How These Brands Nailed Inclusive Marketing Perfectly

To hype up the product, its ad featured what’s supposedly the opening of a vegan burger store called “Impossible Restaurant.” Non-beef eaters lined up for the opening and were wholly surprised to learn that the restaurant is actually Burger King.

3. Gillette

Numerous razor ads have focused on masculinity and the male ritual of shaving. That said, it’s not surprising that Gillette made waves in 2019 when it went against the grain. Its ad featured a transgender male who was shaving for the first time. Nervous though he was, he had his father coaching him from the sidelines. “Now, don’t be scared,” says his father. “Shaving is about being confident.” Yes, the scene is as heart-touching as you can imagine.

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4. Coca-Cola

Coca-Cola was well ahead of its time when it did one of the most iconic ads in 1971. The ad featured 65 people of various ethnic backgrounds on a hilltop in Manziana, Italy, singing “I’d Like to Buy The World a Coke.” The ad and the song became so popular that a pop version was produced because requests for it flooded radio stations.

5. Neutrogena

Neutrogena displayed its inclusive branding by marketing its product alongside Holi, a Hindu/Indian Festival. Holi is celebrated in Spring, and the festivities usually include colored powder fights. With the holiday being popular in the western world as well, the brand suggested through an Instagram post that their makeup remover wipes can help revelers clean up their hair and skin after all the fun.

6. Pampers

Gone are the days when diaper companies only market to moms. Over the decades, society has grown to acknowledge that parenting duties are not exclusive to one gender. Pampers did a great job of showing this philosophy.

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An ad for the brand featured music artists Adam Levine and John Legend changing their children’s diapers. A diverse group of dads holding their little ones then join them on a song about changing nappies. The ad concludes with Legend’s wife, Chrissy Teigen, walking in on them and saying, “Must we do this every time?”

7. Maybelline

Makeup isn’t just for women, and Maybelline acknowledges that. To appeal to a wider market, the New York-based cosmetic care company chose a male model to be one of their endorsers.

In 2017, the brand named YouTube star Manny Gutierrez as its first male ambassador. Gutierrez is one of the male beauty influencers who grew popular online. And with Maybelline tapping him as an ambassador, the makeup line opened up its doors to a bigger market segment.

8. Campbell’s Soup

Campbell’s Soup has had its share of mid-20th century housewife ads. However, it has moved towards a more diverse strategy over the past few decades. In fact, its 2015 ad for Campbell’s Star Wars soups featured a gay couple feeding their child.

The two dads take turns delivering Darth Vader’s famous line, “Luke, I am your father,” while spoon-feeding their kid. It’s a fun, simple, and heart-warming scene that ended with the tagline, “Made of real, real life.”

Conclusion

Without a doubt, marketing these days goes beyond trying to drive traffic to your blog or crafting the best eCommerce landing page. These days, marketing is all about creating a connection between the brand and its audience.

That said, being inclusive in your brand messaging is more than just modern-day marketing trends. Instead, it seems to be a standard that will be here to stay. So, you better get on to it if you want to keep in step with the rest of the players in your industry.