas workers, consumer backlash led Nike to acknowledge issues, audit factories, and improve worker conditions. Abercrombie & Fitch faced criticism for sexualized marketing and size exclusion. After the CEO's comments surfaced, A&F updated policies on marketing, hiring, and sizing. Consumer outrage over Uber's practices led to the #DeleteUber campaign and CEO resignation, prompting Uber to dedicate itself to improving driver flexibility and support. In each case, brands responded to consumer pressure by acknowledging problems and enacting positive changes.

1. The Issue:
BRAND RESPONSIBILITY

2. What role do consumers have
in shaping brand responsibility?

3. 1) Loyalty to consumers
2) Social good
3) Willingness to change
What is brand responsibility?
Our definition:

4. 1) What is consumer loyalty?
-Engaging in two-way conversation with consumers
-Making decisions with the consumer in mind
-Transparency about brand identity, strategy, and
business practices

5. 2) What is social good?
-Ethical treatment of employees
-Promoting inclusivity and equality
-Awareness of social issues

6. 3) Willingness to change
-Based on the wants and needs of consumers
-Informed by awareness of the cultural climate
-Viewing change as an opportunity for
improvement

7. Consumers have more power over brands than they think.
They can push brands to become more responsible.

8. How are consumers shaping
brand responsibility?

9. Just Do It?

10. In the early 2000s, Nike came under fire for
basing its business model on outsourcing
manufacturing jobs.

11. Nike was accused of treating overseas
workers unethically by making them work
long hours and paying as little as $2.50 per
day.

12. When consumers found out, they were
outraged.
And they responded.

14. -Protests occurred across the U.S.
-University students organized a national hunger
strike
-The “Just Don’t Do It” campaign was created

16. How did
Nike go
from that
to this?

17. -Named favorite brand among millennials
- Annual revenue of $34.4 billion
- Maintains the largest market share in the athletic
apparel industry in North America
Nike Now:

18. “The key to Nike's
turnaround was being
honest and transparent
about the labor issues it
faced.”
- Business Insider
-Nike created a code of conduct
for its factories.
-Nike created the Global Alliance
for Workers and Communities
-Nike audited its factories about
600 times over two years
-Nike published a 108-page report
revealing conditions and pay in its
factories, acknowledging
widespread issues

20. “That's why we hire good-looking people in our stores. Because good-
looking people attract other good-looking people, and we want to market
to cool, good-looking people. . .Are we exclusionary? Absolutely.”
-Mike Jeffries, 2006
Abercrombie & Fitch C.E.O. from 1992-2014

21. A&F has been
criticized for its
sexualized
marketing which
promotes
unreasonable
beauty standards
(especially for
children and
teens).

22. A&F also has a history of profiting from racist,
sexist, and otherwise offensive messages.

23. 2004
Caused
boycott
2002
Caused
boycott
2005
Caused
boycott
2009
Abercrombie & Fitch “Humor Tees”

24. C.E.O. Mike Jeffries’ comments from
2006 resurfaced on Entertainment
Tonight in 2013.
These comments explained the
ideology behind A&F’s strategy for the
past decade, which quickly prompted
consumer outrage.

25. The social media movement
#FitchTheHomeless involved
donating A&F clothing to the
homeless. The goal was to
exact revenge on Jeffries and
the A&F brand while doing
good. “A lot of people don’t belong [in our clothes], and
they can’t belong.”
-Mike Jeffries, 2006

26. Among the complaints was the
fact that A&F stocked XL and
XXL sizes for men, but not for
women.
The company acquiesced and
began stocking more sizes
within months.

27. When Abercrombie &
Fitch entered the
American Customer
Satisfaction Index for
2015, it received the
lowest score in the
history of the index.

28. Due in part to the public outrage, Jeffries stepped down as CEO.
Then, in late 2015, A&F released a plan to reinvent itself as a more
responsible brand:
-Ditch sexualized marketing
-No more half-naked people on ads, on shopping bags, or in
stores
-No longer hire employees based on physical attractiveness
-Promote diversity
-Stock a variety of sizes for all genders
-Gender & racial equality in corporate positions

30. Early February 2017:

31. One week later:

32. #DeleteUber becomes #DownloadLyft
Lyft rideshare numbers go up 137% since
#DeleteUber

33. Following intense social
media pressure from
the #DeleteUber
campaign, Uber C.E.O.
Travis Kalanick leaves
Trump’s advisory
board.

34. Thousands of 1-star reviews on the App Store in February

35. On Feb. 19, roughly 3 weeks after
the #DeleteUber campaign, former
Uber engineer Susan Fowler
claims several cases of sexual
harassment at the company.

36. One controversy after another
A video emerges of
Kalanick arguing with an
Uber driver. It involves
yelling and profanity and
ends with a combative
Kalanick dismissing the
driver's claims that sharp
reductions in fares forced
the driver into bankruptcy.

37. And then: the snowball effect

39. The most important change:
leadership

40. Where to go from here?
For 180 days (as of July), Uber has dedicated each month
to areas of change in the company—areas such as
earnings, support, and flexibility for drivers.

41. Uber is in the process of changing for the
better and has started going down the path
towards
brand responsibility.
All because of consumer backlash.

42. - Consumers have the potential to greatly
influence big-named brands.
- Brands need to be responsive to the voice of the
consumer if they want to be a responsible brand.
- Everyone benefits when brands are dedicated to
social good.
Conclusion

43. -Responded with honesty and made
real improvements
-Responded with change in leadership
and company philosophy
-Responded by replacing leadership
and dedicating to 180 days of change
Nike:
A&F:
Uber:

44. What can you do?
-Be aware of brands’ practices
-Support brands dedicated to social good
-Share your opinion if a brand is not
responsible

45. Sources
- https://therideshareguy.com/rsg-2017-survey-results-driver-earnings-satisfaction-and-demographics/
- https://www.theverge.com/2017/1/18/14311540/uber-lyft-drivers-satisfaction-survey-rideshare-guy
- https://www.nytimes.com/2017/03/21/technology/uber-board-stands-by-travis-kalanick.html
- http://www.foxbusiness.com/features/2017/06/21/timeline-ubers-rough-year-leads-to-ceos-resignation.html
- https://www.nytimes.com/2017/01/31/business/delete-uber.html?_r=0
- https://www.npr.org/sections/alltechconsidered/2017/01/21/510479642/survey-finds-lyft-drivers-happier-than-uber-though-pay-has-declined
- http://www.foxbusiness.com/features/2017/06/21/timeline-ubers-rough-year-leads-to-ceos-resignation.html
- https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/world/2017/11/10/british-panels-rules-uber-drivers-employees-not-contractors/851388001/
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- https://www.dailyemerald.com
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- http://www.businessinsider.com/abercrombie-wants-thin-customers-2013-5
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- http://fortune.com/2014/12/09/abercrombie-ceo-retires/
- http://fortune.com/2015/02/24/abercrombie-supreme-court-muslim-headscarf-policy/
- http://www.businessinsider.com/r-abercrombie--fitch-to-ditch-sexualized-marketing-washington-post--2015-4
- http://fortune.com/2015/04/24/abercrombie-models-covering-up/
- http://www.businessinsider.com/abercrombie-and-fitch-then-and-now-2016-1/#abercrombie-used-to-feature-naked-people-1
- https://www.theacsi.org/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=149&catid=&Itemid=214&c=Abercrombie+%26+Fitch
- https://www.thebalance.com/abercrombie-brand-image-reality-2891857

46. Created by:
Bella Conferti — Stephen Haltiner — Billy Manggala
December 2017