Forum will explore brand advocacy

March 2, 2020

The shift in consumer attitude towards brands that advocate has inspired the theme for this year’s Advertising and Public Relations Reception, Take a Stand with Your Brand.

This School of Communication event will spark conversation between industry professionals that have experience creating work for brands that take a public side on controversial issues. Take a Stand with Your Brand is scheduled for 5:30-8:30 p.m. Tuesday, April 14 in Kasbeer Hall in Corboy Law Center.

Panelists will include Catherine Davis, Chief Marketing and Communications Officer at Feeding America; Evelyn Miller, Senior Social Responsibility Specialist at Medline Industries, Inc.; and Zack Arosteguia, Associate Director of Brand Strategy at Walker Sands. Each of these panelists have extensive experience in brand work and unique knowledge to contribute to this topic.

There has been a prominent rise of brands stepping up to use their voice to advocate for controversial issues. Companies used to be careful and strategic about not revealing or even forming opinions on social causes in fear of upsetting consumers and losing market share.

Panelists will discuss how some brands are built upon a passion behind a social concern, and veteran brands have shifted to adopt public values in order to define and align in an emotional way with consumers. Consumers have shifted their behavior with how they make purchase decisions – they now consciously choose the brands they purchase based upon the way values and importance of issues align with their own.

The Take a Stand with Your Brand reception is also a chance for School of Communication students to submit and be awarded for campaign development work they did as part of a course, mingle with faculty, alumni and industry professionals, and view advertising for social issues from a new perspective.

Undergraduate and graduate students studying within the School of Communication are encouraged to submit work to be considered for an award: Outstanding Achievement Award in advertising, integrated strategic communication, public relations, or public service communication.

The winner of the public service communication category will receive the Ebeling PR-ize™, an academic scholarship of $2,000. Students can find details for submitting work here..