This article is about hiring, not marketing

It’s been some years so I should see if this information is still valid but when I researched it years ago woke marketing basically boiled down to the fact that people are not going to buy a product they don’t want or need just because they like the company that makes the product; but if you were going to buy the product but you don’t like the company, you will purchase from a competitor

So there was some truth to “go woke, go broke”, although I couldn’t find any evidence of a successful company, “going woke” and ending up bankrupt. Usually these companies were already struggling and woke marketing was a last-ditch effort to bring in a new customer base

I like to use a Jack Hammer as an example because it paints a clear picture. If a company makes a Gay Pride Jack Hammer you’re not going to rush out and buy a Jack Hammer you don’t want or need just because you support the cause. But if you were going to buy a Jack Hammer you’ll either still buy the Jack Hammer (meaning the marketing had no effect because you were going to buy it anyway) or you’ll buy a Jack Hammer from another company because you dislike the message

So “woke” marketing had either no real effect or a negative effect.

Companies that already had a strong liberal supporting audience could increase sales temporarily. Like if the average Cards Against Humanity player buys one expansion pack a year the company might get that person to buy two expansion packs this year if one of those packs is a pro Gay Pride pack of some kind, especially if the back supports or charity or something. But that person is not going to continue to purchase two expansion packs a year so after the promotion is over, sales return to normal

However, “going woke” was good for the companies image. As an example, while sales for the Gay Pride baseball game night might be the lowest all season, every year, it’s still better to do it and take the ticket sales lost than not because you don’t want to be one of the only teams that didn’t participate. Being the “transphobic” baseball team is not good. Overtime that can hurt sales, especially if the wrong group of people celebrate your stance against pride night

The last thing you want is a bunch of MAGA hat wearing racists to start rocking your teams jersey as their unofficial uniform. So companies should go woke just to let the world know they’re not OK with bigotry.