The First Drop: Changing Lenses

One of my reporters reached out to me before a piece they were doing on sales strategy recently with a question: “Does it all need to be about COVID-19?”

The question wasn’t a bad one – the reporter was just trying to figure out the parameters of some lines of questioning – but it also points to all of our uncertainties right now. Given our ability to “doomscroll” simply by flicking through headlines, can any topic truly escape the prevailing issues of the day? And should they?

It’s hard enough for entrepreneurs, for sure. How many of you thought you’d need to consider viral loads and personal protective equipment as part of your in-store sales strategy? How much did a diversity analysis of your employee base figure into your HR program, when you’re having enough trouble finding talent already? Isn’t it enough just to try to build a company, an economic engine, and not have it be a political act?

Sorry, no.

Right now, it does all need to be about COVID-19. It also needs to be about the environment, racial equality, your products’ effects on consumer health and nutrition, and whatever other preconceived notions you brought to the table in hiring.

In short: what we’ve learned in the first half of 2020 is that if we aren’t searching for an understanding of how any issues that we presume exist outside of our businesses are actually tied to them at the root, we’re doomed. Conversely, if we think about how businesses exist in the world, what they mean, and we’re humble and listen to how they’re affecting that world, we might grow.

Here’s one lesson in that regard: Goya Foods CEO Robert Unanue sparked a boycott of his company’s products when he stood in the White House Rose Garden on July 9 and praised President Trump, stating “We’re all truly blessed to have a leader like President Trump who is a builder. We have an incredible builder, and we pray. We pray for our leadership, our president.”

While it’s true that Unanue had also participated in events with President Obama in the past, his forthright praise for Trump, defense of that praise the next day – including calling the boycott “suppression of speech” — and record of political contributions to Republicans clearly represent a political calculus as well as an economic one.

Unanue made his statement, and his customers are holding him to account for it, with a vocal swath of critics and consumers fueling a boycott because of his support for Trump, who rose to power at least in part because of his racist, anti-immigrant, anti-Mexican rhetoric. (It’s of note that – despite the intentional politics of the donation – at least a few followers of Trump’s Twitter feed have seized on the controversy as a way to help feed people, raising funds to donate Goya products to food banks. The Trump family hasn’t handled it quite as gracefully — Ivanka recently posted herself modeling with a Goya can. One personal fear: the potential for mayhem that might emanate from, say, hosting a Goya can drive at a Trump rally.)

Look, it’s dumb to believe every Latinx consumer hates Trump or that every Latinx consumer eats Goya. But do you know who should be really well informed about the impact that his language might have on his consumer base? Robert Unanue.

Does that mean that every Goya story will have to be about immigration or politics from now on? Probably not forever, but chances are that regardless of the news report, that story is going to live on for a long time.

Now, the Rose Garden is a bigger stage than most of us get in our lifetimes, but the internet is a great amplifier when it comes to speech, particularly if there’s a righteous feeling that a growing wave is, in the language of the comedians, “punching up.”

Which brings me back to the idea of whether every story is all about COVID-19, or #BlackLivesMatter, or the environment, or obesity, or any issue in the zeitgeist. The answer is that they’re about all of that, and more. Just ask Tyson Foods about its working conditions if you have a doubt. The big picture is this: the societal face of a company is looming larger than ever, and your social and political impact is getting measured like a wedding tux.

There are many ways of analyzing a business: gross margin, same-store sales, market capitalization, environmental impact, social mission, number of employees, revenue growth, share value, stakeholder satisfaction. The consumers, the retailers, the media, the people who might want to work for you, and the investors are all looking at all of them. So should you.