Conversations on accessibility: Neurodiversity in Marketing

When you consider the role of marketing in society, it doesn’t take you long to fall upon the word “reach”.?And this word doesn’t go away.?It isn’t an idle word; it isn’t a simple term.?Reach is a complex concept that, in one form or another, will cross the marketers mind every day.

To us here in our lofty towers, the world is filled with spectral consciences.?They float around on social media clicking mice on everything that sparks the slightest emotion.?What we want is to draw them all to our brands where they can sit happily leaving emojis and reviews.?We need to reach them first.

But the conversation can’t end with reach.?We need to discuss accessibility.

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Revisiting inclusive marketing

If there is one thing that the twenty-first century has been good at, it is turning the spotlight onto important social issues.?Without getting into the hot water of analysing the various reactions and receptions of these social movements; there is at least some light shining on what people feel is important.

We have seen an LGBT+ movement starting to raise their voice.?The various ethnic communities are starting to debate in open forums.?Even if we cannot lay claim to any significant societal change, there has been an upsurge on issues surrounding gender, disability, and mental health too.?Marketing was forced to react and incorporate these changes.

On the face of it, inclusive marketing is about representation.?The concept is quite simple; marketers incorporate various demographics into their marketing content, they are recognised by, and welcomed to, the brand.?Those represented then find the content distributed more accessible; they can empathise fully with the brand message.?Whilst these changes are positive, there is still an entire demographic that marketers haven’t quite managed to reach.

How do we reach the neurodivergent??How do we make the content accessible?

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Entering the discussion

?It will only take a couple of minutes for you look into this topic to realise you have just been posed a vast open-ended question.?How long is the piece of string we are asking you to hold??Neurodivergence is not simple, and it is not one thing.?We also know very little about it.

Where does your mind go?? You see the word “neurodivergent”, what does it mean??Does it mean Autism??Does it mean ADHD? ?Does it mean Dyslexia??Tourette’s??Can you look at the entire spectrum of cognitive and learning differences and pinpoint the sweet spot of neurodiversity - that all important part of spectrum that allows us all to communicate freely?

To save you looking, just accept that there isn’t a secret code.?Neurodiversity is – well – diverse.

It is a vast spectrum of experiences and understandings that we, as a society, are only just beginning to accept.?Which is strange, considering how common neurodiversity is.

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One in three people claim to be neurodivergent

?On the face of it, it seems like a large number.?A third of people “identify as being neurodivergent.”?Jennifer Prout’s wording is deliberately ambiguous and conflicts with Succeed With Dyslexias suggestion that one in eight people are neurodivergent.

The difference between the two perhaps is the best illustration for how misunderstood the issue is.?Jennifer Prout is probably right that one in three individuals, regardless of any formal diagnosis believe they are, or might be, neurodivergent.?The true percentage could be anything.

What it does say, however, is that one in three people believe they see the world differently to other people.?This is the tricky bridge that marketing now needs to work towards traversing.

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Working towards universal accessibility

So, if a million people see the world in a million different ways; how do you learn to speak to them all simultaneously??How do we get them all to understand the same message, and how can we tap into the same well of emotion in all of them??Can we create a marketing strategy that isn’t divisive?

The problem is, neurodiversity is so nuanced that there is no universal language we can implement to turn all heads at once.?But that’s the thing about language.?It is the only tool we have to describe the world, and yet it is the most difficult tool to use.

The key, in truth, is simplicity in everything from form to expression.?There are fonts such as OpenDyslexic or Dyslexie that improve the reading experience for some people struggling with dyslexia.?That will help a large group of people, but in truth that is never going to be enough.

If marketing is truly to consider granting access to it’s neurodivergent audiences, then the marketers need to make it easier..

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Bringing everyone into the discussion

Unconscious biases mean that what seems accessible to one, is not necessarily easy to grasp for everyone else.?To create a meaningful and inclusive discourse, you need to increase the number of voices.?Reach out to the entire team, and don’t be afraid to incorporate neurodivergent voices.?Their talent could be the most valuable going forward.

Together you need to make a marketing campaign that posits the big picture first; speaks clearly; and clears out the clutter.

Everyone is going to have different priorities when engaging with you, so if you are to keep the conversation current and topical, you need to limit the impetus.?Avoid meandering conversations, or irrelevant sidetracks.

The same can be said for the imagery.?Let the representation of your brand and its purpose be clear.?Busy images can spark many conversations, and not all of them will be relevant or important to your brand and its objectives.

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Take the time to champion neurodiversity

The marketing objective is simple.?Reach and engage with as many relevant customers as possible.?Be the most communicative, make them all like you, create a loyal base of brand advocates.?This cannot happen if we are unable to communicate with 33% of our audience.

Rightly so, neurodivergence is carving itself an important conversation across social media.?We are beginning to perceive the vast spectrum of grey between original binary understanding of what has been termed “learning difficulties” for far too long.?It is time that we championed a move into accessibility.

Not just so we can sell more burgers; or clean more windows, however.?We are long past the hard sell; we are in the heady world of ethics and values. If our businesses are to survive, we need to drop old ideologies and become understanding and compassionate members of the twenty-first century.

There is a wealth of talent and experience that we are not adequately conversing with, and this will only hold us back in the end.

Please feel free to join in the conversation by commenting below.?For more marketing information, you can visit our blog here.