Using the DEPTH model to decide when and how to take a stand

Audiences know authentic messaging when they hear it, and some in particular (looking at you, Gen Z) are relentless in their critiques of corporate response. Corporate communications on social justice issues should be intentional, authentic, and executed only after setting and satisfying strategic criteria for response. That’s the right way to step in. The wrong way to step in is by making statements just to avoid being accused of silence (because sometimes silence is golden).

And the bottom line is this: A company will not sustain an issue that is not connected to who they are, what they believe in, or what they do. Companies need not hesitate to engage in social justice causes that fit, causes they can speak to with credibility and causes they can advance. What companies should avoid is performative communications.

The opposite of performative communications is transformative communications: authentic dialogue that actually moves the needle positively on a given issue. Transformative communications require selective consideration, entering a social dialogue, rather than just initiating a corporate monologue, and communicating with depth. Transformative communications bring the power, might, and potential of the business world into the service of changing things. Transformative communications is what The DEPTH Model seeks to operationalize.