STAT OF THE DAY According to a new poll from Edelman, 60% of consumers expect brands to speak out against systemic racism; 56% say it’s a “moral obligation” to do so. COVID-19 UPDATES At the time of reporting, The New York Times showed that 2,010,961 cases of COVID-19 and 113,097 deaths in the U.S. Bing’s COVID-19 Tracker reported 2,044,639 cases of COVID-19 in the U.S. and 114,698 deaths. States are seeing a bounce back of positive COVID-19 cases after rolling back safety precautions. In perhaps the direst set of circumstances, Arizona officials say they face a real possibility of having to shut down the state again. The Dow dropped 1,300 points over fears about the resurgence of COVID-19. Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin says the U.S. economy won’t be shut down again despite a rising count of cases.
In these extraordinary times, take care with your language. Here are some tips on how you can slow down and parse your messages to make sure you land on the correct sentiment for your audience.
Self-assessment is key in addressing equity in the workplace. It’s important to start from a place of facts, experts argue, as organizations try to grapple with disparity and inequity around race and the workplace. Here’s how you can think about doing an honest self-check to inform your next steps. Champion your black colleagues and friends. In addressing systemic inequality, you can help by recommending your connections for opportunities and sharing work from black colleagues on your social media. See the full list of ways you can help fight racial injustice in the workplace. What are the messages on Black Lives Matter that resonate, according to the data? Here’s what reports in recent days suggest, but don’t let the data hem you in. Being a leader sometimes means you have to be ahead of popular opinion. Nike joins Twitter in making Juneteenth a paid employee holiday. The apparel brand has been criticized for its lack of inclusivity internally despite bold statements in advertising, including a campaign featuring Colin Kaepernick. Yahoo reported: “As many of you may know, next Friday, June 19, is Juneteenth, a day commemorating the end of slavery in the U.S. Starting this year and going forward, Nike will recognize Juneteenth as an annual paid holiday in the U.S,” [CEO John Donahoe] wrote. Donahoe said doing so is an “important opportunity is to better commemorate and celebrate Black history and culture.” Amazon places a one-year moratorium on facial recognition tech. After IBM promised to stop working with police on facial recognition tech, Amazon is also putting on the breaks and asking for more regulation on how its technology is used. It wrote in a blog post: We’ve advocated that governments should put in place stronger regulations to govern the ethical use of facial recognition technology, and in recent days, Congress appears ready to take on this challenge. We hope this one-year moratorium might give Congress enough time to implement appropriate rules, and we stand ready to help if requested. Starbucks bars employees from wearing Black Lives Matter attire. The coffee chain said in an internal email that the apparel was banned over fears it could incite violence and because it was of a political nature. Employees say the rule contradicts the chain’s previous statements that support racial justice. BuzzFeed reported: Being part of that change does not extend, however, to allowing the company’s baristas and other employees to wear T-shirts, pins, or any other accessory that mentions Black Lives Matter. In fact, the company explicitly stated that Black Lives Matter attire was prohibited from the lists of things employees can wear due to its dress code policy, which also includes any type of political, religious, or personal accessories or clothing. However, as many employees noted to BuzzFeed News, Starbucks not only exempts buttons and attire celebrating LGBTQ rights and marriage equality, but hands them out. PayPal invests in “opportunity fund” to support minority-owned businesses. The company says the move is part of an effort to support diversity inside and outside the organization. The New York Times wrote: "Let me be clear: I stand with our Black teammates and with the Black community, as does the entire PayPal community," CEO Dan Schulman said in the internal memo. "We stand with you and we support you – and we must publicly declare that Black lives matter." Your message needs to resonate online. Especially during these challenging times, you must be present digitally and have a clear voice that rises above the noise. Here are some ways to develop your digital voice. Walmart stops locking down “multicultural” personal care products in stores. The chain had previously defended the practice, saying that decisions about in-store security were left up to regional managers. USA Today reported: “As a retailer serving millions of customers every day from diverse backgrounds, Walmart does not tolerate discrimination of any kind,” the company said. “Like other retailers, the cases were put in place to deter shoplifters from some products such as electronics, automotive, cosmetics and other personal care products.” Virtual Conference Alert Join us for Ragan & PR Daily's Social Media & Digital Communications Virtual Conference on June 18–19 to learn brand strategies and best practices to meet the challenges of the new reality. 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