Having taken in London Pride this past weekend you wouldn’t think that engagement would be top of mind come Monday morning… alright, Tuesday morning, It is Pride after all.
As usual, the parade consisted of a plethora of charities and organizations catering to the GLBT community. All good and still relevant 40 years on.
The topic that was referenced a number of times though was that Pride is no longer about pushing forward gay rights but is now a family affair and celebrating all things pink or in the case of Nando’s, pink board shorts on their brand ambassadors.
Which brings me to my issue; where were all the brands? The Pink Pound is reportedly worth £6 billion a year to the UK economy and there was nothing! Ok, a few brave brands made a stand and marched but not what there should be.
Shouldn’t this be a time when brands take over a corner of Soho or Trafalgar Square and persuade me that I’m bettering my community by purchasing their products? (Maybe that’s because they aren’t but when has that ever mattered).
Brands have taken over every other event in the UK, why not this one? Pride is a fantastic opportunity for companies to really stand out in a crowd where the majority of participants are trend leaders, not followers.
Thanks for Listening,
Benton,