With lazy PR, such as ‘pink washing’ – nobody wins

Celebrating the achievements of Emirati women in society and looking to future ambitions and empowerment is a positive opportunity for brands and businesses to engage their marketing and PR teams to work with the vision and meaning behind the day. Many media outlets and even brands created video and written content showcasing individual and entities working to further the cause and position of these women, fully aligned with Her Highness’ vision.

Then, on the other side, we have seen the consumers, journalists, and media outlets of the UAE bombarded with ‘Emirati Women’s Day’ promotions and offers completely and utterly at odds with the ethos of the occasion, and in some cases, totally inappropriate.

Linking marketing efforts and promotions to days of interest and seasonal occasions is an obvious and legacy tactic. Of course, it still works, but the only things that make them successful is to be relevant, targeted, thoughtful or at least creative. Attempting to link a brunch offer (yes, with alcohol – it happened!) to an occasion such as this one is not just crass, it’s culturally inappropriate and a perfect example of lazy, badly advised PR.

The relationship between PR and media outlets has always been seen as somewhat fractious, but with an understanding that both industries ultimately need each other. Yet a general disdain for the PR who simply does not understand what an outlet needs or wants, and ultimately what a consumer, reader or viewer will respond to, remains plain to see. Slack standards in PR and marketing continue to give the industry a bad name and as conscientious practitioners and agencies we need to do better.

From an agency point of view, it’s vital to train and upskill your staff, even just by educating them on what a solid pitch or campaign looks like, and how it should align to the brand or business values and strategy. 

Not only are credible journalists and outlets deliberately calling out such lax efforts, but it’s important to note that now the consumer is too. With everyone being a ‘citizen journalist’ these days via social media, you can easily see your cringe-inducing campaign attempts gaining visibility for all the wrong reasons.

As we reach September, we edge towards another month of press releases and campaigns ahead of October. October is Breast Cancer Awareness month. It is not ‘Pink’ month, nor ‘women’s month’ and any intelligent campaign or offer will be based around women’s health education or accessibility to screening or fund-raising efforts for legally recognised entities.

Gaining traction over the past couple of years, I fully expect even further ‘kick back’ in 2021 over any attempts to sell cupcakes, salon and spa promotions and events as an attempt to piggy back on an important topic, yet featuring absolutely none of the objectives I listed above in support.

I hope this is a timely reminder that ‘pink washing’ is not only old hat, but actively and publicly called out more year-on-year. As an agency owner, I fully understand the need to keep clients happy, and work with their requests and needs, but remember that strong agencies are hired as brand partners, and to that end, to provide advice and counsel on anything that is not wholly appropriate or could damage a brand reputation with both the media, and the consumer. It is our job not to just make the client aware of that, but to make sure we ourselves are providing solid and credible PR and marketing campaigns on their behalf.

We need to keep the media happy, to keep our clients happy and ill-educated ‘amateur’ PR activities give our industry a bad name.

When we do better, we all win as clients and practitioners, and importantly, we don’t run the risk of a public (or even private) call out by the media, or worse, the consumer.

Natasha Hatherall-Shawe, founder and CEO of TishTash Marketing and PR@TishTashTalks