Solutions Marketing Group

Providing clients with innovative strategies that position them to understand, penetrate and retain the disability market.

Connecting Employers and Jobseekers with Disabilities

Many employers have openings that aren’t being filled, and are interested in diversifying their workplaces. So how do they make the connection?

– Connecting employers with jobseekers with disabilities is vital | NJ.com

In this opinion piece, Rodger L. DeRose, president and CEO of the Kessler Foundation, explains why employers need to increase efforts to reach jobseekers with disabilities. Research continues to show that inclusive workplaces benefit from greater productivity and better retention. At Solutions Marketing Group, we can help your business reach a virtually untapped pool of talent, as well as help you to create a corporate culture that embraces diversity.

SMG Tip: Communicate Authentically

Originally Posted Feb. 17, 2015:

Companies that are champions of multicultural marketing do their homework to understand how to create resonant messaging that inspires consumers to respond by liking a page on social media or purchasing products in the store or online. Their ads tell consumers how the products can be a solution for avoiding pain or deriving pleasure. Messaging to people with disabilities and their families is no different.

In order to effectively connect with consumers with disabilities and their families, what’s conveyed must be clear, inclusive and highlight relevant feature that address barriers. Most importantly, it must be honest and authentic, as consumers are very discerning at identifying companies that lack a sincere commitment to the market. SMG’s clients, that have been the most successful, have used our recommended approach to developing messaging:

  1. Interest/Inspirational – This creative approach is intended to leverage emotions and generally strongly appeals to the general market.
  2. Integrated – Includes messaging that integrates the individual with a disability as just one of the employees/friends/family members. They aren’t ‘special’ or patronized in any manner.
  3. Feature Focused – This approach to creating messaging highlights valuable features that may appeal to the market. Many of SMG’s clients utilize this approach.

Within the past 2 years there’s been a rising trend to include disability themes in commercials, digital and social media, fashion and in print. Follow the leadership of Duracell, who featured Derrick Coleman of the Seattle Seahawks, the first Deaf player in the NFL who was Super Bowl bound. Guinness Beer’s commercial that included a group of able-bodied athletic men playing wheelchair basketball with their friend who used a wheelchair full-time, received millions of YouTube views and critical acclaim. Retail giant, JC Penney included mannequins that were taken from actual molds of people with disabilities as part of its ‘When it fits, you feel it campaign.’ The company received acclaim from the mainstream and fashion media for being inclusive. The key to success is allowing your brand’s essence to connect with the market.

If you are interested in learning how to communicate your company’s commitment to the disability market in an authentic way, leading to building a strong relationship with consumers, contact the Solutions Marketing Group at info@disability-marketing.com.

SMG Tip: The Numbers May Be Bad, but You Can Be an Agent of Change

11.2%. That’s the current unemployment rate for Americans with disabilities1.

If any other demographic group in the U.S. had this unemployment rate, there would be outrage.  But that is not the case when it comes to employing people with disabilities.

Many companies say they are equal opportunity employers but their actions around disability employment don’t indicate that they’re doing enough to chip away at this unemployment rate. Further, the numbers don’t indicate that people with disabilities are employed at the same level as the general population. Why is this the case?  More than likely there are people with hidden disabilities working in your organization, however many of them haven’t disclosed their disability for fear of being treated differently or limiting their advancement. When there’s a culture of disability inclusion, people are not fearful to disclose they have a disability.

How can your organization take necessary steps to ensure that people with disabilities are a factor in the diversity equation?  SMG offers a few insights to help your organization create a culture of disability inclusion.

  1. Be honest: It’s imperative that companies assess what active steps they’ve taken to recruit individuals with disabilities.   Does your company have an Employee Resource Group? A senior leader who champions disability inclusion?  Do you provide training to HR staff and hiring managers? When your company highlights D&I are people with disabilities included?
  2. Listen: The best way to understand the experience of employees with disabilities, or those impacted by disability with a child or loved one, is to talk openly and honestly with them about their experiences at the company. Conduct internal listening groups of employees impacted by disability. This forum has to be safe for participants to freely share. This valuable input will help inform the overall recruitment plan.
  3. Plan: Creating a disability recruitment plan will provide you with a the road map for your organization to actively recruit people with disabilities. To be successful, it’s imperative to have a budget and staff to support the implementation of the recruitment plan.  Additionally, input for developing the recruitment plan should come from cross-functional internal teams, with active engagement from senior leaders.
  4. Publish success: In focus groups completed by SMG, respondents indicated that one of the primary ways companies demonstrate their commitment to people with disabilities was by actively recruiting and hiring them.  They also shared that robust employment efforts provided a resounding demonstration of corporate commitment, which strengthened the brand’s equity. SMG suggests that publishing disability employment success in internal communications, as well as externally, will show that the company’s walk and talk align.

Now is the time to galvanize the internal teams within your organization to develop and implement an inclusive disability recruitment plan.  If you’d like to learn more about how to create a culture of disability inclusion, contact the SMG Team for a 30-minute discovery call to gain further insights.   To schedule, send a message to cbeaty@disability-marketing.com.

 

1 U.S. Department of Labor, February 2015

“Fit Is Our Superpower”: JCPenney

By Joan Leotta

What does it take to make an item of clothing feel like a good fit? Whether your priorities are comfort, shape, or style, clothes that fit make you feel good about yourself. For more than 100 years, JCPenney has been striving to serve customers who have a wide variety of sizes, incomes, and body types. The company’s most recent advertising campaign is a salute to the value of shoppers with disabilities and otherwise unconventional bodies: the promise of a good fit for everyone.

“Love Your Selfies”

In conjunction with a Today Show special series, earlier this year JCPenney unveiled to the world a set of mannequins that were based on atypical body types. Among the real people used as models for the mannequins are Dawna Callahan, a wheelchair athlete who monoskis and has completed the Boston Marathon three times; little person Ricardo Gil, and Neil Duncan, an Army veteran who lost his legs while serving in Afghanistan. The other inspirations for the mannequins are plus-size model Beth Ridgeway and Desiree Hunter, a 6-foot-1½-inch college basketball player.

The “Love Your Selfies” Today Show promotion, which aired in February, was envisioned as a celebration of self-esteem. Kate Coultas, a JCPenney spokesperson, says, “When we saw the Today Show segment in their ‘Love Your Selfies’ promotion, we jumped at the chance to showcase the mannequins at our Manhattan Mall store.”

Mannequin Power

Debra Berman, JCPenney’s Senior Vice President for Marketing, says, “We know we are in the self-esteem business” as purveyors of clothing. “It’s important to recognize this.” She adds, “we love the challenge” of fitting people of various sizes and shapes with varied budgets. We also love the statement that these mannequins make and felt this would provide a tremendous opportunity to emotionally connect to our customers.”

Colorado-based Fusion Specialties, the creator of the mannequins, has been a longtime vendor to JCPenney. Their website proclaims, “Mannequins are not just for display. They are a touch point, a split-second opportunity to connect to consumers on an emotional level.” The company’s promise to clothing retailers is to “capture your customer’s attention and personify your brand.”

Apart from the wide exposure on the Today Show, the JCPenney mannequins were already captivating thousands. “Our store in Manhattan Mall in Herald Square serves an enormous customer base that includes local residents, commuters, business travelers, and tourists,” Berman explains. “The store is directly accessible from two of Manhattan’s busiest public transportation terminals—the 34th Street-Herald Square subway station and the 33rd Street PATH train station.” A city of 8.4 million people offers the JCPenney display a great potential for exposure. “In fact,” Berman continues, “more than 250,000 people pass through these terminals daily! Showcasing these mannequins at our Manhattan Mall store provides a perfect opportunity to reach thousands of consumers with our fit philosophy.”

Recognizing the value of its customers with disabilities and other non-standard body types highlights JCPenney’s commitment to promoting positive body images. The latest figures available from InternetRetailer.com indicate that by the end of 2007, there were more than 50 million shoppers with disabilities as identified by the US census Bureau, with an aggregated income of more than 220 billion in discretionary funds.

“We celebrate the diversity of America and hope this display will help lead to greater acceptance and celebration of all kinds of bodies, shapes and sizes,” Berman says. “So far the customer response has been extremely positive.”

“When it fits…”

The mannequin campaign continues a century-old tradition of customer satisfaction and is embodied in JCPenney’s tagline: “When it fits, you feel it.” Explains Berman, “This mannequin display really brings our fit commitment to life. For more than a century, we’ve been a leader in fitting the diversity of America.”

JCPenney strives to appeal not just to customers’ pocketbooks or even aesthetics, but to their hearts as well. “As a company founded on the Golden Rule,” of doing unto others, Coultas explains, “we believe in taking care of each and every person as you would want done unto yourself. We respect what our customers seek, which is why we are dedicated to fitting every shape, size, color, wallet, style and occasion.”

Where as some companies seem to cultivate a certain unattainable ‘look’ by showcasing only thin and perfect mannequins and models, JCPenney has a different philosophy. “It’s about fitting our customers,” Berman maintains, “rather than expecting our customers to fit us. The right fit is emotionally powerful and gives our customers the confidence they seek to put their best foot forward. We’re in the esteem-building business, committed to helping each and every customer find the fit that fits them best—the fit that allows them to feel golden in their own skin. We celebrate the uniqueness of our customers.”

Beyond the Display

While the mannequins may not be on display in Manhattan for much longer, JCPenney continues to serve as a catalyst in its commitment to serving customers with disabilities. On August 1, JCPenney’s home office in Plano, Texas hosted a back-to-school fashion show for spina bifida patients from local Texas Scottish Rite Hospital for Children. All of the young runway models are part of the Dallas Hospital’s Successful Bridges program, which assists 14- to 18-year-old teens with spina bifida in building self-esteem and independence. Along with a donation to the hospital, JCPenney’s production, merchants, salon, and Sephora inside JCPenney teams donated their time and talents to host the fashion show and treated each teen to a stylish back-to-school look.

These celebrations of diversity are part of the corporate philosophy for JCPenney. Marketing SVP Berman sees the mannequin display as “the right opportunity to demonstrate our commitment to fit.” But beyond that, it’s part of JCPenney’s mission to help customers find the right clothing and accessories that help them feel good about themselves.“We want every individual to recognize their value,” she says. “Fit is our superpower.”