There’s been a lot of commentary surrounding a photo actress Kristen Bell posted of her friends at dinner on her Instagram account earlier this month. It started off with people commenting on the number of celebrities around the table. And then it quickly moved to people pointing out the lack of visible diversity in the group of party-goers.
While the photo sparked a lot of discussion, the reality is, photos like these aren’t uncommon, especially when it comes to brands. I see images like this all the time, especially from brands on social media and on their websites.
Unfortunately, most of the time when brands are publishing this imagery, they aren’t aware of the negative impact it has on potential customers, and ultimately their brand’s sales.
Business is about belonging.
And the visual imagery your brand puts forth communicates one of two messages. The first is “you belong here,” and the other “this isn’t for you.”
When people see themselves represented in the visual imagery your brand puts forth, it’s like a subliminal permission slip that gives them the mental and emotional green light to take the next step forward with you.
When they don’t see themselves represented, they get the signal, “this isn’t for me” and they go about their day not moving further along in their journey with you.
The visual imagery your brand puts forth communicates to the people you serve, whether or not you intentional about ensuring it sends the message you want to send.
So when people who are considering being your customer see a long list of testimonials and nobody in the testimonial stack looks like them, then they receive the “you don’t belong here” signal.
When people who are interested in learning more about you and following along with your brand see images of your team, and they don’t see themselves or who they aspire to be reflected in those photos, they receive the “you don’t belong here” signal.
When people who follow you see images of you and your professional network, and they don’t see anyone who looks like them represented, they receive the “you don’t belong here” signal.
When people who enjoy your content only featuring experts with similar backgrounds and identities, they get the “you don’t belong here” signal.
Non-representative imagery communicates “you don’t belong here” to identities not included, whether you intend to send that message or not.
How to ensure your photos show more people they belong with you
The message here isn’t to police your photos. Not posting photos of you and your crew isn’t the solution. Rather focus your attention on diversifying your circle of influence.
Be intentional about building a diverse network. Doing so will broaden your perspective, increase your capacity for empathy, and give you additional knowledge about the lived experiences, traditions, challenges, and needs of people who are different from you.
Be intentional about building a diverse team. Diverse teams perform better. They are more innovative. They produce better and more authentic marketing.
Matthew Tsang is a co-founder of AndHumanity, an inclusive marketing agency based in Vancouver. He told me about a Nike commercial that had so much cultural insight baked into it, that it made him feel seen, it made him get emotional, and it made him feel like he belonged. It made him want to go out and buy a pair of Nikes.
He explained why, noting that a representative team made the ad so powerful, “never have I seen a Lunar New Year ad really depict exactly the type of customs and traditions that I grew up having. I just felt so seen. You would never, without having that lived experience, you couldn’t read that insight and know how to create a script around it.”
Be intentional about building a diverse customer base. The more diversity you have in the people you serve, the easier it becomes to showcase a representative mix of customers who’ve achieved success with you.
This isn’t just about ‘seeing’ people who look like you, although that is important. For a variety of reasons, sometimes customers with different backgrounds don’t achieve the same degree of success as others who are part of a dominant group.
Customers, particularly those from underrepresented and underserved communities know that, which is why it is important for them to see that people who are like them have already achieved success with your offering.
Representation matters. But representation isn’t only about the visual imagery you show in ads. Representation matters just as much, if not more so in the imagery you have and highlight of you, your crew, and the people you serve in real life.
Make sure consumers can see themselves represented throughout all the visual imagery your brand puts forth — both in the scripted content, and in the unscripted.
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