Global omnichannel media agency Assembly is launching ACT, a first-of-its-kind platform that allows public figures and brands alike to proactively guard against woke washing, greenwashing, rainbow washing, and other types of performative advocacy. Powered by STAGE, Assembly's proprietary technology, ACT tracks cause or policy-forward advertising content, spend, and performance across mediums to inform buying and messaging strategy while identifying what percentage of advertising has favorable or unfavorable effects on brand reputation. ACT is the latest innovation from Assembly's industry-leading politics and advocacy practice, launched in 2019, to handle planning, activation, and strategy for some of the most high-profile candidates and independent expenditure groups in the country.
ACT arrives as consumers report more intensely scrutinizing brands' stated social values. A recent study found that 60% of Americans believe that a company that takes a stance on social issues must demonstrate its relevance to that company's internal values. Bridging the findings of this study with insights from ACT, Assembly recently published a whitepaper titled, "Avoiding the Pitfalls of Performative Advocacy."
"Consumers are expecting consistency – and time after time, we're seeing companies and public figures being accused of woke-washing as some question whether their new campaigns are genuine or shallow attempts to lean into culture for capital or political gain," said Rick Acampora, Assembly Global Chief Operating Officer and Stagwell Brand X Performance Network Chief Client Officer. "ACT is the missing piece to the brand responsibility puzzle, and we're proud to be on the cutting edge."
As companies continue to become more and more political, ACT helps them:
- Take a more strategic approach to their corporate social responsibility efforts by giving them insight into competitive cause or policy messaging
- Interrogate competitive communications to optimize their own messaging
- Identify the most critical drivers of trust
- Distinguish performative advocacy from genuine cause campaigns
- Increase profit margins and campaign success rates
- Protect their brand's reputation
Today, Assembly is the only agency that can deliver this capability, as no other media agency can combine the niche expertise of a boutique political firm with the reach and resources of a global omnichannel agency. Assembly started piloting ACT in 2022 and has already used it to track 160 million dollars of advocacy spending for some of the biggest tech companies in the world.
"ACT is at the nexus of politics, public affairs, advertising, and media, and sets our clients up to be the most informed advertisers on the planet," said Tyler Goldberg, North America Director of Political Strategy at Assembly. "It's a competitive advantage they can only get through Assembly."