You’ve heard of the Golden Rule: “Do unto others as you would have them do unto you.”

It’s a nice sentiment. But in today’s increasingly diverse society—where the people around you have vastly different experiences and perspectives from your own—the Golden Rule misses the mark.

Instead of treating others the way you want to be treated, follow the Platinum Rule: treat others the way they want to be treated. 

You can’t assume that your boundaries and needs are the same as everyone else’s. What you consider an act of kindness might be interpreted differently by a person whose race, age, religion, sexual orientation, or physical ability differs from your own.

That’s why it’s important to continuously learn about our differences and be mindful of how we can treat all of our fellow humans with the respect we all deserve.

The Platinum Rule should be applied to your brand, too.

To be more inclusive of your brand’s diverse audience, you can’t just focus on the message you want to communicate; you also have to consider how people of different backgrounds and experiences will perceive your message.

In this article, we’ll discuss how you can follow the Platinum Rule to build a brand where everyone feels respected, supported, and heard.

How To Build An Inclusive Brand For Your Diverse Audience

Hire a diverse workforce.
It starts on the inside. If your goal is to be more mindful and understanding of the diverse mix of people who make up your audience, you must begin by ensuring your audience is equitably represented within your organization. You need to enable voices with different lived experiences to provide their input. To accomplish this, update your recruitment materials to better attract and hire people with diverse backgrounds.

Build a culture of inclusion.
One of your company’s core values should be a dedication to diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI). You must ensure that your diverse group of employees are working together harmoniously, pushing back against biases, and treating each other with respect.

Make your commitment to DEI a daily conversation—during morning huddles, in your weekly employee newsletter, and at the start of every board meeting. Provide DEI trainings, offer a diverse selection of employee resource groups (ERGs), and facilitate opportunities for team members of all different backgrounds to have their voices heard.

Get to know your audience on a personal level.
Once you’ve accomplished a more inclusive internal culture, you can begin to focus on your audience. For your brand to communicate effectively (and respectfully) with your diverse audience, you need to gain a deep understanding of the different subgroups within your audience.

Take special care to understand each subgroup’s unique perspectives. Supplement traditional consumer research with cultural research. Spend time with them in their communities. Ask them questions that will help you understand their unique challenges, hopes, fears, and joys.

By getting to know your audience members on a more intimate level, you will have the insight necessary to create messaging that resonates with them—and you’ll avoid unintentionally disrespecting or offending them. You’ll also be able to identify deep-rooted common threads that run throughout all of the subgroups of your audience.

Let your audience know they belong.
Now is the time to take all of that research and insight and deliver a brand that is inclusive and welcoming of everyone. 

Inclusive branding looks like this:

  • Diverse representation in photography and video (show people of all different ages, races, genders, body types, etc.)
  • Accessible font and color choices to promote legibility of messaging
  • Respectful and culturally sensitive content (be sure staff members from different backgrounds are creating content and/or reviewing it before publishing)
  • Recognition of the beautiful truths of different communities (and a rejection of negative stereotypes)
  • One story told by many different voices (the heart of your brand story always remains the same, but the way it’s told should differ depending on who is on the receiving end)

The outcome of creating inclusive brand messaging? Everyone within your diverse audience feels seen, understood, respected, and celebrated by your brand. And that’s how you win a customer for life.

Is your brand abiding by the Platinum Rule?

As our society becomes increasingly diverse, there are more and more perspectives to consider. Perspectives that are widely different from your own.

Take a hard look at your brand. Who are your customers? Is your brand acknowledging, respecting, and celebrating everyone…or just a small sample?

To achieve platinum status and become a brand that treats people the way they want to be treated, you need to put a heavy emphasis on inclusive branding. Start internally: hire a diverse workforce, build a culture of inclusion, and ensure that everyone’s voice is being respected and heard. Dive deep into consumer and cultural research to gain an intimate understanding of your potential customers. Finally, create inclusive messaging that will win the hearts of every member of your diverse audience.

Ready to build a more inclusive brand? Let’s chat!