In this day and age, brands should care about their audience and work toward creating more authentic movements with their advertisements. In this session, two prominent organizations, SATURDAY MORNING and Spotify, discussed the motivations behind their own authentic initiative: Black History is Happening Now. The speakers of the panel included SATURDAY MORNING co-founders Keith Cartwright, Jayanta Jenkins and Kwame Taylor-Hayford, as well as the global associate brand director of Spotify, Amanda Butler. The panel was moderated by Clio Awards editor in chief, Tim Nudd.
The initiative was a concept that reinforced the idea the people care about brands that care about social issues. Spotify reached out to SATURDAY MORNING and together, they collaborated with artists such as Janelle Monáe and Pharrell Williams to turn Black History Month into a year-long program that celebrates black icons, history, contribution to America and of course, music.
The co-founders of SATURDAY MORNING, an award-winning nonprofit organization that promotes peace through content and apparel, spoke about how the partnership reinforced their mission because it highlighted how important black people have been to America. In fact, the organization only partners with companies who are invested in their mission, Cartwright said.
Through the partnership, Spotify was able to showcase the two artists on their platform, with plans to feature more. They showed their audience that their platform celebrates black artists who paved the way, while also empowering new black female artists with their support up-and-coming black female creators program. The program, according to their website, seeks out three black female creatives in film, literature and visual arts who will receive funding to create original content that uplifts the message “black women are a very serious force.”
Along with this partnership, SATURDAY MORNING also created an award-winning apparel line called Peace Briefs. The motivation behind the line was to take action and bring awareness to the most pressing social issues for black people in America today.
The line features undergarments that have powerful phrases such as “I am unarmed” and “I am a father” so that when a person is in a situation where they can only rely on verbal communication to save their lives, those phrases may be the last hope they have to living another Saturday.
In the panel, Cartwright explained how the peace brief offered a multidimensional look into the situation, and how a person had to think about the space they were walking into while wearing the apparel.
Ultimately, SATURDAY MORNING works to focus on issues and crisis around racial injustices, and they hope their cooperation with Spotify would do just that.