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| Back when it was all love - 3 months after seeing MahoganyCurls (again), and meeting #goalsAF Massy Arias, Shea Moisture would go on to announce their partnership with Bain Capital. Yes, I used to work for NuMe (hangs head in shame) |
How did this happen?
How did a company with such a proud Sierra Leonean legacy, led by a Black man, make such a fatal error?
We expect these sort of tone-deaf gaffes from companies like Pepsi or Vogue, who do not pride themselves on or even attempt to assert that their primary demographic is Black women.
But Shea Moisture?
The company who literally built their brand to cater to the unique needs of Black women, because we were being ignored by beauty conglomerates like Unilever, P&G, and L'Oreal?
How, Sway?
Sway don't got the answers - but LinkedIn does.
According to articles on CNNMoney, AdAge, FastCompany, and more VaynerMedia was "responsible" for bringing this campaign to life. Yes. Y'alls beloved Gary Vee & Co. I'm sure Gary has hurled enough expletives to inspire you to action - so I'll save my thoughts on his cuss & hustle methodology for another time.
But a quick LinkedIn search reveals exactly who was at the table, who made the decisions, and how Shea Moisture sent themselves to the clearance bin over yesterday's ad. And while I'm not going to blast people's names and faces across my blog (I ain't TheShadeRoom), I will say this:
Shea Moisture/Sundial Brands
- VP of Brand Strategy - white woman
- Innovation Marketing Manager - white woman
- Brand Strategy & Innovation - white woman
- Social Media Manager - white woman
- Associate Communications/PR Manager - white woman
VaynerMedia
- VP Social/Digital Strategy - white woman
- Director of Innovations - white man
- Digital & Social Media Strategy - white woman
- Senior Copywriters - white women & men + 1 Latinx
- Senior Digital Media Planner - white man
So basically, you take your brand that was built for and by Black women. And you fill the seats that create and deliver content meant interact with your core demographic - with nobody that remotely resembles said demographic.
Those key players then partner with a digital agency, in which those key players likely concepted, organized, and executed yesterday's Pepsi 2.0 campaign, which was reviewed, tweaked, and eventually approved by that first group of key players. This process went back and forth, likely through several rounds of meetings and editing sessions, in an incredibly homogeneous incubator of "creativity" and "digital savvy". I can imagine tons of high-fives, pats on the backs, fist bumps, and a cringeworthy number of "dabs".
In moments like this, it doesn't matter that the CEO of Shea Moisture/Sundial is Richielou Dennis, a Black man. It doesn't even matter that the company prides itself on being majority family owned.
Because when you deliver content like you did yesterday, it shows who's making the decisions around the table. Better yet, it shows who's not present in those meetings and creative briefings. I don't want this to be the case, but this all feels like Carol's Daughter deja-vu.
If you recall from this article, Lisa Price was not the CEO of Carol's Daughter at the time of sale to L'Oreal. Or owner, for that matter. Carol's Daughter Holdings, LLC (the parent company) was owned by Pegasus Capital Advisors, L.P. at the time of sale.
While Dennis and Shea Moisture insist they've learned from what happened in the Carol's Daughter fallout, the road they're traveling looks mighty familiar. A brand of products formerly marketed to only Black women now determined to appeal to a broader base, virtually abandoning the clientele that built the foundation that the business stands on.
Droves of Black women pumped the brakes on their support of Carol's Daughter, feeling abandoned and maligned by the company's change in marketing imagery and formulas. There are already murmurs from Shea Moisture's comment sections to Lipstick Alley that some of the formulas of their original products have changed, are thinner, and no longer work for coarser hair.
I can't call it one way or the other, because I stopped trying to keep up with Shea Moisture's products a long time ago.
While Shea Moisture maintains that Bain's investment is a minority percentage, a glimpse into Sundial's Glassdoor reviews/company profile paints a different picture (just google it). In the case of Carol's Daughter, Lisa Price was the face of the brand, with no control over its direction. With Shea Moisture's Black CEO and proud "minority ownership", it's about who they've chosen to outsource their decision making to.
At this point, it doesn't matter that Shea Moisture is repped by influencers like MahoganyCurls, Jenell B. Stewart, and Massy Arias (who I'm 137% sure have all been told to not directly address the matter with their audiences). There are more, I'm sure - but these are the only 3 I follow. Regardless of how well represented Black women may be on Shea Moisture's influencer roster, I care even more about how we're represented at the table - behind the scenes, in those higher-up meetings, and creative sessions. The face of the company doesn't mean a damn thing if the company as a whole aims to defines its success by its value to the mainstream.
How many times do we have to scream - REPRESENTATION MATTERS?!
Apparently, yesterday's video was a part of a larger #EverybodyGetsLove campaign. That's cool and all, but I have questions. Why in these series of videos, is the same clip of Jenell B. Stewart being recycled? Why is she the only darker-skinned Black woman featured? Were all the other kinky-haired influencers with deep complexions busy that day?
See Video 1
See Video 2
See Video 3
Why in a series of videos from a company built for Black women, and zealously supported by the same, has the Black woman become tokenized? Anybody else think that's crazy - or is it just me?
I've read all the articles, and seen the apology circuit that Sundial's PR team has sent Richielou Dennis on. An apology is fine (not really), but responsibility is shared. Is Gary Vaynerchuk going to fess up and issue a statement, too (like he did back in 2016 for some sexist ish)? Will the Sundial team rally behind their CEO and say, "hey, this is also our fault?"
Or are they gonna stand there and watch as the captain goes down with his ship?
I want Richielou Dennis to win. I want Black businesses to win. But not at the expense of the people who put them in the position to win in the first place. THAT is a recipe for failure.
Aiight y'all, I'm done talking Shea Moisture. After this post, it's back to the regularly scheduled programming. :)
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Looking for Black owned brands to support? You're in the RIGHT PLACE! The Mane Objective has a loooooong history of supporting Black owned brands - before it became trendy or cool. Here's the 411:
The sales are off, but this is a DEEEEEP list of Black owned brands!
Let chat in the comment section about this one, fam. I welcome all sides and all opinions but I have one rule - keep it respectful. Leggoooooo!
Let chat in the comment section about this one, fam. I welcome all sides and all opinions but I have one rule - keep it respectful. Leggoooooo!
from The Mane Objective http://ift.tt/2pwIatw
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