Black Lives Matter.
From our Founders, with love...
Firstly, as a shiny new consultancy, founded by two white women, we acknowledge our enormous privilege. As decorated content creators in our own right, we (Scarlett & Rosa) bring a diverse set of skills & competencies together under one roof in Partner & Bloom, spanning across PR & marketing to hybrid Sales Consulting. We have worked HARD to get where we are. However, any difficulties we have faced as founders in our private or professional lives, however trivial or not, have never been as a result of the colour of our skin & we are so fortunate to have never had our hard work, determination or talents quashed through racial discrimination. We acknowledge wholeheartedly, that our privilege is not unique, but it is privilege nonetheless & we owe a duty to our black community & wider society to help make tangible lasting change. How can we do this?
We are not only proud to have this blog post as one of Partner & Bloom’s first ever published, which will not remain as a dusty archive, but rather as a valuable resource for us to check our own accountability in solidarity with the BLM Movement & remind us that even ahead of our public ‘splash launch’ for Partner & Bloom that we are understandably, in a position of responsibility. We are also privileged to be able to build our own marketing & business strategy from the beginning of Partner & Bloom’s journey, guided by some of the things the past few weeks have taught us. We fervently believe that investing in the black community is not just a moral obligation to be anti-racist, but is also an investment in our business. PERIOD. We don’t mean this in the sense of a long-term PR exercise, we fundamentally want to stress the importance that all industries, but particularly PR & marketing, must begin to accept that however charitable their increased endeavours are for this movement, that black creators & consumers have very real measurable value to add to ALL brands. Here are just a few points to demonstrate this:
A. Black women alone spend over $7 billion annually on beauty products & services. This is over DOUBLE the spend per consumer of non-black consumers. This is also in spite of significant under representation in the industry. WOW. You can read more about this report here or Refinery 29’s thoughts about it here.
B. Rosa remembers wondering if it was a protest or road accident blocking the traffic through Knightsbridge in London one morning. Guess again...it was in fact Rihanna’s Fenty beauty line launch of 40 shades of foundation which thousands were queuing for outside Harvey Nichols (in our pre-Covid 19 world when social distancing wasn’t a ‘thing’). Yes, Rihanna is an A List celebrity, but no she wasn’t there in person to sign your magazine! So, can we just pause to acknowledge the sheer, very real demand for the diversity of product in the beauty industry alone. Even on Harvey Nichols’ website here you can find reference to Rihanna addressing a “gap in the market”. In both our professional & private lives we frequently hear of people alluding to how ‘saturated’ the beauty industry is & that innovation needs to involve thinking widely out of the box! Yet the irony is we still have more than just one ‘gap in the market’ for pre-existing staple products designed for our powerful black consumers in this world. It takes time & money to launch a brand & new products. However, the larger the brand & the budget, the fewer excuses there are arguably if your products do not cater to black complexion & hair in particular, because there is surely a huge financial incentive to invest in diverse products (as per point A). After all, with the demand at the ready, not innovating products for black skin with suitable tenacity, is as such the antithesis of supply and demand economics. Any large brands in particular, (many of whom are institutions in their own right), must realise the importance of true diversity in their product ranges. There are of course many absolutely wonderful products in the beauty industry that by their nature are universal - from aromatherapy delights to dazzling nail polishes, that if it weren’t for personal taste, are indeed a ‘one-size-fits-all’ beauty. However, there are many products & services in the industry that simply are not a one-size-fits all & we would love to see a collective effort, catalysed by this movement to help recognise this with sincerity. It has been so sad to hear accounts of black men & women disappointed last minute by makeup artists or hairstylists that do not feel qualified to do their makeup or hair styling. Imagine how humiliating this would be generally, but in particular if it was a last minute disappointment with repercussions, or announced publicly as you arrived for an appointment in-store? We do feel somewhat embarrassed that even friends of ours, since we recently asked them directly, have experienced this in their lifetime MORE THAN ONCE!
C. We personally researched 100 beauty brands offering foundation shades for black skin (this took us a while as there are a number which do not supply foundation for black skin at all). We were struck not only by how many brands refer to their shades for white skin as ‘natural’ or ‘natural with pink undertones’, ‘natural with yellow undertones’ etc. Yet we did not see the word natural once describing a dark skin foundation. In fact, consistently we saw dark foundation shades named after inanimate objects or food and therefore innately dehumanised or even fetishized by a few brands in our view. I mean sure, you could argue that the pale shade more commonly seen on shelves labelled as ‘porcelain’ which has consistently been a benchmark for foundation shade charts is also steeped in the history of a flawless inanimate object: the china doll. However, it does seem ironic that ‘porcelain’ – one of the few foundation shades coined presumably as a derivative of the China Doll object, is one of human form, celebrated since Victorian times, becoming the very symbol of aspirational yet one-dimensional beauty. So using this one commonplace example (of which there are more) of a labelling system within in the beauty industry, we can see a more inconspicuous form of racism that has, even with all good intentions, permeated as deep as the language through which the industry as a whole is attempting to celebrate diversity and categorise beautiful differences, quite literally. It hardly seems anything less than suitable Rihanna named her 40 shades of foundation 1 to 40. The lady has a point!
As we’ve already touched on, we have heard some exceptionally moving examples recently from black friends & strangers alike of institutionalised racism they have experienced time & time again across every industry & sector imaginable, including accounts of racism resulting in some resigning from their jobs. Why were the examples that moved us so exceptional you may wonder? Put simply, it is because we have learnt more about how racism can wear such an unexceptional, everyday cloak. Of course, we stand firmly against violence & the murder of George Floyd & many other black people who have died at the hands of an institution meant to protect them in overt racist acts. We, like many, find this abhorrent. However, there is much work to do if the subtleties of racism, currently very much alive in many of our institutions, often disguised in the nuance of our idiomatic language & hidden by bureaucracy, perpetuate our national prejudices unconsciously. To us, the word anti-racism, which we have heard lots about recently, means in part, striving to bring an understanding to oneself of the more systemic forms of racisms around you, that you may have been unaware of previously. There are many ways we as individuals or collectives can strive to do this & we have selected some of the ways we have read recently below that have helped us understand:
Dive into the many educational resources journalist Jessica Noah Morgan has put together. You can find them in her BLM pinned stories on Instagram ( via @jessicanoahmorgan)
Educate ourselves on the barriers to success for black people & promise to listen to & amplify the voices of POC. (via @courtneyahndesign)
We have found some wonderful reading lists & film lists through a number of online accounts that are a powerful educational tool. We found suggestions via @das.penman including the wonderful podcast @makemotherhooddiverse by Remi Sadé, curated by @candicebrathwaite ….there are so many more wonderful resources out there though & we’d love to hear more suggestions from you!
As a newly founded business (in lockdown in fact) we are still in the process of planning & making creative content for Partner & Bloom & our fabulous clients through autumn & into 2021. Though we have always been acutely conscious of the importance of diversity in many forms, we have taken the opportunity we have been presented with seeing the call to action of the BLM Movement to ensure our plans to move forward set an example we are proud of. Although of course our clients have final approval on any of our ideas big and small before implementation, we acknowledge the power of our influence to design, champion & source black talent & advocate this talent to our clients, which in turn can create REAL change. In light of this, we have discussed at length (over Zoom!) about how to move forward as a new consultancy, especially with our hybrid offerings spanning across PR & more niche Sales Consultancy support. A very simple example of this is our role in compiling & match-making press, media & influencer talent lists for brand PR introductions & collaborations. We will proactively put forward black talent into this pool of opportunity & look forward to discovering talented creators through our research. There are many more things we can do to propel lasting change, we won’t pretend it’s possible to list them all.
Pass the Mic
However tempting it is, out of compassion, or for some, a recent epiphany of one’s own white privilege to be a voice for those whose voices are heard less systemically in society, it is ironic & deeply problematic if we translate this voice through ours. That’s not to say it isn’t important to call out racism if you see or hear it or have those difficult conversations with grandparents or employers. However, it does mean that the most authentic black voices are, literally, black voices & we MUST pass the mic. One of the most powerful things catalysing the current BLM Movement & the motivation behind the recent #BlackOutTuesday campaign was an online ‘passing of the mic’. With this centrally in mind, we want you to know that we are listening & we want to learn & do better.
The power of a united voice in support of the BLM movement is incredible to see grow & we want to support this on an on-going basis. We have heard this voice described as a community many times, which again endorses the solidarity & strength that can come from this united voice. However, we believe that it is also a positive thing to strive to recognise the individual voices & narratives of black people within this voice of unity, because they should be celebrated too. In this light, & utilising the time & resources we have in our position, Partner & Bloom would would like to offer a year’s complimentary consulting support to one young black-owned business. Scarlett & Rosa have over decade of experience helping clients across a number of industries refine & prioritise their wonderful ideas. Our year’s support will be in the form of a monthly strategy conference call to plan around your priorities & like any of our support, tailored to fit your business needs. We also look forward to supporting this young black-owned business with a bespoke project in collaboration with a charity of your choosing that we are excited to discuss the detail of. We will also profile your business generally & in addition to your charity brand collaboration throughout the year on our social media. If you or someone you know who is eligible would like to be considered, please email info@partnerandbloom.com with no more than 500 words about your brand’s vision.
Please note, we will only be considering brands that are majority black-owned by shareholders.
