How can brands prove they actually care about social causes?

On April 1, Instagram-first media company Impact commemorated the main character of Earth Month by giving her lip injections, false eyelashes and the persuasive essay “Here are 6 ways our planet truly is that girl.” 

Impact, which has amassed over 3 million followers across its accounts, doesn’t operate like a typical news outlet. Founded in 2020, the company has solidified a reputation for packaging social justice news and calls to action into stylized social media posts, which range in seriousness from a playful feature of Mother Nature to coverage of global human rights crises. 

“We tell clients that more than an influencer or a publisher, we’re an outlet that starts discourse and always wants to further discourse on social topics,” said account executive Zach Carter. “Our brand has multiple voices, which gives us that layer of authenticity.” 

When pitching to brands,  Carter stresses a blend of capabilities that typically attract marketers to either influencers or news outlets—a human touch and a vetted authority. Misfits Market, the most recent brand to purchase a slot on the Impact feed, saw the campaign as an opportunity to diversify its partnership strategy while targeting a new set of socially-conscious consumers. While Misfit’s partnership with Impact is seemingly unrelated to a classic product placement in a TikTok creator’s post, brands that are all ultimately competing for reputability and validation in noisy digital spaces can benefit from expanding what their template for a paid partnership looks like. 

“We really wanted to tie together the link between climate change and food waste,” said senior vice president of brand marketing Holly Eagleson. “People know that food inherently has value, but knowing that it exceeds emissions for the entire aviation industry was a strong message that we wanted to take to both our platforms and a whole new audience.” 

Diversifying borrowed voices 

Misfits Market, which acquired Imperfect Foods in 2023 and has expanded beyond its flagship “ugly” product to a full grocery offering, is embracing the diverse reasons a consumer may be attracted to their product. While some are drawn in by savings, others are most compelled by sustainability and social impact, said Eagleson. 

“We have partners like Impact where we know we’re reaching people on the social and environmental level, but we also have a long term partnership with Bobby Flay ,who can validate the quality of our products, " said Eagleson, adding that she doesn’t limit partnerships to chefs, sustainability specialists or videographers. “We just want content to feel native to what is on their feed already, and if that’s using an iPhone and talking into a camera, we’re not going to switch that up.” 

According to Eagleson, the key to an effective social strategy is leaning into a psychographic line of their target consumer. Beyond tapping people focused on sustainability or recipe sharing, complimentary niches include DIY content and book reviews. 

“Our customers are cooks and love sitting pretty at home, so they often like reading as a pastime in addition to things like walking, yoga and hiking,” she said. ‍

Investing in "earnest education"

When vetting partners, Carter looks for brands that are addressing a broader issue with their product and asks himself “Whose product and values orientation feels really close to earnest education?”

“To view editorial and partnerships as distinct departments can be a disservice,”  said Carter. “When we’re already reporting on food systems, that gives us the permission structure to then have these partnerships that are organic and authentic.” 

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