One of the surprising dimensions of SXSW Interactive 2018 that came out on Day Four was the emphasis on our shared, social responsibility to stand up for women, for people of color, for people on the margins of society, and for all of our fellow humans.
Apple’s Eddie Cue graced SXSW with his presence (Apple hasn’t been engaged at SX for years!) to talk about the importance of curation. Social platforms we love like Facebook, Instagram, Twitter and Reddit have been called to account in light of the recent investigation into Russian interference in the U.S. elections. Through the spread of targeted messaging and false news accounts using these platforms (and others), there is evidence that public sentiment was swayed in favor of the Trump campaign. Further, the content and tone of posts and conversation threads on these platforms have raised questions about the responsibility of the platform owners to regulate hate speech and other forms of defamation.
Cue held Apple up as an early example of the value of curation on its News and Apps platform. From the beginning, Apple allowed only high-quality newspapers and magazines onto its News platform. By being selective about its content, Apple avoided the possibility of spreading false stories on its platform. The same is true for Apps. By evaluating every app submitted to the App Store, Apple retained control over the quality and content of what appeared in its ecosystem. Apple took (and still takes) a lot of flack for not being an “open source” environment, but in this era, it now appears as a model strategy for ancillary reasons. For Apple, Cue noted, placing a guard at the door of content for its ecosystem was always about upholding the quality of Apple’s products and the user experience.
Cue also explained that social responsibility has always been baked into Apple’s products. Apple develops a few products well with the goal of creating technology that enhances people’s lives. The iPhone has revolutionized the worlds of education, communication, video, music, art/design and more. The Apple Watch extends these capabilities but places a strong emphasis on managing health. The products are made to be as sustainable and possible with systems within Apple to reclaim and repurpose materials as they are able. Apple has always understood its responsibilities to innovate at the highest levels to create products that empower people to do great things and enhance human thriving.
That may explain why Apple is the model so often looked to by brands. As one marketing panel session discussed, good marketing is not simply about cool design or emotional customer connections. Solid brand marketing demands a coherent connection between the social value of the product or service (being), how the company acts internally and in relationship with its customers (doing), and the voice the company uses internally and externally (saying). Especially in the current climate, it is vitally important that brands not only embody this consistency for its own sake, but also for the sake of the world.
The #metoo and Time’s Up movements have put everyone on notice about the treatment of women in all industries. If a company is paying women less than men who are at the same stage of their career and in the same roles, their brand image will be quickly devalued (by which I mean destroyed) in the current climate. If a feminine brand is unwilling to take a stand in the culture alongside the rights of women in society, their products will also become devalued in the market. If a company does not properly represent people of color in their marketing and does not reflect racial equity in its hiring practices, their products will face a rough time, particularly among Millennials and the iGen. Companies must not only make great products that have integrity relative to their value, but they must also act ethically in their corporate practices and humanize consumer engagement at all levels. Further, they must publicly communicate social values that are in line with their product, their corporation and the messaging in their marketing.
To attract and maintain the attention of Millennials and iGen, this means taking a values-based stand in the culture for and against practices and attitudes that alienate and dehumanize. Frankly, this places commercial brands in a very interesting (and precarious) position relative to mass culture. According to several industry leaders who work with major brands, people are now looking to brands for moral direction in mass culture. A role once served by the church (which has been culturally marginalized due to secularization…and the weight of its own inability to live up to its brand promise) and the government (which in this Administration has apparently abandoned its role in the ethics game at all levels, again, not paying out in any way shape or form on its brand promise) has apparently now fallen to the commerce sector. Interesting, and a bit scary on all fronts.
Finally, London Mayor Sadiq Khan eloquently sounded a call to responsibility to the SXSW crowd in his address. In a well-prepared address (I’d expect nothing less from a British parliamentarian and former human rights attorney), Khan called tech leaders to take up their responsibility for when they create products and platforms that disrupt. When tech disrupts an industry (e.g., autonomous vehicles), the corporations that benefit from that disruption have a responsibility to displaced workers to provide retraining or other means of access to employment. If tech creates a communications platform, it bears the responsibility for monitoring and policing the speech on that platform. If tech innovates news or information distribution systems, it bears the responsibility to ensure the quality and integrity of the information they distribute.
As Bruce Sterling warned several years ago in his closing Interactive address, the Wild West of tech disruption was quite a ride, and much was accomplished, but not without genuine social cost. The Fourth Industrial Revolution we are experiencing has already displaced millions of people from their jobs, and more disruption of this sort is on the horizon. A large part of the rationale behind the current political revolutions we are experiencing is tied directly to technological disruption. The cultural shifts have been positive, all would agree, but have moved too quickly, haven’t brought everyone along, and haven’t shown genuine concern for those left behind. Khan warned the SXSW crowd that if they did not pay attention to their responsibilities to the social cost of their innovations and plan remedies for the results of their inventions, city and national governments would step in with stiff regulations to prevent further social disruptions. Khan was clear that he was not threatening the tech sector, but was signaling a clear warning that laws like those passed in Germany against online hate speech and regulations like those coming with the GDPR will become more commonplace. People love technological advances that enhance their lives but are weary of the pace of change and how it has, in some cases, overturned their lives.
In an era when the American President routinely (and knowingly) expands the ideological divisions among Americans, maligns entire races and nations, and all in the span of 140 characters, somebody has to step in to remind us of our mutual humanity and that we are all better off when we love one another. My hope is that the church will take the opportunity and live into this space. But, barring that, brands appear to be ready with the nature of their products, their corporate values and emotive messaging to step up and not allow chaotic incivility to win the day. As God’s creatures, we share a responsibility for every aspect of our lives, cultures and corporations to honor and care for one another. The more we do this in spite of the current state of the world and those who stand against it, the better off we will all be.