SXSW 2021: PURPOSE & SOCIAL JUSTICE

03/23/21
by Lisa Fritts

SXSW 2021 delivered a very clear call to action for brands around purpose and taking a stand on human injustices. As health and wellbeing marketers, we need to listen and not just stand by, not just sell products – but truly make the world better. How?  

Purpose. 

Two of the panels I attended spoke to how important it is for brands and organizations to clearly define a purpose. Holly Thaggard of Supergoop! has been on a mission to get SPF into everyone’s daily skincare routine and to make it a seasonless category. Something as simple as calling her morning team meetings “Rise and Shine and SPF” serves as a reminder to this mission. Both she and Wade Allen of Brinker International (who was in a different panel discussion) amplified how having a clearly defined mission makes it easier to innovate and make business decisions. As Mr. Allen stated: “Many companies have a clear purpose. When you do, you’ll know what to innovate around, not just innovating for the sake of innovating.” Call to action for brand marketers: Define how you make the world better in one, concise sentence, and stick to it in all of your decisions and actions 

Social Justice. 

80% of consumers believe that brands need to solve society’s problems.1 And 71% believe that companies, now more than ever, need to address social justice issues.2 Sabrina Butler-Smith shared her story about being wrongly convicted, sentenced to death row, and then exonerated. And in response, Sir Richard Branson compelled business leaders to care about the death penalty: “We’re human beings. All successful businesses make people’s lives better…and their leaders need to be a force for goodness in society…this must include speaking out about issues that are unacceptable.” In another panel, Trans activist Alok Vaid-Menon spoke to the state of emergency in Trans legislation and the need to act: “This is also your fight to create a world where people matter more than your bodies. We need to be respected for our souls, not our bodies.” Call to action for brand marketers: You have platforms to do more for the world, and can no longer be afraid of causes that speak out against human injustices. To quote Sir Richard Branson: “Screw it. Just do it. Justice, empathy, forgiveness, and racial equality are things we cannot be silent on. We must never ever be bystanders in the face of injustice.”  


  1. https://www.edelman.com/research/brand-trust-2020 
  1. https://www.porternovelli.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/06/PN-Purpose-Tracker_Business-Imperative-for-Social-Justice-Today.pdf