LSN : Micro Trends : Resilience Branding

Drivers: what’s happening

In January 2025, on the first day of his second term, President Donald Trump signed an executive order to dismantle government DEI (Diversity, Equity and Inclusion) programmes, while urging federal agencies to investigate ‘private sector DEI discrimination’. In response, companies including Disney, Amazon, Citigroup, Meta, Target and McDonald’s began quietly scaling back initiatives.

Beauty brand Lush took a bold stand, renaming three bath bombs as Diversity, Equity and Inclusion. 'We’re not going to roll back on anything… even if it’s going to cost us customers,’ Hilary Jones, Lush’s global ethics director, told Adweek.

‘Lush has always stood for sustainability and self-care,’ Robin Albin, New York-based brand strategist and founder of branding agency Insurgents, tells LS:N Global. He adds: ‘If they walked away from that now, their core customers – especially Gen Z – would reject them.’

Meanwhile, global businesses like JP Morgan and Walmart have rebranded their DEI messaging, swapping ‘equity’ for ‘opportunity’ and ‘DEI’ for ‘Walmart for everyone’. Use of words like ‘diversity’ dropped by 22% across Fortune 100 companies in 2023–2024, while use of ‘belonging’ rose 59% (source: Paradigm, CNBC).

Despite political shifts, 53% of Americans still support corporate DEI policies, including 38% of Republicans (source: Globescan). Yet fatigue is growing: 68% are sceptical of brands’ social impact claims (source: Conran). In this tense climate, some brands are adapting their language – not their values – to bypass culture war algorithms and stay true to their mission.

Lush has always stood for sustainability and self-care. If they walked away from that now, their core customers – especially Gen Z – would reject them. So this is a moment to stand firm

Robin Albin, founder, Insurgents

Case studies: what’s new

Beauty & Belonging by Anastasia Mikova for Sephora, US

Sephora’s anthem of belonging

In late January 2025, Sephora premiered its first international documentary, Beauty & Belonging, directed by French-Ukrainian film-maker Anastasia Mikova. The film features over 75 employees and cosmetics brand founders, and gives voice to their personal stories and struggles with self-acceptance, and serves as an ode to standing out.

A diverse range of sexualities, genders, ethnicities, disabilities and languages are represented, including trans parents, cancer survivors and entrepreneurs who began their beauty journeys in search of enoughness and belonging.

Harnessing the power of film-making for brand awareness, the documentary opens with a mission statement that reflects the company’s ethos without explicitly mentioning social justice buzzwords like race, sexual identity or disability: ‘At Sephora, our purpose is to champion a world of inspiration and inclusion where everyone can celebrate their beauty.’

Nike’s new So Win campaign builds on Just Do It. It encourages people to tune out the noise and stay true to their ambition. It’s less about poking the political bear and more about staying authentic while still being bold

Robin Albin, founder, Insurgents

So Win by Nike, US

Nike's feminist-by-design strategy

Nike unveiled its new So Win campaign during the Super Bowl LIX in February 2025. The 60-second ad was shot entirely in black and white, and features nine of the top female athletes of the moment, such as gymnast Jordan Chiles, basketball players Caitlin Clark, A’ja Wilson and Sabrina Ionescu, track and field athlete Sha’Carri Richardson and soccer player Sophia Wilson. With ‘You can’t win. So win’ as a strong tagline, the campaign is all about female empowerment without using the words women or feminism.

‘That ad was clearly about women, but it wasn’t only about women,’ Tim Berney, CEO of Oklahoma City-based agency VI Marketing and Branding, tells LS:N Global. ‘It could resonate with other marginalised groups, too. Nike chose not to use those words as a strategic decision. The message still landed because it was rooted in values it has always expressed.’

Patagonia’s brand and land loyalty

Amid renewed threats to public lands during Trump’s second term, Patagonia is once again taking a bold but strategic stand. The brand is mobilising its audience with facts, storytelling and action to defend public lands, not only for ecological reasons but also because they underpin its business and customer base.

‘It’s so noisy right now that the more creative we get – and the more we connect with folks in a way that includes a great story, a really powerful voice, some humour, even in the midst of a lot of dark and challenging moments – the better it lands,’ Hans Cole, vice-president of environmental activism at Patagonia, told Fast Company.

By aligning with Indigenous and grassroots groups and focusing on land preservation, the brand offers a powerful resilience playbook: speak clearly, act early and anchor your messaging in purpose and place.

We know our community cares about these things, we know this is important to our business, and we know we have an authentic and informed point of view. We can step into that chaotic landscape with a lot of confidence

Hans Cole, vice-president of environmental activism, Patagonia

Analysis: what this means

So Win by Nike, US

Culture wars, political polarisation, Donald Trump’s second term and the lessons learned from Bud Light’s 2023 backlash on social media (the brand faced a boycott after a one-time collaboration with trans influencer Dylan Mulvaney on TikTok) have turned branding, copywriting and brand strategy into a minefield when it comes to advocating for inclusivity. In the US, the worst fear now is alienating a section of your customer base by saying the wrong thing or facing legal consequences and red tape from federal legislators.

With algorithms stoking division, Nike’s So Win campaign avoids trigger words but delivers its message. Perhaps the solution is to turn messages of inclusivity into universal anthems. ‘At millions of dollars per minute, every word in a Super Bowl ad is deliberate,’ Jonathan Finer, associate managing partner at Conran Design Group, tells LS:N Global. ‘It seems Nike is tapping into something broader than feminism. It’s about equity, without explicitly saying it.’

Finer sees a shift in advertising where gender, beauty and identity are being redefined. ‘Rather than labelling, it’s about emotionally resonant storytelling. That can sometimes be more effective than slogans.’

In its latest report, Conran suggests brands should become Citizen Brands: those that drive growth by connecting with people and society. These are companies that build relationships with the people they sell to, the people they employ and the communities they operate within.

Some brands, like one we’re working with now, are taking a pragmatic approach. They’ve kept a DEI-related programme intact, but avoided using the actual term DEI in their messaging to avoid backlash. The action is unchanged. Only the language has evolved

Jonathan Finer, associate managing partner, Conran Design Group

Strategic opportunities

: Make emotional storytelling universal

Reframe DEI language to focus on universal values like belonging, opportunity, fairness and inspiration. Can you, for instance, produce emotionally resonant content (such as short films, documentaries or user-generated stories) that bypasses buzzwords and connects through human experience?

: Develop a resilience branding playbook

Conduct a copy and tone audit to identify terms that may provoke unnecessary backlash while remaining true to your values. Create internal frameworks that help teams respond to political and cultural volatility. Include scenario-planning, approved tone-of-voice guides and content do’s and don’ts

: Champion silent impact

Take action first, communicate later. Follow Patagonia’s model of purpose-driven activism that prioritises real-world impact and lets media coverage follow organically, reducing the risk of performative backlash