Inclusive marketing leads to sustained business growth. But for that to happen, it needs to be embedded into your strategic business planning process. In this episode, I sat down with Christina Griffin, a business planning consultant for billion dollar brands. We also walk through her framework that highlights how to infuse inclusion into the process. Get the Inclusion & Marketing Newsletter Christina's business planning framework

Change has to be managed well for it to be implemented effectively. As you work to build an inclusive brand -- especially if you haven't fully operated that way in the past, managing that change is essential, to ensure you get the sustained results you're after. We talk about ways to do that in this episode with Nancy Harris. Get the Inclusion & Marketing Newsletter Nancy Harris - Restart Consulting

Life is about belonging. And because of that, business is about belonging. On this week's episode, you'll hear from real consumers --- who also happen to be previous guests on this show, share their experiences of when brands showed them they belonged, and how they responded. Get the Inclusion & Marketing Newsletter

For many, belonging often feels like an elusive term that makes it hard to know for sure how to apply. In this episode, I sat down with an expert on belonging, Unni Turretini, who is also an author, speaker, and human connection expert. In our discussion, we chatted about practical ways to ensure more of the people you serve -- both on your team, and as customers, feel like they belong with you. Unni's website Get the Inclusion & Marketing Newsletter

Life is about belonging. And because of that, business is about belonging. While belonging can often feel like an elusive term, the truth is that belonging plays an essential role in earning fiercely loyal customers. This episode walks you through 5 lessons in belonging I picked up from attending Beyonce's Renaissance World tour in person. Get the Inclusion & Marketing Newsletter

Stories of customer experience (or lack thereof) has been in the news a lot lately. No one wants to have a bad customer experience. No one. And that of course includes people from underrepresented and underserved communities. Here are common ways brands deliver a less than stellar customer experience to those consumers, and what you can do instead. Get the Inclusion & Marketing Newsletter

If you want to do a better job of serving the customers you currently have, as well as attracting and retaining more customers from underrepresented and underserved communities, you have to have this kind of person on your team. Get the Inclusion & Marketing Newsletter Episode 22: Common ways brands treat diverse talent like unpaid consultants (and what to do instead) Episode 14: Are you taking more than you give?

This is a common question that more and more brands are pondering, about when brands should be requesting demographic data for their customers. There are many benefits to having data, but what is the impact on your customers? And how should you communicate about the use of that data? We get into all of it in this short episode. Get the Inclusion & Marketing Newsletter Episode 45 - Factors influencing your customers' success that you should be aware of

Many brands think that focusing on creating an environment where all feel welcome is enough to ensure that people from underrepresented and underserved communities feel like they belong with you. It's not. If you want to increase customer acquisition of people from these communities focus your efforts on what we cover in this episode. Get the episode transcript Get the Inclusion & Marketing Newsletter New York Times Article about the craft beer market Episode 54: Creating inclusive...

Friction in a customer experience is bad. It kills conversions. It diminishes customer success. And it really lowers customer retention. But the reality is, everyday brands deliver experiences with friction in them. And that friction is heightened for consumers from underrepresented and underserved communities. In this episode, I walk you through the friction (and delight), real customers experienced as we audited customer experiences real brands are delivering right now on their websites,...

HBCUs, or Historically Black Colleges and Universities are a big part of Black culture in the U.S. Often times when brands want to engage the Black community as consumers or a source of talent --- partnerships and campaigns with HBCUs feels like low-hanging fruit. But the way most brands approach the work they do with HBCUs is quite superficial. It very much feels like they are checking a box or following some pre-determined playbook for how to reach the Black community. So their efforts...

How to be authentically inclusive is one of the most common questions I get from marketers and business leaders about inclusive marketing. The good news is a couple of weeks ago, I was part of a panel discussion at the INBOUND conference in Boston. Our topic - was authentic and inclusive brands. And my fellow panelists were Natasha Pierre of Shine with Natasha and the Shine Online podcast, and Sundas Khalid, a data scientist at Google and host of a popular YouTube channel on data science,...

With a growing number of consumers now expecting the brands they buy from to be inclusive, more brands than ever are making inclusive marketing a priority. But there’s still a number of companies standing on the sidelines when it comes to including people with identities that don’t so cleanly fit into what is considered to be ‘mainstream,’ and it’s costing them sales. Here are the 5 most common objections I hear from marketers about inclusive marketing, along with how to overcome those...

Inclusive marketing isn't quite yet the standard way of engaging in marketing. Although it will soon be. As you work with your agency, here's when to think about bringing in an inclusive marketing agency to support you in engaging underrepresented and underserved communities authentically. We also cover the very important principal of 'nothing about us without us." Matthew Tsang (he/him) is the Co-Founder of AndHumanity, an integrated inclusive marketing and communications agency with the...

One of the benefits of including others are the diverse perspectives you get when looking at a situation. In this episode, I invited my inclusive marketing colleagues Matthew Tsang and Joyann Boyce to the show, and together we reviewed, reacted, and gave our perspectives on several brand campaigns that were published around the world. Get the episode transcript Get the Inclusion & Marketing Newsletter Joyann Boyce at Arima & Co Matthew Tsang at AndHumanity Sainsbury's ad B&Q...

Twenty-five percent of the world’s population identifies as Muslim. However representation in media and marketing for people of Muslim faith is nowhere near the population. And when Muslim representation does exist, it often isn't favorable and showcases people of Muslim faith in negative stereotypical ways. No bueno. In this episode, I chat with Mariam Shahab, an inclusive marketer who is also of Muslim faith, to talk through ways brands can ensure the people they serve from this community...

Every brand needs to have brand guidelines. And those guidelines also need to incorporate your approach and style as it relates to inclusion. This episode we dive into how to make your brand guidelines more inclusive, specifically by focusing on language and visual imagery. Get the episode transcript here Get the Inclusion & Marketing Newsletter Inclusive Brand Academy Episode 15: Getting started with inclusive language with Nailah King

Responsible marketing, which is very closely related to inclusive marketing, is a term that I heard from the wonderful Lola Bakare. In this episode, we cover why smart brands engage in it. Lola, who is my guest today, is an Anthem Award-Winning CMO Advisor & Inclusive Marketing Strategist, and founder of be/co, a boutique consultancy that empowers brands and marketing leaders with strategic guidance, coaching, training, and workshops that unleash new levels of success. Get the episode...

There's a foundational principle of inclusive marketing that a lot of brands overlook, and that a lot of consumers don't realize. In each of these instances, people end up frustrated which is no good. In this episode, I cover this foundational principle and how to put it into action for your brand. Get the transcript of the episode here Get the Inclusion & Marketing Newsletter here Episode 29 - What inclusive brand type are you?

We are finishing up our growth series with this episode that is all about helping you and your brand communicate in a way that wins the hearts, minds, and loyalty of consumers who speak a different language. For this episode, I chatted with my Spanish translation team - Alicia and Andrea. Together, we help brands communicate and create love connections with Spanish speaking consumers. Spanish is the fourth most common language spoken in the world, behind English, Mandarin, and Hindi. And it...

Globalization is a smart growth strategy. When you focus on serving people who have the problem your business solves who speak different languages and or live in different countries, growth is inevitable. With the technologies that exist today, this is easier and more cost effective to do than ever, no matter what type of business you have. So in today’s episode as we continue with our growth series, we’re going to cover how you can use globalization as a growth strategy in your business,...

How you think about the people you serve matters. In this episode, I cover how to define more specifically who you are including, and how you think about, show up for, have empathy for, and fight for, using examples from the Oppenheimer cast, Rihanna, Johnson & Johnson and more. Get the episode transcript here What inclusive brand type are you? (episode) What inclusive brand type are you (quiz) Get the Inclusion & Marketing newsletter

In this episode you’re going to hear about how Evite, a company that touches over 100 million people in the US each year — has embraced expanding the way they thought about who had the problem their brand solves, particularly as it relates to the parenthood journey, and how that’s allowed them to serve more people. Get the full transcript here Get the Inclusion & Marketing newsletter

Inclusive marketing not only is a good thing to do, but when done right it helps brands grow on a number of fronts. Conversely, not engaging in inclusive marketing prevents many brands from growing. In this episode I cover common ways not being inclusive is preventing brands from growing. Join the Inclusion & Marketing Newsletter Get the transcript of this episode Links mentioned in this episode: How to create an accessible brand for people with disabilities with Erin Perkins How to...

There's been an uptick in the number of brands that are being called out for being both 'woke' and 'political'. But what does it even mean for a brand to be 'woke'? This episode covers the true meaning of woke, what it means for brands, and why all brands are inherently political. Transcript of this episode Top companies in the US who lobby the government Join the Inclusion & Marketing Newsletter