By Helen Moore, Managing Partner at Hollr
The second in our series of three blog posts diving into Censuswide’s recent report, The Voice of the UK CMO 2025 – this time focused on one of the most polarising forces shaping marketing strategy today: brand activism.
International market research consultancy Censuswide recently released its new report, The Voice of the UK CMO 2025, which unveiled invaluable insights from 500 CMOs and around 2,000 nationally representative UK adults into their views of organisations engaging in brand activism.
‘CANCELLED!’: Does brand activism matter to both consumers and B2B decision-makers?
The findings show the UK is divided in their opinion of whether brands should take a stance on what they believe in. Half (50%) of UK consumers want or expect brands to take a public stand on social or political issues, while the other half (50%) do not.
While global superstar Taylor Swift’s new The Life of a Showgirl song CANCELLED! focuses on her experience of cancel culture and “girl-bossing too close to the sun”, the research does indeed show young consumers demand transparency and want brands to take a stand on key social issues. Having grown up as digital natives, it’s not surprising Gen Z and Zillennials aren’t shy to call out, particularly on social media, when they feel organisations have ignored social issues in favour of their own interests.
For consumers who want brands to be vocal, human rights/ethical supply chains (53%), mental health awareness (50%), and environmental sustainability (46%) top the list of issues they say brands should speak up on, followed by fair wages (45%) and equality (gender: 43%; racial: 41%; disability 39%).
It’s not just consumers expecting brands to live their values either – in fact, 82% of B2B decision-makers have chosen a provider based on their stance on social or environmental issues.
How are CMOs responding to changing audience expectations?
CMOs appear to be leaning in, with 37% saying their brands are highly active and vocal on social media, while 29% are strategic and selective about where to speak up. Furthermore, 11% take a ‘supportive but subtle’ approach.
CMOs largely align with consumers in the areas where they feel comfortable taking a public stance, with 55% feeling comfortable taking a public stance on environmental sustainability, 51% on human rights / ethical supply chain and 49% on diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) .
Interestingly, while a higher percentage of CMOs feel comfortable taking a stance on the top issues than consumers who believe they should a lower proportion of CMOs feel comfortable publicly addressing disability equality (29%) than consumers who believe brands should publicly support it (39%). However, 95% of CMOs see DEI as an important component of their brand’s identity, suggesting they recognise the challenge of balancing being active with avoiding backlash.
The risk of backlash remains a key concern for CMOs
As the famous Warren Buffett saying goes, “It takes 20 years to build a reputation and five minutes to ruin it”. Taking a stand is seen as a risky move and backlash has become more of a concern for marketing leaders in 2025. 2 in 5 (40%) of CMOs admit they worry about brand backlash most of the time, and the frequency at which CMOs feel concern when planning marketing activities has increased four percentage points year-on-year. In 2024, a fifth (20%) of CMOs reported worrying about this during every campaign; in 2025, this has risen to nearly a quarter (24%).
The top risks CMOs report include campaigns that cause offence or “miss the mark” (24%), failing to meet modern standards or leaning into insensitive stereotypes (22%).
17% say a threat lies in being associated with something political, up from 11% year-on-year, while 10% note that failing to take a stance on international conflicts or political issues is the real threat.
And integrated marketers who are considering working with influencers for the first time are reminded to choose brand ambassadors carefully, with 14% of UK CMOs recognising that content creators doing something that causes offence could pose a challenge.
While high percentages of CMOs are finding attracting (71%) and retaining (61%) clients/customers challenging, fewer now say the threat of brand backlash is stifling their creativity (down from 39% to 33%). This suggests that marketing leaders are becoming more adept at navigating sensitive terrain, finding ways to address social issues in more thoughtful and authentic ways. Ultimately, this is likely to lead to better, more well-constructed campaigns – and with consumer expectations unlikely to change significantly in the near future, marketers will need to continue maintaining a critical eye on their messaging.
Why activism is now a brand imperative
Despite the risks of brand activism on brand reputation and sales, the research makes one thing clear: opting out of activism altogether is no longer a viable strategy.
For modern marketing leaders, activism is about more than press releases or social media statements; it has become an essential tool for building trust, loyalty, and relevance in a competitive marketplace. Done in a carefully considered way, activism strengthens brand equity and creates deeper connections with both consumers and business partners.
Censuswide’s The Voice of the UK CMO 2025 Report is now live – read it here. If you are interested in learning about how Hollr or Censuswide could support you with your marcomms needs, please get in touch at [email protected].