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A few years ago, Dutch oil company Shell celebrated Pride Amsterdam by decorating four gas stations around the city with rainbows. They were swiftly accused of pinkwashing by the LGTB community and for being ‘woke’ by their opponents. One dumb tweeter laughed out loud about the rainbow being upside down. Storm in a teacup and reactions from the ignorant. There is much more to Shell’s communications regarding the rainbow.

In order to sincerely engage in (any) diversity in MarCom – and not be justifiably accused of pinkwashing – there are a few conditions. Apart from the collaboration with LGBT charities and the timing of your communications outside obvious events like Pride and Pride Month, which both score bonus points, you definitely need to get your company policy in order first. Internal marketing, as you will: targets, campaigns, involvement, results. Shell has done so remarkably well and could be considered as a role model.

The company

Royal Dutch Shell, commonly known as Shell, is a British–Dutch multinational energy company headquartered in the United Kingdom. Although the roots date back to the first half of the 19th century, Shell was formed in 1907 through the merger of Royal Dutch Petroleum Company of the Netherlands and The “Shell” Transport and Trading Company of the United Kingdom. The combined company rapidly became the leading competitor of American Standard Oil and by 1920 Shell was the largest producer of oil in the world.

It is one of the oil and gas “supermajors” and the third-largest company in the world measured by 2018 revenues. Shell was one of the “Seven Sisters” which dominated the global petroleum industry from the mid-1940s to the mid-1970s. They operate in 70 countries and employ around 89,000 people.

Fun fact: did you know that the logo of the company is actually a scallop? This sea fruit is called St. James’ Scallop in several languages and recurs in the name of Santiago de Compostella (“St. James of the Starry Field”), the pilgrim’s place in Spain. All the pilgrims’ routes throughout Europe leading to Santiago are marked by… Shell’s logo.

Diversity

On the corporate website CFO Sinead Gorman, executive sponsor for LGBT+ inclusion, is quoted as saying: “We want to foster and support an environment where our LGBT+ colleagues feel they belong and can thrive at Shell”.

The segment goes on: “We are working to advance LGBT+ inclusion within Shell and the communities where we work. The experience and landscape for LGBT+ people is changing dramatically. On the one hand, there have been huge leaps forward in recent years, from gay marriage being recognized in over 30 countries, to business leaders and politicians from across the LGBT+ spectrum being out and proud around the world. On the other, there have also been big steps back. They range from a rise in anti-LGBT+ legislation to increasing levels of reported hate crimes. Against this backdrop, building a workplace where LGBT+ staff feel safe and comfortable to be who they are, has never been more important.

Parental leave was introduced in several countries, regardless of the gender of the parents.

The website gives topical information and perspectives, including the personal (coming out) stories of several LGBT employees. And there is a page about ‘Ambitions and progress in the LGBT+ field‘.

International accolades

Shell is a member of Workplace Pride. In 2012 they became a co-signatory of the Declaration of Amsterdam in support of an LGBT+ inclusive workplace. They were ranked the 4th most LGBT-inclusive employer in the world. Last year they were awarded Ambassador status by Workplace Pride for ‘distinguished achievements in driving LGBT+ workplace inclusion‘.

They are a corporate partner of the Human Rights Campaign (HRC), scoring a perfect 100% in the HRC Corporate Equality Index.

LGBT+ Networks at Shell (ERG)

The role of staff in shaping their strategy takes place via Employee Resource Groups (ERG). Local leaders sponsor and support the 15 ERGs focused on LGBT+ inclusion. The first such ERG was established in the USA and recently celebrated its 25th birthday, and the most recent ERGs were established in Singapore and Spain. There also are groups in Australia, Brazil, Canada, Germany, India, the Netherlands, Norway, the Philippines, Poland, South Africa, Thailand and the UK. The UK Proud@Shell ERG was recognized as a Top 10 Network Group in the British LGBT Awards in 2021.

Annual DE&I training is mandatory for everyone at Shell. The training helps ensure colleagues know what’s expected of them, it gives them tools to use every day and guidance on being an ally and intervening in the moment.

London HQ

Since 2011, the head office in London has flown the rainbow flag on top of the building on the occasion of London Pride. 

Mark McBride-Wright, founder of UK-based LGBT+ engineering network, InterEngineering: “It is fantastic to see Shell take a stance to show support for its LGBT employees. Shell has in fact in the past included a story of an LGBT employee on its company intranet, which was viewed by a quarter of its workforce. It is important to recognize they have operations in some dangerous countries for LGBT employees. This sends a strong message of their support.” He suggests that multinational giants such as Shell have an important role to play in spreading the diversity message to the smaller businesses with whom they work, and to the many countries in the world in which they operate. “Within the energy sector, oil and gas firms are advancing ahead for LGBT diversity and inclusion initiatives. Change can be cascaded through the entire supply chain if oil and gas firms were to mandate a requirement for secondary and tertiary suppliers to demonstrate what they are doing on diversity and inclusion.”

As to the importance of diversity in this segment, so-called Supplier Diversity, read my article Why you need a supplier diversity program. – because this also supports your marketing and PR activities.

Next week: how Shell makes itself visible ATL as a rainbow supporter.

Alfred Verhoeven is a marketer and is in the final phase of his PhD research Marketing the Rainbow.
He previously wrote for ILOVEGAY about Marriott part 1 and part 2, Super Bowl Ads: What Would Jesus Do?, Zalando’s journey from activism to size-inclusive shoes, Zalando goes from controversies to hidden stories, Get woke, go broke, Spain has 6.8 billion reasons to love rainbow tourists, How Spain markets itself as rainbow destination, Everyone’s gay in Amsterdam, I Amsterdam, Gay Capital, The Ideal Traveler, Diversity & Language, Playing with Pronouns, Abercrombie & Fitch : The Rise & The Fall, Play the gayme: about SIMS and Candy Crush, Diversity in Toys, LEGO does the rainbow, Barbiemania, Bud Light and the 4 bln dollar woman, Dutch retailer HEMA loves everybody, Pronouns, About those rainbows, Alphabet soup, M&M’s and the lesbian invasion, Magnum and the lesbian wedding, Marketing the Rainbow: the process and all that came before it, Sport and (un)sportmanship,  Why you need a supplier diversity program, BeNeLux LGBTIQ+ Business Chamber (BGLBC), From B2C and B2B to B2G and G2G (oh, and G2C), The Men from Atlantis, The other kind of cruising, Booking.com, Home Deco, Haters and trolls: the ‘letter to the editor’ of the 21st century, 5 Bizarre LGBT Videos, TRANSparency, Transgender persons as a target group, Matchmaking, 5 videos that went viral, From Representation To Respect, Cultural sensitivities and social involvement in marketing, 4 reasons to practice diversity and The Rules of Market Segmentation.