Highlight Black History

Diageo-owned whiskey brand Johnnie Walker rectified a historical oversight in the story of Bossa Nova. By highlighting overlooked pioneer Alaíde Costa, the work boosted her Spotify listeners by 800% and resulted in a five-fold increase in invitations for her to perform at major venues. “As a brand that celebrates people’s journeys, Johnnie Walker took the deepest dive into culture,” said Entertainment Lions Jury President Madeline Nelson, US Head of Independent Label Relations at Amazon Music.

This initiative was the result of 5800 hours of research to recover and protect Black history. The invisible ink book reveals the contributions of notable Black people whose stories had been erased – but only under a special black light. An example of how to use craft to expose historical erasure, the book became part of the permanent collection of the Museu Afro-Brasileiro in Salvador.

To highlight the legacy of rock music pioneer Sister Rosetta Tharpe, ‘Rock DNA’ employs an algorithm to calculate her influence on popular songs. Created for Billboard magazine, the interactive brand experience shows how to give people a shareable, data-driven tool to demonstrate the influence of Black women in the industry: searches for Tharpe increased 93-fold in the first week.

Honouring the beauty styles that were pioneered by Black people, Sephora’s ‘Black Beauty is Beauty’ acknowledges that these practices have been co-opted by white women. Rather than shaming people for appropriation, the work celebrates the true origins, showing the power of pulling people in rather than calling them out. Sales of Black-owned brands across all the beauty retailers categories increased 36% from 2020 to 2021.

Technology company IBM partnered with Hidden Figures, a film telling the story of three African American women who made NASA’s space race possible. The brand extended this connection with a multichannel campaign that highlighted the accomplishments of women and girls of colour in STEM – increasing conversation linking IBM with diversity in STEM by 265%. It shows how championing underrepresented voices in an authentic way can reshape brand perception.

Showing how to represent the omission of Black stories in education through a powerful visual, the Ontario Black History Society’s ‘Blacked Out History’ erased everything in Grade 8 textbooks except for mentions of Black people. What remained? Only 13 names in a 255-page book. The book was sent to policymakers, and as a result of the work, textbook publisher Nielsen reviewed its process for writing.

The Grammy Awards Show changed its iconic gold trophy to black to recognise the years of unacknowledged Black artists. The new Global Impact Award, recognising lifetime achievements in music, made its debut with Dr. Dre at the 65th Grammys. This symbolic change generated 1.9bn impressions and more than 90% positive sentiment, showing that intentional cultural messaging can shift public perceptions.