Businesses and their 'political' statements: riding the wave?

On Tuesday night, the Supreme Court of Pakistan declared declared PML-Q leader Chaudhry Pervaiz Elahi as duly-elected Chief Minister of the Punjab in consequence of the runoff election held on July 22, 2022.

The development was followed by reactions coming in from all parts of Pakistan, and elsewhere, with PTI – the party that saw its chairman lose the seat of prime minister only a few months ago – seeing its backed candidate prevailing after the short order. On the other hand was the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N), leader of the coalition-led government, that reacted with anger and dejection.

It was a big deal. It was the CM seat for Pakistan's largest province, historically a stronghold of PML-N.

In this commotion, brands and businesses also wanted to ride the wave, but one of them stood out – maybe not for the reasons it intended.

Careem, the company that gained popularity as a ride-hailing app before expanding to become a multi-service platform, tweeted the following:

PTI supporters of course jumped at this very public show of support. A normally quiet Twitter account suddenly got over 3,000 retweets, and close to 20,000 likes.

But as suspected, there were plenty of detractors as well.

A casual sweep of Twitter found plenty evidence of both.

But what of that?

As debate about the loyalty of Careem ensued and the hashtag #boycottCareem began trending, one must ask the question, should businesses align themselves with political leaders, parties, ideologies or slogans?

We’ve seen this before.

While some companies refrain from taking a stance in political and social issues lest it alienate a certain customer base, or employee pool, others find it necessary to do so for this exact reason.

If the company feels particularly moved by a movement or idea, or believes it sits well with their core customer base, they may take it upon themselves to make a statement in some manner, appealing to that very same segment.

A few years ago, sportswear brand Nike made the bold and controversial decision to feature former NFL quarterback Colin Kaepernick as the face of a global campaign.

Kaepernick, famously and controversially, kneeled during the national anthem in order to protest against racial injustice and police brutality.

Now this was a calculated risk.

Here’s why. Roughly 67% of Nike's customer base is younger than 35, as reported by Bloomberg, and as a group, more ethnically diverse than average.

Younger customers are more likely to align values and beliefs with the brands they buy from and vice-versa, with 60% of millennials identifying as "belief-driven buyers" globally, according to a study conducted by Edelman.

Nike has also publicly shown support for the #BlackLivesMatter movement, and none of these seem to have hurt the company or sales in any way. In fact, over time, only added to its brand loyalty and following.

In general, there have been plenty of leaders and political parties around the world whose morals and values businesses may not align with, but we are not necessarily snubbing their refineries or shunning their crude.

So what then?

How does one just skirt the middle? Where does one draw the line between actual denunciation of a moral and value set and looking for a boost in business and ratings driven by political and social events.

A little of both I think. No doubt Careem was looking to bolster its position in the market by making a swift and timely comment on the state of affairs. Most likely, it was just a play for visibility.

No doubt Careem may have also been looking to call out the farcical developments that is our politics.

At the end of the day, it really comes to a business knowing its customer base. The marketing team at Careem, one would assume, may have adequately weighed out the risks of aligning themselves with a political party, which may include alienating some customers.

The post did have much synergistic and generational appeal.

Careem, if one recalls, had set out another marketing campaign a few years ago.

The slogan on the billboard famously read, "apni shaadi se bhaagna ho tou Careem Bike karo!" (If you want to run away from your own wedding call a Careem Bike).

The internet again, was divided.

Back then, its message was intended to be creative, maybe even rebellious. Back then, the message, like the company, was looking to disrupt. Now, a few years later, it is still not looking to conform.

Businesses may not have openly shown their political inclinations all this time, but this is a new world, and everyone wants their opinions heard, especially if they are on topics that are trending.

The article does not necessarily reflect the opinion of Business Recorder or its owners