Dive Brief:
- Apparel designer Kenneth Cole appeared on CNBC’s Squawk Box last week to discuss the power of social responsibility in doing business.
- While social media is a powerful tool for building brands, Cole said, companies must exercise caution in using it or risk immediate, adversarial feedback.
- Kenneth Cole Productions was an early champion of AIDS research and supported gay rights publicly beginning in the 1990s.
Dive Insight:
Apparel marketer Kenneth Cole appeared on CNBC’s Squawk Box last week to offer his advice on social responsibility in advertising. A leader in social activism since its launch, Kenneth Cole Productions has incorporated its positions on the issues of the day into its advertising, helping build a global brand. “We’ve been able to connect to people on not just what they stand in, but what they stand for,” he told CNBC.
Cole warned that the immediacy of social media makes it important for companies to be careful about what they say. In 2011 and 2013, he faced criticism for tweets referencing the Egyptian protests and debate over intervention in Syria, respectively. “Today, if you say anything to anybody, essentially you’re speaking to everybody. Everything is viral, immediate and real-time.
“It’s an extraordinary way to become a global business and have a global relevance and voice. But you have to be cautious and thoughtful about it,” he said. “People don’t always read things the way they are intended.”