By lbrowning@hubspot.com (Laura M. Browning)

“Inclusive marketing is all about brands acknowledging the many ways that people are different,” says this marketing master.

Her voice drops to a conspiratorial tone.

“And this is the very important part: Choosing which identities you’re going to serve.”

Also important (to this Marvel fan, anyway): What does inclusive marketing have to do with the … MCU?

Meet the Master

Name: Sonia Thompson, Founder, Inclusion & Marketing

Job: Thompson consults with brands that want to use inclusive marketing to grow their business

Lesson 1: Toss out your checklist.

I can barely make myself breakfast without a checklist, but Thompson’s got me convinced to throw them out when it comes to inclusive marketing.

As a marketer, you have to choose which identities your product or service is serving, “and that’s where a lot of people are nervous,” Thompson says. “Sometimes people take a checkbox approach — like, ‘let’s get everybody in there.’” But inclusive marketing doesn’t mean “marketing to everybody.”

She gives an example of a recent commercial with a woman in a wheelchair. “You can’t see her face, and there’s no speaking role — she’s just there.”

Your reaction might be, “There’s someone with disabilities in the commercial. It’s inclusive!” But Thompson says that wheelchair users weren’t this brand’s target audience, and she cautions: “All representation isn’t created equal.”

If you’re checking identity boxes instead of thoughtfully choosing your audience(s) and thinking about their overall user experience, you’re not being inclusive at all.

Lesson 2: Be your own MCU.

And that, oddly enough, brings us to the Marvel Cinematic Universe.

“Think about your marketing in the context of customer experience,” Thompson says, “and the ways in which people engage and interact with your brand.” They’re going to do it on a macro level — like the MCU’s 17-year reign over pop culture — and a micro level — say, Black Panther.

“I had seen zero Marvel movies before Black Panther,” says Thompson. But “I felt like it was designed for me and my community.” So she moved on to Infinity War (Note: I’d’ve recommended Thor: Ragnarok, personally). “Black Panther has a role in it, but as part of a cast — a whole ensemble.”

When she audits her clients’ overall user experiences, Thompson encounters a lot of promotional materials, and many times, brands have designed something for specific identities. But it’s separate from their general marketing materials, and that’s a problem.

Your Black Panther should fit comfortably within your multiverse — that is, the specific identities you serve should be an integral part of your marketing ensemble. And they should show up across your full marketing mix — your Instagram feed, your website, your commercials. Wakanda forever.

<img src="https://knowledge.hubspot.com/hubfs/masters-in-marketing-3-20250422-7551445.webp" style="margin-left: auto;margin-right: auto;display: block;width: 650px;height: auto;max-width: …read more

Source:: HubSpot Blog

Author: Aaron