• by Sarah Mahoney  @mahoney_sarah, December 12, 2024

Image: Walmart's ad targeting Black consumers, just after abandoning DEI, has sparked fury among Black consumers.

Collage Group’s latest ranking of Black consumers’ most-beloved brands is out, and the top 10 are a laundry list of household brands, reflecting an outsized respect for reliability. Dawn, Lysol, Bounty, Hefty and Ziploc are the highest-ranked brands, with Band-Aid, Clorox, Chips Ahoy, Visa and Nike rounding out the top ten.

The market research company also ranks the most differentiated brands between Black and non-Black people. That list is led by Cadillac, with a 538-rank difference between Black and non-Black consumers, followed by the NBA (a difference of 406), Jordan (372), Cash App (361) and CNN (346.)

Collage ranks brands on measures of proprietary cultural fluency, assessing consumer sentiment about a brand’s fit, relevance, memories, values, trust, and advocacy. Overall, the brands that do best prioritize representation and cultural co-creation, with consumers having a keen sense of brands that aim to uplift and empower Black audiences.

While Collage fielded the survey for this ranking before the election, researchers believe widespread disappointment among Black audiences will shake up brand loyalty, particularly as more companies publicly roll back their diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives.

Walmart’s recent decision to abandon its DEI efforts, for example, is already rankling Black consumers, says Zekeera Belton, vice president of client services. “Walmart dropped the fact that they are pulling back on DEI just as the company dropped an ad campaign aimed at Black shoppers, using that iconic 'Love Jones’ movie,” she says. “It’s already sparked such a backlash on social media. People are outraged at how disingenuous that is, like 'Oh, you don’t want to be supportive of me, but you want the Black dollars?’”

Belton tells Marketing Daily she expects Walmart, ranked No. 18 in this year’s list, to fall out of favor as a result of rolling back DEI programs. “Consumers feel genuinely hurt. They are saying they will pull back their spending if they don't feel supported, don’t trust the brand and don’t believe it will advocate for them.”

Since the election, for many Black Americans -- with some 87% voting for Vice President Kamala Harris -- the emotional landscape has shifted, Alonzo Bailey, senior analyst, cultural insights, who worked on the research, tells Marketing Daily. “There’s disappointment, numbness and anxiety, and concern about what other people feel about equity, as a country.”

What brands can do, he says, is focus on areas that make consumers feel more in control of their significant concerns, such as finances and physical and mental health. “Brands that can find a way to soothe fears and offer solutions can show that they understand the top concerns of Black consumers.”

Advocacy is a key ingredient of trust, and he says Delta, which outscores other airlines, is a prime example. “For years, Delta has addressed the shared struggle Black Americans still face when traveling. Flying should be fun -- you’re going on vacation or to see family. But for many Black travelers, there’s a lot of systemic bias, and they actively worry about mistreatment they’ll receive.”

Delta has consistently addressed those concerns by publicizing DEI efforts, focusing on inclusive travel experiences and partnering with events like the Essence Festival to stay relevant. With deliberate efforts to make customer service more representative, Delta is “meeting black travelers where they are and were addressing their needs,” he says.

And while there’s no denying that widespread DEI rollbacks are disheartening, Belton says it would be a mistake to think those internal decisions will necessarily translate to less diversity in external messaging.

“Consumers want brands to be representative and inclusive in their advertising, whether that’s the Black, Hispanic or LGBTQ audience. We’ve seen demand for this increasing, with about 40% of our respondents saying brands need to do more. Consumers have greater scrutiny about that kind of inclusion, and they clearly want to see themselves represented in a brand’s advertising.”

And they are running out of patience. As an example, she points to the current tsunami of fury people have for health insurance companies. “There’s just so much pent-up consumer frustration and rage,” Belton says. “People want the community to care. They want the government to care. They want their fellow Americans to care. And they want brands to be a part of the conversation as well,” she says.

Companies looking for growth, especially those aimed at Gen Z, won’t achieve meaningful gains without satisfying that demand for diversity and inclusion. “Brands that want to future-proof their business have to go after those young consumers, the most diverse generation we’ve ever seen,” sums up Belton.