The North Face’s initiative to tackle ‘systemic racism’ in hiking

Mark Borkowski, a PR expert, said the inclusion course initiative was part of a pattern of brands, particularly those with younger customers, embracing social justice causes. He said: “If The North Face are going deeper into this, they know that this is going to resonate with their audience. You are attuned to what your audience wants.

“It’s true that a millennial and a Gen Z market want the brands to stand for something — for values they think are important. There is a profound and noisy generation, a young demographic, being very voluble about what they feel.

“A brand isn’t just reflecting what their audience is — it’s taking a progressive lead in being suggestive. That is part of the role of a brand now.”

Borkowski said a defining feature of whether a company’s progressive push would work or would make the brand subject to ridicule was authenticity.

https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/the-north-face-systemic-racism-hiking-jxxqwpvmz