The influence of marketing communications agencies on activist brands’ moral competency development and ability to engage in authentic brand activism: Wieden+Kennedy ‘Just Does It’

Abstract

To compel people to bring about social change, activist brands must develop moral competency to ensure that they are perceived as authentic. However, there is limited research on the processes underpinning brands’ moral competency development. Furthermore, prior research on authentic brand activism has largely conceived of brands as singular entities as opposed to networks of diverse actors. Consequently, little is known about how inter-organisational collaborations influence brands’ moral competency development and ability to engage in authentic activism. We address this gap by presenting a case study of Nike, Inc./Wieden+Kennedy campaigns from 2017 to 2021 centred on women’s empowerment and of controversies from this period surrounding discrimination of female employees at Nike, Inc. By locating brand activism within the advertising client–agency relationship, we develop a cyclical model of activist brands’ moral competency development. Our model highlights that moral competency is not a static feature of brands but develops dynamically, and we identify the mobilisation of interactional expertise as a key driver of moral competency development. Furthermore, our model shows that a brand’s moral competency is not developed by a single organisation but through inter-organisational collaborations. We also demonstrate the challenges emerging from these collaborations and develop practical implications for activist brands.