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A money-making matter: 3 reasons to step up your diversity game

Published March 29, 2021, 8:54 a.m. by Malin Sund and Meryem Can Bolin

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Nowadays, sustainability and the environment are a big part of company branding, because it’s obvious consumers care about these issues. But why should businesses rush to improve their diversity communication? Here are three reasons – and one tip – from Spoon’s experts Malin Sund and Meryem Can Bolin.

1. Mirroring matters

Knowing your customer and your audience is key to success, right? That’s why it’s crucial to continuously refresh that knowledge. For example: Did you know that Arabic is the second biggest language in Sweden today? Or that a fourth of our population were either born abroad themselves or their parents were. The most successful marketers and companies know this, and they show it. Still, a large and growing number of potential customers are not mirrored in today’s communication. It is quite easy to spot if a company is working with an outdated picture or strategy. You don’t want to stay that way because …

2. Money talks

Missing out on a potential 400 billion SEK yearly is not a great business decision. That’s the estimated purchasing power of consumers that a lot of companies forget to communicate with. We’re talking about Swedes who were born abroad or have parents from other countries. Start developing strategies for reaching, and talking to, this group.

3. All eyes on diversity

You’re not surprised anymore to see environmentally friendly aspects built into the core of a new organization or company, are you? Well, we see the same thing now with diversity and inclusion. It is the growing topic of sustainability. You could say it’s becoming a no-brainer among consumers – “of course we care about this and we expect companies and brands to do so too”. Frankly, not taking action is for dinosaurs. And we don’t need to tell you what happened to them.

Action: A first step

If you want to improve, how can you start? A tip with an immediate impact is to check who’s visible in your communication. Start “counting heads”- men, women, different age groups, foreign backgrounds, people from different parts of Sweden, and so on. We can also recommend following @thesocialfew on Instagram, for interesting facts about Sweden today.

Check out our diversity and inclusion workshop!