How brands can leverage social causes
08/26/2025
3 min
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Corporate support for the concept of diversity, inclusion, and equity (DEI) is currently a hot topic. In the US, DEI initiatives have been rolled back or even discontinued due to the political climate. In this video, professor Laurie Ann UNDERWOOD explores how two well-known brands took a risk by supporting social causes, but benefited by developing consumer engagement and growing market share.
Case 1: Dove
She explores how Dove, the personal care product brand, launched (in 2023) its “Toxic Beauty” campaign, addressing the harmful beauty standards and toxic beauty advice that can be promoted on social media.
“By calling out the harmful advice shared by certain influencers, many would of course not work with Dove,” she notes, adding that “Dove took this risk to prove that it was willing to take a stand on social issues which really matters to its target market: women and girls.”
Dove created a short film exposing the harmful effects of toxic beauty messages. The film went viral and triggered concrete positive action and increased brand affinity in the US.
Case 2: the oat milk brand Oatly
“Oatly was founded in Sweden. It first succeeded internationally by targeting gourmet coffee drinkers in the US market. By linking their brand to the social causes which American coffee drinkers care about most, Oatly quickly gained ‘cult level’ status,” explains Laurie Ann UNDERWOOD. In 2020, Oatly used the same approach to enter the Chinese market. Again targeting gourmet coffee drinkers, the brand focused on a specific social action which aligned with the goals of upscale Chinese consumers.”
She outlines how Oatly’s “Silent Barista” project – supported Chinese people with disabilities. “During covid 19, hearing impaired people were disproportionately affected — facing higher rates of job loss and isolation due to the pandemic. To help, Oatly trained hearing impaired people as baristas, then arranged jobs for them in partner coffee shops which use Oatly products.” The program gained significant social media attention, strengthening the brand’s positive image among Chinese consumers.
Two key takeaways for brands
“Both of these cases prove a critical point: brands can boost consumer engagement, even achieving brand love, when they take 2 steps,” she explains. “First, determine which social causes your target consumers care passionately about. Second, take concrete action to support those causes. This leads to positive word-of-mouth which can go viral and build brand love.”
