The Current Crew thrives on participating in campaigns that align themselves with our values and culture.
Now, more than ever, we need new ways of being inclusive. In various ways, we have all been forced to disconnect from each other over the varying lockdown phases. We now need to bravely and boldly tell others they CAN sit with us and that we want to sit with them. We feel that the #youcansitwithus is an important campaign, and we want to make our contribution. So, the Current Crew are joining the efforts of Pic-a-Tee in supporting a better understanding of inclusivity and diversity, especially within our marketing space.
While joining a specific campaign in solidarity is valuable, storytelling has its boundaries. How do we transform and change these boundaries into moments of incredible inclusivity and more?
A hashtag is a placeholder for so many things. It is part of our marketing and social media strategies and helps us reach audiences in different ways. However, a hashtag can also be an empty placeholder if not defined by the stories we create and embody. #youcansitwithus helps us use the digital spaces we occupy to share in our stories of inclusivity. Equally important, we have to recognise what inclusivity means within the marketing world. It was never supposed to be a way of showing a one-dimensional understanding of what inclusivity is. It is much more than subtly noting that we all look, speak and understand in different and beautiful ways.
Being inclusive is a way of relating to the world and those around us. Moreover, inclusivity means spending time getting to know others. In these moments, we have an opportunity to learn from each other where we celebrate variety and collaboration. Diverse and inclusive marketing forces us to think deeper about the diverse target markets we need to attract and communicate with per client. In a way, it pushes us to question the assumptions that we have about our dynamic audiences.
Imagine a marketing event where everyone who joined wore the #YouCanSitWithUs tee. Would our conversations look different to how they are now? Would we be able to change how we network by not only inviting others but by naturally accepting others’ invitations to us? It could be a collaboration rather than expecting others to join a space that is already predetermined.
In summary, perhaps we can think about #youcansitwithus as a chance to align ourselves to others. In response to this hashtag, we can share our stories about knowledge and skills transfer and how collaboration leads to deep connections with those around us.
Support the #YouCanSitWithUs campaign by buying your tee’s from Pic-a-Tee and start your inclusive storytelling.
