Hate me. Then buy from me.
You’ve probably noticed the increased stress in today’s world. From Main Street to Wall Street, seemingly everyone’s on edge. Businesses can’t project earnings, leading to skittishness about possible layoffs.
That makes this a good time to remind America’s 33 million business owners to keep their politics to themselves. Because the increasing tribalism surrounding us virtually guarantees that, regardless of your position on anything, half of your potential customer base will probably be unhappy with you.
Meaning your activism could easily bite you in the cash register.
Remember Brendan Eich, CEO of Mozilla? He supported Proposition 8 to ban gay marriage, and was forced to resign his job after widespread backlash.
THIS BELONGS IN EVERY BUSINESS LIBRARY!
James Craigie (Church & Dwight) very publicly supported various causes, leading to boycotts and a sharp sales drop of Arm & Hammer products.
Mike Lindell (MyPillow) invested in overturning 2020’s election results. It cost him $100 million in lost sales.
And Elon Musk publicly plowed into politics, assuming he could do so with impunity. Bad press, lost sales and violence all followed, with Tesla’s sales down 28% (and his stock down $700 billion) in just six weeks after Donald Trump’s inauguration.
OUCH!
Everyone is impacted by this trend, regardless of where you are on the political spectrum. Howard Schulz (Starbucks) faced boycotts and ridicule over his campaign encouraging baristas to discuss race relations with customers.
Dan Cathy (Chick-Fil-A) tried appeasing progressive critics and sparked the ire of conservative consumers.
And Yvon Chouinard (Patagonia) caught hell for suing the Trump administration over public land use.
One can’t help but notice a pattern here.
Regardless of your business, it’s important to recognize that a one-way conversation promoting your political agenda carries inherent risks to your brand. Because not only do you have the costs associated with creating and broadcasting your message, but your efforts could easily chase away the very people you’re trying to persuade.
And while it’s possible to communicate respectfully with someone on “the other side,” there are many people who simply won’t want to work with you because you don’t share the same political beliefs as them.
Sadly, two-way conversations may not fare much better today.
So keep your politics to yourself. Because if you’re trying to grow your bottom line, that may be more important than feeling like you won the argument.
With that said, I wish you a week of profitable marketing.
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